Tag: gardening

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Forgotten herb: clary sage

A year one clary sage plant growing in my organic backyard garden

There can only be one reason we forgot about clary sage: modern pharmaceuticals.

close enough pronunciation “clare-E  sayjuh”

Clary sage was THE go-to herb for our female ancestors to reduce the monthly discomfort of menstruation cycles. Your great-grandmother probably looked forward to the relief of a cup of brewed clary sage tea as she busied around the house.

But, we still forgot an herb that half of our ancestors likely used on a monthly basis.

The scent is like a deeper, more woody lavender. In soaps, lotions and diffusers, clary sage smells great blended with lemon or black pepper.

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Don’t get me wrong. It is not a ladies-only herb.

You can use clary sage in recipes like its cousin, garden sage, the better-known complement to pork and risotto dishes. The famous herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper, wrote about using wild English clary to flavor beer and wine in 1653.

clary seedling.JPG

I grew my clary sage from seed within a raised garden bed, which actually seems almost cruel. The plant stretches its stems like arms with big, leafy hands. As my clary sage grows, it seems to try to escape the confines of the bed.

It is a really beautiful plant. If you like big, broad leaves with interesting texture, you should consider growing this in your garden. The leaves have a soft kale-like appearance, and the stems are a rich, deep rose-purple. Clary sage can even join your regular landscaping. It is a biannual in most parts of the US and would be beautiful along a walkway or mixed in between grasses.

clary up close2.JPG

Over the years, I developed an appreciation, maybe almost a preference for biannual plants. There is something special about a plant that only appears for two years and reinvents itself each time it greets the growing season.

In year one, you can expect your clary sage to feature stunning wide leaves. In year two, it will flower as long as it’s in a sunny location. If you let it go to seed, it will pretty much reward you with a life-time supply.

clary plant

Culpeper had some unusual ideas about clary seeds. Unlike him, I do not recommend putting them in your eyes. Given my past experiences, I think it would be much better to clip the towers of flowers and tuck them into a vase for a powerful floral and herbal display.

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Worst gardening mistake I ever made

Don’t read this post. It will ruin the whole illusion for you. Right now, as far as you know, my garden grows weed-less. My flowers are always crowned with a glistening morning dew. My local farm stands always have lush offerings, and my hair always holds a perfect curl.

Why are you still reading?

Ok, fine.

I brought it on myself, really. It’s not like I don’t know what happens when seeds fall into soil and water lands on them.

Last year, I had a beautiful chive plant. It grew nearly 4′ tall and blossomed snow-white flowers. Those flowers were the trendiest new bar in town for my neighbor’s honey bees. We were all so happy. Me, with my beautiful flowering chive, and the bees with the nectar.

chives stepped back

In fact, those flowers were so pretty, I let them stay in bloom in September.

And since there were a few late bloomers, I didn’t cut them down as they went to seed in October. Oh wow, did that chive plant know how to make seeds.

We were in the middle of a major renovation of the first floor of our farm house, which is probably why I got lazy. I never did go back and clear out that dry, seedy chive plant.

And those seeds went everywhere.

Boom. Seedling explosion.

The following Spring, roughly 10,000 baby chive plants sprung up all around my garden. It was intense. A 4′ diameter around the momma chive blanketed with her hairy little babies.

chives wild.JPG

Tough little suckers, too. I could pull and tug. Those seedlings just snap in half and grow a stronger, chunkier root ball.

I spent some time digging around the garden bed with my bare hands to pull up the chives. Maybe, I got 8,000 of them. Mostly I just gave up and planted some hearty green bean seeds in the bed with the chives. Figured some sturdy, little green beans would be capable of bursting through the chive forest. And they more or less did.

I’d like to say that if I could go back in time I would cut down those pretty white flowers before they caused me trouble. But, I probably wouldn’t. Circumstances being what they were. My family knee deep in construction debris, and me spending my evenings shimmying between towers of moving boxes to microwave frozen burritos.

Update! How I fixed it

After following a cycle of sprout-pull-resprout for a summer season with those chive seedlings, I was able to clean out the chive bed. In the early Autumn, I went in and dug through that bed with my bare hands. First, I pulled everything out that wasn’t a chive. Then, I went inch-by-inch through the garden soil, driving my hands below the surface, feeling for chive roots and lifting them out completely.

An half-hour later, there was a pile of little white chive root balls and green shoots in our compost bin. My back ached for two days, but I got a great leg and shoulder workout. I suspect there will be a few more chives to pull out next season. I’ll be ready. Of course, that would mean that letting one plant go to seed one time cost me two seasons of work to undo.

Oh well, only time will tell if the chive baby bomb retains its place as the worst mistake I ever made in the garden. But for now, champion crowned.

