Last summer I started a Rosemary plant and transplanted it in a big pot ,,, just for fun I put it in the house and by spring it was very large ,, now its outside in the same big pot ,,

Question is what can I do with all this rosemary ?

Hi oldplanter:

to All Things Plants!

I've never been able to keep a Rosemary plant alive but If I had a huge pot of that wonderfully scented plant, I'd definitely use it for cooking (Rosemary Chicken is yummy!) or drying and making Potpourri and Sachets!

If you take the time to dry it, you can package it for gifts. Rosemary also makes a nice tea.

Is there a special way to dry it ,, do I take the little needles off the stems ,, seal it in a zip lock bag ? I live alone so gifts would be nice to do ,, thanks for the replys ,,

Hi! to ATP!

I made a very simple drying rack out of cheesecloth. I just hung it from the ceiling in our back room using a staple gun.

Gather sprigs of your rosemary in the morning and rinse it very lightly. Strip the leaves from the stem and sprinkle them thinly on top of your drying surface. When they're dry enough to snap in two when you pick one up, they can be stored.

Another that I love to do is making herbed vinegars. The following is a re-posting of an article I wrote a while ago.


Herbed Vinegars



Making flavored vinegars from herbs harvested from your own garden is very easy, and so very tasty!

The best vinegars to use are -

Red wine vinegar - