Thinking outside the box

Each year Leana and I try to come up with something different for our holiday wrapping. I usually use plain brown wrapping paper and create something with herbs and plants from the garden. This year we used brown paper and garden twine. Then I snipped Bay Laurel and a handful of Lavender. The tag is a leaf from a sweet gum tree down the street. And, we made tiny sachets and stuffed them with dried Lavender buds and dried crushed Bay Laurel leaves.
I think it makes a lovely alternative to the "usual", don't you?
Fill your garden with joy!

Gifts from the Garden Part 2

We were bubbling over with ideas for gifts from the garden on Friday.
Here are a few more herb blend ideas:
Asian style herb blend: Fennel seed, star anise, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon.
Spanish style: Smoked Paprika, Sweet Paprika, Pepper, Cumin, Lemon zest.
Latin style: Cumin, Oregano, Pepper, Chili powder, (you could even add a touch of Cinnamon & Cocoa powder).
Indian style: Tumeric, Cumin, Cardamon, Coriander, dry mustard and Cayenne.
The possibilities are endless, but this should be enough to
get you started on creating your own.  Have fun with the jars. I think you could use old jam jars, go to antique shops and find old jars. Here are some jars I had in my cupboard. 

More spice jar ideas from Crate and Barrel

Gifts from the Garden

We talked about gifts from the garden on Friday's show and here's one of our ideas:

Make your own customized herb blends.

Herbs de Provence is a favorite. I use thyme, fennel seed, lavender, tarragon, marjoram and bay. Savory is another herb you can add. I just don't happen to have any in my garden at the moment. Dry the herbs and blend to your own taste.
Package in little jars, like left over jam jars. Or go all out and buy cool containers.

Make this into a seasoning salt by adding sea salt!

One more reason to plant lots of herbs in your garden.
Fill your garden with joy!

Garden Gossip Friday December 2nd-Gifts from the Garden and Chef MD, Dr. John La Puma

Great show today with Dr. John La Puma (author of Chef MD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine). Dr. La Puma gave us some tips on how to enjoy the holidays without packing on extra pounds and how to bring your cholesterol down without harmful drugs (cholesterol drug Lipitor went generic this week).
We've got gift ideas from your garden and of course there is the Montecito Landscape/Garden Gossip photo calendar give-away. No one had the correct guess for name that plant, so we'll continue that next week. Listen to rebroadcast Saturday at 11am on newspress.com or download past episodes from www.montecitolandscape.com

Don't Plant a Pest

Last week on Garden Gossip, Invasive plant specialist, David Chang, gave us some great info on what to plant and what not to plant in our landscapes. Certainly we all know that Pampas Grass is not a friend in our gardens, but did you know that Fountain Grass is another invasive species that we need to avoid? These plants "jump the fence" and invade native environments, causing a real threat to our biodiversity. There are plenty of viable alternatives to the invasive species, find out more by visiting the California Invasive Plant Council website. www.cal-ipc.org
You can listen to the show here Garden Gossip Radio Show

Organic Vampire, Witch Control and General Protection from Evil

Today is the 31st of October and you will most definitely need protection from evil tonight, since it's a very popular evening for marauding Vampires, Witches and the like. But, did you know that most of the protection you need is right in your own garden? Yep. So without further introduction here is the Organic Halloween Safety List for 2011 (the last two aren't exactly in your garden or organic, but you want to be safe, right?):

1. Eat lots of Garlic: It is well known that Vampires have an aversion to Garlic. Even in China and Malaysia Garlic has been used as Vampire repellent. You can also string it up over your doorways to prevent Vampires from entering your home. 
2. Carry a bag of Poppy Seeds: Vampires are compulsive counters, so if you suspect someone of being a Vampire, throw Poppy Seeds at them and hope they will be distracted long enough (they will have to start counting them, you see) for you to get away. 
3. Thorns of Wild Roses also repel Vampires. No one seems to know why this works, but it does. 
4. Make sure you have lots of Wolf Bane; It repels Werewolves. Not sure there is any other way to protect yourself from Werewolves. 
5. String Chili Peppers around your neck and around the entrance to your house as this will repel a wide variety of Monsters and Ghouls. 
6. Fennel is another plant useful for protection. Hang Fennel over your front door to prevent the entry of Witches. 
7. Now, if for some reason you do get a hex put on you, use Bay Laurel to break the spell. It's a good idea to keep some Bay around for this reason. Rosemary is a suitable substitute. 
8. Lavender and Oak will protect from the Evil Eye. 
9. The only actual protection from Zombies, apparently, is a chainsaw and an axe...I couldn't find any reliable Zombie or Ghoul repellent. 
10. Wear a cross, this seems to help with all sorts of evil from Vampires to Witches. 
11. Holy water provides good all-around protection from any unexpected Halloween situation. Keep a vial around your neck just to be safe.

Have a Happy (and safe) Halloween night! 

A Bit of Halloween History

Halloween, a time to dress up in some crazy outfit and go have some fun..but why do we do this? And why on the 31st of October?
Let's go back to the 5th century, B.C. Celtic Ireland for the answer. The Celtic new year was November 1st and it was thought that on new year's eve (October 31st) that everyone who had died in the previous year came back to look for a new body to inhabit! Apparently, this was their only way for an afterlife..
Of course the living, not wanting to be possessed needed a solution to this conundrum. They dressed up in outlandish and scary costumes and paraded around making as much noise a possible to frighten away the marauding spirits who were looking for bodies to possess..
And, what about Jack 'O Lanterns? Also and Irish tradition, though in Ireland they used root vegetables like turnips and potatoes (pumpkins are native to the Americas). This custom of hollowing them out, carving ghoulish images into them and placing a lighted candle inside was all in an effort to ward off evil spirits and especially the spirits who roamed the countryside on October 31st! Happy Halloween!