 

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Forgotten herb: Nasturtiums

Close-enough pronunciation: “Nah-stir-shums”

Spicy little things and tough too.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you have heard of this one. It probably puts you in the 1% of Americans who have, but it’s not completely erased from memory.

And now, some actual statistics. According to Google Trends (as of September 2018), you are most likely to have searched for nasturtiums if you live in…Alaska! Fascinating.

Nasturtiums are most popular in Alaska and Maine according to Google Trends
Nasturtiums receive the most searches in Alaska (source: trends.google.com September 2018)

It does require a little patience to grow nasturtiums. I don’t often see them at nurseries. They don’t transplant well, but it will save you time and money to grow nasturtiums yourself from seeds. I buy one cheap packet of seeds every Spring and place them all over my yard.

As long as you are patient with the little sprouts, nasturtiums grow well from seed, which might mean getting your hands dirty. But, if you are willing to plant them yourself, you will save a bundle over buying seedlings. You do need some patience. The seedlings are straggly for a little while.

Nast leaf.JPG

When they finally mature and start to bloom, the flowers are abundant. The colors are absolutely bright and brilliant. Keep scrolling for a stunning display of the wide variety of nasturtium colors you can find online.


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You can eat the flowers and the leaves. The flavor is spicy. They make beautiful butters and add a peppery bite to salads. The leaves and flowers can be brewed into tea. Peppery tea. I think I’d have fun mixing fresh nasturtium tea with complementary flavors, like lemon, orange and lavender.

One of the best characteristics is the sturdiness of the flowers. These blooms might look like tissue paper, but they are surprisingly long-lasting in an arrangement.

For the perfect impression and an affordable alternative to orchids, pick a bowl full of nasturtiums and place one bloom on each plate just before your guests arrive for brunch. You can use the leaves as garnish for hors d’oeuvres and platters.

My grandmother, Peg (born 1929), loved nasturtiums. Her sons could identify the plants on sight. Proof positive that we only started to forget this herb recently.

I was on vacation when she passed away in 2016. In my grief and the confusion to pack up and get home asap, I forgot to send flowers to the funeral home. I had a wonderful grandmother who adored her flower gardens, and I…forgot…to…send…flowers…to…her…funeral. Ouch.

It’s not that there weren’t any flowers there. My parents and relatives ordered beautiful, big arrangements with sashes on them: Mother, Grandmother, Aunt, Sister. But, when I arrived at the wake and realized there was nothing from me to her, I felt hollow.

The afternoon before her funeral, I was wandering through the garden in search of some peace and calm. It was mid-August. My nasturtium vines were covered in blooms. What a saving grace.

I picked about 20 flowers and honored Gram’s Irish heritage with a beautifully-simple, hand-gathered arrangement: one big lime-green hydrangea circled by orange and white nasturtium flowers.

Thanks to offcenterfarm.com for letting me take photos of her beautiful variegated nasturtiums for this article.

verNast3

As promised, here’s a display of some of the stunning colors in the nasturtium rainbow.

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View the whole forgotten herb series.

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Best 5 items at Longnook Meadows Farm Stand, Truro, MA

July 28, 2018

On the last day of our summer vacation, we followed a small sign off Route 6 that lead us to the Longnook Farm Stand.

 

#5
Fresh basil

basil-v-2

You know the basil is fresh if it hasn’t started oxidizing (aka turning black). The leaves on this basil were perfect. It had been picked with care.

Bonus tip: to help keep your basil looking green longer, coat the leaves in oil, stack them, roll them up and slice with a sharp knife.

 

#4
Coffee

coffee v.2

Wait, they didn’t grow this coffee. I know, but it’s still a good idea. When I first saw this coffee for resale at this neighborhood stand, I shrugged off including it in a farmstand5. But then I started to warm up to the idea. farmstand5 is about showcasing variety. The family who runs the farm found something they liked it so much, they offered it to their customers. That resonates.

 

#3
Red leaf lettuce

redlettuce v.2

I keep coming back and staring at this photo. Just a simple head of lettuce leaves trimmed in beautiful purple hues. Makes me want salad with dinner!

 

#2
Thai garlic

longnookgarlic

Some extra effort came into play to bring this garlic to the farm stand. It had to be harvested and cured before it was ready to be placed in its basket for sale. Thai garlic is special. It gives your dishes a spicy kick.

 

#1
Native honey

honey-v-21

Talk about special, this farm stand offered self-branded local honey. As our vacation comes to an end, I love the idea of bringing home a little bit of Cape Cod. It will bring back happy memories every time we open the jar.

 

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Rose’s Berry Farm Stand, Hartford, CT

Back to farmstand5 full list.