gardengus said: we have used a little lemon basil in chicken dishes
but a little goes a long way
I have found that dried it is not'' too'' flavorful and good in chicken soup

I do not usually dry basil.

I don't dry basil either. I do try to freeze some near the end of the year.

I tried waiting for my basil seedlings to get bigger but they are just not growing very quickly. So even though they are small today I planted out all my Passion DMR Basil and half of my Prospera Basil seedlings.
The basil seedlings usually grow like crazy once planted out but it is so late in the season so I don't know how quickly they will grow. It was cold out both yesterday and today but supposed to go back to the 70's for daytimes highs soon.

Baby basils planted yesterday looking vey good today.

I planted lemon verbena instead of lemongrass this year and am delighted by how well it's grown and the scent is heavenly. I'll be harvesting it for drying soon. I'm going to try protecting the roots during winter, but I'm not optimistic about its survival. I see in our database it can be rooted in water. Has anyone tried that over the winter for spring planting?

Lemon verbena is a perennial down here - unless we get a snowmeggedon again. It would do better if you just took a start in a pot. I suspect you have too deep a frost line for it to overwinter outdoors. Younger starts survive better in dirt. It is part of the verbena family.

Right, it is likely too cold, which is why I want to start it from the plant. What do you mean by "take a start in a pot?" Root directly in soil rather than water? I'm questioning the time of year for that...any tips?

kittriana said: Matt cilantro and coriander are 'Mexican' words. Cilantro is used to describe the green leaf, coriander means the mature seeds that are used. Kinda like jalapeño and chipotle, jalapeño is the green pepper, chipotle means a ripe smoked and dried jalapeño.

Hi kittriana



You are of course correct, but where I live - it is all coriander - leafy or not.

All the best
Matt

That entire basil seedlings saga seems to have taken a long time. Passion basil seeds sprouting September 5th and then planted out only this Saturday September 24th. Sure hope they grow faster now that they are planted out.

Here is my Devotion DMR basil still growing well

Planted out the last of my Prospera Basil Seedlings. Dumped the soil out of some pots that only have weeds now so I can put those pots away for the winter. They did have basil earlier in the year.

Zoe, use a 1 gal pot, potting soil, I usually wait til just before the frosts hit so the plant survives til warm weather, take about 3 tender cuttings, don't put more than 2 in the pot, and yes, root them into dirt, but water a bit heavy at first, ( like water 3 days and skip til later to water the 4th day, then gradually reduce water.) and keep soil warm, at least above 70*. Water roots stay colder and a plant struggles to convert water roots to dirt roots.

Thanks Kat.

My stevia is just now starting to flower
rather late , expecting another frost tonight.





there are still flowers on the calandula and nasturtium.
I think I will pick flowers today ,calandula petals make good (colorful) add to herbal teas

The Salvia apiana also bloomed super late this year, like your Stevia. I was hoping to get some seeds for a swap in which I'm participating this year, but unfortunately, I don't think the seeds will be ready in time. It's by far my most popular offer as well (double ouchie).

ETA: Are you in a drought? We are over here, so I'm thinking that's why a lot of plants took a long time to flower this year.

Both calendula and nasturtium petals add color to salads, too. Nasturtium leaves and buds are also tasty. Alas, neither of these lovely plants likes my hot summers which sometimes arrive quite early. I am successful with them only if we have a prolonged temperate spring.

Speaking of tea, I've been drying out some prickly pears I harvested two weeks ago or so to make tea. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what might work well with prickly pears? I've never had or heard of prickly pear tea, so maybe it's gross, but I'm the type of guy who will try it anyway.

Johannian said: The Salvia apiana also bloomed super late this year, like your Stevia. I was hoping to get some seeds for a swap in which I'm participating this year, but unfortunately, I don't think the seeds will be ready in time. It's by far my most popular offer as well (double ouchie).

Congratulations on a blooming S. apiana! They are such pungently fragrant plants and I love the white resinous leaves! Since overwatering is so often their cause of death, your drought might have contributed to their success.

Funny you mention prickly pear; on this morning's walk a friend and I stopped and discussed a large patch of fruited pps and its versatility. Here and in Mexico they are used for all sorts of dishes. All I got today were spines in my fingers from handling them!

Here's what the Mayo clinic says about nopal (prickly pear) tea:

"It might be too early to call prickly pear cactus a superfood, but it can be part of a healthy diet. It's high in fiber, antioxidants and carotenoids. Indeed, prickly pear cactus is popular in many areas of the world, particularly Latin America, where it is a native plant."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/hea...

NMoasis said: Congratulations on a blooming S. apiana! They are such pungently fragrant plants and I love the white resinous leaves! Since overwatering is so often their cause of death, your drought might have contributed to their success.

Thanks! I must confess, however, that I did literally nothing to grow them, lol. S. apiana grows natively (it's starting to take over the front lawn) in the Black Hills, so we just get to enjoy it. Last year, they bloomed way before the time that they bloomed this year.

NMoasis said: Funny you mention prickly pear; on this morning's walk a friend and I stopped and discussed a large patch of fruited pps and its versatility. Here and in Mexico they are used for all sorts of dishes. All I got today were spines in my fingers from handling them!

Here's what the Mayo clinic says about nopal (prickly pear) tea:

"It might be too early to call prickly pear cactus a superfood, but it can be part of a healthy diet. It's high in fiber, antioxidants and carotenoids. Indeed, prickly pear cactus is popular in many areas of the world, particularly Latin America, where it is a native plant."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/hea...

Yikes! Yes, you really have to be careful with opuntia, even with gloves. I've gotten glochids even through leather gloves. They're so tasty though.

In case you're considering harvesting any time soon (it's peak harvesting time over here, don't know about NM), I just take the back side of a knife (the flat, dull edge) and hold the pear with my index finger and thumb (with gloves on), then run the back of the knife along the pear. This takes off all the glochid areoles once you rinse the fruit.

Thanks for the info! Good to know that they're healthy. Always a bonus when something is super tasty and healthy.

Johannian said:

ETA: Are you in a drought? We are over here, so I'm thinking that's why a lot of plants took a long time to flower this year.

........................................
Yes, we have not had any rain for three weeks and most of summer we were in a moderate drought .
I agree that could put plants on an unusual time line.