Drying Herbs

If you have a herb garden, now is the time to collect and dry some for use over the winter.

As you now, there’s nothing like having your own stash of herbs for cooking or other uses.  You could even add some pretty ones to your grapevine wreath.

Cut the stalks of herbs that you plan to harvest.  Remember not to cut too much of your perennial herbs that don’t die back to the ground.  Herbs like oregano die back so you can cut most of the stem without damaging the plant.  Herbs like sage are considered small shrubs so you don’t want to cut them all the way back or you could kill them.

If you have a place to hang the bunches in your kitchen, they will be handy and make a lovely decoration.

Wrap bunches of stalks with a rubber band or twisty and hang them upside-down until they are completely dry.  This will take several days.

You can keep them where they are as long as they are protected from sun, dust and humidity.

If you want to take them down, now is the time to strip the leaves from the stalks.  Most herb stalks are inedible or bitter.  One exception is cilantro.  The stems have the same great flavor as the leaves.

Store your leaves in a cool, dry place in an air-tight container and you’ll be set for the winter.

Grapevines

Now that you can recognize grapevines, you can think about using them for crafts.  We’ve all seen grapevine wreaths hanging on doors and for sale at craft shows, but do you know how easy it is to make one?

First identify some grapevines that can be harvested without harming the local environment.  You can take some of a vine but be sure to leave enough that can still produce grapes next season.  If you find dead vines, that’s just as good.

If the vines are dead or particularly stiff, you will have to soak them.  Find a large tub, vat or a bathtub and fill it with enough water to cover the vines.  Let them soak until they become flexible.  This could take a few days.

Bring the vines outside or to a place where a mess will be easy to clean up.

Take the end of the vine and make a circle of whatever size you’d like your wreath to be.  Now take the long end and wrap it around the loop – through the center and around the outside – until you run out of vine.  If it’s not thick enough, grab another piece of vine, tuck the end into your wreath and continue wrapping.

Once it is the size you’d like, tuck the ends and any stray pieces back into the wreath until you have your finished wreath.

Now you can add your decorations or hang it as it is.  Tuck in dried flowers, ornaments, ribbons or whatever else you might have.  You can redecorate it with each season and it will last for years.

Grapes

The wild concord grape is one of a very few grape varieties native to the United States.  We see lots of them in the New Jersey woodlands climbing up on trees and sometimes telephone poles.

Grapes are easy to identify by their leaves which are shaped quite a bit like a maple leaf.

Grape vines are an important part of our ecosystem, providing food, shelter and more to our native animals, birds and insects.

Grapes can for a dense canopy to provide shade and shelter.  The grapes are eaten by just about any creature that can reach them.  We humans can also harvest and eat them.  Once you get out the many, many seeds, they make great jam and juice.

I’ve personally seen a squirrel peeling the bark off a vine and bring it up to its nest for construction.

Keep an eye out for them.  The grapes should be on the vines now – if they haven’t already been eaten.

‘Autumn Joy’ Sedum

Right about now you should be seeing these tall (for a sedum) plants turning to their burgundy fall colors.

As with all sedum, the plants are fleshy.  They are perennial plants that pop back up out of the ground every spring with leaves shaped something like a columbine. 

They grow to be a bit over a foot tall and then start developing their characteristic flowers.

Initially, the flowers are the same color as the foliage but as time goes on, they turn to a dusty rose color and continue getting darker until cold weather causes them to die back to the ground for another year.

These make popular accent plants and when you see a whole bed of them together, it can be a spectacular display.

There are many tall sedums, but these have always been a favorite.

Keeping an Organic Lawn

Wouldn’t it be great to have a lawn that you can walk through with bare feet and not worry about all those chemicals?

Imagine a safe place for your pets and children to play without the danger of illness from pesticides and herbicides.

It’s really not all that difficult.

First, make sure that your soil is healthy.  You can get a test kit from your local county extension service.  Then add appropriate nutrients including Organic fertilizers.

Make sure that you use a grass seed mix for your area.  Agway sells a ‘Morris County’ grass seed mix that is perfect for our area.

Once the grass is established, don’t water unless it’s necessary.  By doing that, you encourage the grass to grow deep roots so it will be more likely to reach moisture during times of drought.

Let your grass stay a bit long.  Adjust your mower to the highest height.  This allows the grass to have more greenery and absorb sunlight and produce food.

Use organic weed and pest control  It does make a difference.

And finally if you keep detailed records, you may be able to get your lawn certified as organic!

Harvesting Black Walnuts

Now is the time of year when the black walnut trees in our area start dropping their nuts on the ground.  Don’t let them go to waste.

 Let the nuts fall to the ground on their own.  Crack the yellow-green outer husk using a hammer and remove the walnut inside.  (Green husks mean the nut isn't quite ripe yet.)  Let them dry for several days where the squirrels won't steal them.

 Wear gloves and an apron whenever you handle the nuts in the husk or they will stain your hands, clothes, shoes and skin.  I found that when you hit the green husk with a hammer, juice will fly everywhere so be careful.  The juice that comes out of the husk is used to create the stain that is used by furniture companies.  It is permanent.

 Don't use the husks in your compost.  They contain a compound that prevents some plants from growing – something called the allelopathic effect.

 Crack them like the English walnuts you buy in the store. 

 I think they are tastier than the English walnuts, or maybe it’s just that the nuts are fresher.  Either way, enjoy them.

Fall Vegetable Gardening

Spring isn’t the only time to plant your vegetable garden.  This is a perfect time of year for some fall crops.

Consider these vegetables that have a short season and some may even over-winter to next spring.  This includes salad greens, root crops, cruciferous vegetables and cucumbers

• Spinach

• Lettuce

• Collards

• Mustard

• Kale

• Cabbage

• Radishes

• Turnips

• Cucumbers

• Broccoli

• Cauliflower

• Kohlrabi

• Brussels sprouts

Won’t it be great to have fresh vegetables just before the frost?

Silver Mound

Silver Mound is a member of the artemisia family – but without the common artemisia’s tendency to become weedy and take over your garden.

It is a lovely plant used as an accent plant in many gardens.

Like its name implies, the plant appears to be a sort mound of lacy silvery-green foliage.  It only gets about 1 foot tall by 18” wide.  It likes to have full sun most, if not all of the day to thrive.  It is tolerant of hot, dry conditions and poor soil.

Some of its relatives include mugwort, sagebrush, tarragon and absinthe.  It has a long list of interesting relatives.

Consider this well-behaved cousin in your landscaping.