We tried broiling the garlic sprouts in the oven. It was delicious!

We harvested a few of the biggest sprouts. Some of them needed to have the ground broken before their roots would let go. Once they were pulled out of the ground the outer layers with most of the dirt were peeled away, leaving a very large scallion. The tops and roots were trimmed and any dirt washed off.

Then, the 8-inch scallions were placed in a shallow dish. A couple tablespoons of olive oil were poured over the garlic sprouts. Each sprout was turned in the oil so it was completely covered and then transferred to a foil-covered broiling pan. Black pepper was the only seasoning.

We put the pan under the broiler for only a few minutes and then you could hear the oil was hot. At this point you have to stay close and watch or the garlic will burn to a crisp. Turn the garlic when it browns on one side. Remove the garlic when it gets a little crispy on the other side and serve at once.

Forgot to get a picture this time, but there will be more broiled garlic sprouts to enjoy very soon. Does anybody else out there eat garlic like this? It had a mild flavor and everyone enjoyed it.

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We never had any garlic in the garden until last year. The year before last we were given some bulbs from a friend. He didn’t know what kind they were, but being Italian and a great chef, we took his word that it was some great garlic. He has since remarked that we’ll be mad at him this year because we’ll have garlic all over the garden. He’s not too far off the truth, either!

We planted in about 6 garlic bulbs in the Summer of 2008. Those bulbs matured and we harvested a few. The others were let go over the winter. In the late summer their seed heads fell over and planted many new garlic sets.

The garlic sprouts were thinned out and grew last summer and left to grow and overwinter. Now they’re growing again, and noticeably so! (Photo taken 29Mar2010.)

Garlic plants in the garden, two years old.

I’m looking forward to harvesting that garlic in the weeks ahead!

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Parsley is a biennial plant, one that grows for two years, flowering in the second year. It will overwinter here at Zone 6, but I’m not sure how far north you can go and still get the second year crop. Further north parsley is probably treated as an annual by planting it each year. To protect it over the winter, we pile up leaves all around the parsley plants and perennial herbs.

The first year is pure vegetative growth. The plant will get larger and bushier. When the stems are too long they won’t remain erect and droop out to the sides, making the parsley plant into a large round shape.

Parsley second year right after overwintering.

Second year growth is primarily involved with sending up a flower stalk. Biennials require some sort of winter period of dormancy before they can flower. During the second year you should harvest as early in the year as possible because the plant will put most of its energy into creating the flower stalk, flowers and seeds, not in producing more parsley leaves.

Bolting is the term given to the rapid growth of the flower stalk in the second year. Once the plant has bolted, you might as well find another parsley to transplant. After bolting and setting seed the parsley plant dies.

Harvest any of the parsley as it grows. You can use scissors or just your fingers. The stems are pliable enough to let you just pinch off a piece. Snip off a sprig here and there for garnishes.

Before the flower stalk gets too tall, we usually harvest most of the parsley and put it in freezer bags, as is. Once frozen, you can use scissors to snip off some parsley for your soup or potatoes when ever you need it, and re-freeze the remaining parsley.

The packaging has been updated to emphasize that this herbal tea is 100% natural, an herbal tea, and caffeine free. All good selling points.

Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer Herbal Tea

The old box design (© 1991) proudly displayed that two B vitamins were added, whereas the new box (© 2008) relegates that information to a side of the box in the Nutrition Facts panel. In one teabag there is enough vitamin B6 and B12 to supply 20% of the recommended daily amount. Be mindful that the amount present in one teabag might not equal the amount in a cup of tea. I wonder if the tea drinkers who like their tea on the weak side will be getting as much of the added B vitamins as the strong tea drinkers?

If the addition of B vitamins was a (weak?) selling point and if it doesn’t change the taste of the tea if not added, then why is it added? I also wonder if Celestial Seasonings studied how long you have to soak your one teabag to get all the vitamins they claim on the Nutrition Facts panel. By putting a value on this Food and Drug Administration required panel the intention is to show consumers what and how much of what they are consuming. We have no way of knowing how much vitamin B will be consumed by drinking of cup of tea. Don’t bank on this tea for providing your daily intake of B vitamins. Eat something multi-grain!

The ingredients appear to be about the same as before. A few ingredient names are slightly changed, like eleuthero ginseng root has become eleuthero, and peppermint leaves has become peppermint. The order of the contents is the same, which means that these ingredients are in the same relative quantities as before. Doesn’t seem like the tea blend has been changed, except to not specify whether it is the root or leaves used for most ingredients.

Ingredients of Tension Tamer Herbal Tea

• eleuthero
• peppermint
• cinnamon
• ginger
• chamomile
• West Indian lemongrass
• licorice
• catnip
• tilia flowers
• natural lemon flavor with other natural flavors (contains soy lecithin)
• hops
• Vitamins B6 and B12

I could smell the tea right after taking off the clear plastic wrap. Opening the cardboard box showed a heat-sealed inner liner made of waxed- or parchment-type paper to hold the teabags. The tea smelled like American pennyroyal, a menthol-smelling cousin of the mints. Opening the bag brought out an even stronger minty smell.

Tension Tamer’s taste is like before, only with a stronger flavor and more tones of mint. On steeping the tea you could smell mint at first and then pick up the citrus overtones. Tasting it after a 4-6 minute steep and removing the bag – as the directions suggest – gave a minty lemon taste, very pleasing to the tongue and not too bitter, balanced with sweetness and finished off with slight licorice tones. Feels clean in my mouth!

I’ve always liked lemon and citrus flavors and licorice, so I found Tension Tamers herbal tea a refreshing cup.

I didn’t really taste the ginger to say Hey, there’s ginger in there, but I’ll bet that your taste buds will come to attention with this tea. There is a little snap to it! No need for sugar or honey, in my opinion.

Might be nice to use a bag or two of Tension Tamers tea in a glass jug for sun tea. I’d mix a black or green tea with it to give that a sweet lemony touch.

I do love a company who takes on the view of a world in harmony. I get that feeling from Celestial Seasonings. The bottom of the tea box emphasizes that the company is environmentally aware by using recycled paperboard in their packaging and by supporting sustainable harvesting in many countries. Makes sense to do that last part – if your commodity is grown halfway around the world and you rely on long-distance transport to receive your product – you better help take care of the people harvesting your product in the first place, right? Ethical trade, Rock On!

Our local Giant Food Store sold the 20-bag box for $2.29, but you can buy Tension Tamer herbal tea directly from Celestial Seasonings for $2.99. Enjoy!

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This week I received the 2010 catalog from Lilypons Water Gardens, a water gardening supplier in Adamstown, Maryland. The catalog is useful, informative and nice to look at. The company byline says it all —

The Source for Water Gardening Since 1917

These guys are into water gardening! I remember lots of ponds, water lilies and potted plants when visiting the their water garden center over 20 years ago. Nice day.

Photos of water lilies in the 2010 Lilypons catalog are enlarged to show just the blossom and large enough to really see the blossom. Photos include closeups of —

• hardy water lilies
• tropical water lilies
• lotus
• iris
• bog plants
• tropical bogs
• goldfish and koi

The rest of the catalog serves to dish out planting supplies, pond filters and pumps, tools, liners and cleaners.

Pay attention to the headers and footnotes on the water lily pages, where the hardiness and care requirements are listed for each page. This information could be better placed right in the Plant Guide that details the spread and lighting requirements for each plant. At any rate all the information is there if you’re not too sure about planting water lilies in your pond.

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Lately, I’ve been drinking a cup or two of tea in the late afternoon right around the time I venture to the kitchen looking for a snack. A lot of the time the tea is the snack, so it’s probably a good thing to substitute an herbal tea for some kind of carbohydrate-laden quick snack. As the all-knowing “they” say, moderation is the key.

In the kitchen there is a drawer with all kinds of tea and other powdered drinks like cappuccino, cocoas, and coffees. I rummaged through there the other day and found an old tattered box that I was going to toss in the garbage. I checked the contents and found some odor to the tea bags, so I made a cup. I was very pleasantly surprised! I don’t know why the tea wasn’t tasting stale because I know that box had been hiding in the back of the drawer for a long time - years!

Tension Tamer Tea

I’m not sure what the princess riding the dragon is supposed to represent, but she is holding a cup of tea. Perhaps she is calming the beast?

Previously, I hadn’t tried too many herbal teas and remember not liking chamomile tea – but that was a long time ago. I’m not sure why I even tried this Tension Tamer tea, but I’m glad I did. It renewed the hunt for teas to enjoy! Check out this ingredient list -

Tension Tamer Tea Ingredients

• eleuthero ginseng root
• peppermint leaves
• cinnamon
• ginger root
• chamomile flowers
• lemon grass
• licorice root
• catnip leaves
• tilia flowers
• natural lemon flavor
• hops
• vitamins B6 and B12 (20% Daily Value in one teabag)

I know I enjoyed the licorice root in this tea, but were the other ingredients really “there” after being in the box for so long? What about the ginseng and other stuff? I’ll have to find this tea in the market and try it again. Until then I’ll have to find out what other teas might be lurking in that kitchen drawer.

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Look out for more Fall Sales. Stay tuned.

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After the morning chill is gone and the sun warms everything a bit, we’ll take the scissors or pruners to cut down some herbs. If the plant is an annual, it’ll be pulled out of the ground and the excess soil removed from the roots.

Large stems or whole plants will be draped over a wire mesh for drying. Bulky plants will be turned every so often or trimmed down so that air can circulate around the plant parts we want to collect.

Once the plant seems dry to the touch, it can be manicured or clipped into smaller pieces.

Catnip was harvested a couple days ago by pulling out the entire plant. The three feet tall stems were laid on a piece of (untreated) plywood in the garage. The stems were turned about once a day so that all parts could dry out. After three days time the plant was almost completely dry, except for a few tips of the stems.

At this point a large, black plastic bag was laid out flat. The purpose of the bag was to give a clean surface on which to collect the dried herb. Each stem was manicured by cutting off the flowering spikes and leaves, which were allowed to fall onto the plastic bag.

Leaves that had turned brown – the catnip plant was drying up from the bottom as it concentrated on flowering and producing seeds – were stripped off and placed in a separate pile from the dried green herb. The brown leaves will go to the cats and the green leaves will go into tea. When you strip leaves from the stems try not to crumble the leaves so the herb’s essence will remain intact.

The cut catnip was allowed to lay out on the plastic bag for another day before being collected into small brown bags for temporary storage. Each bag was labeled with “Catnip – September 2008″. Catnip for tea will be stored in a glass container inside a cupboard.

What are you going to harvest today?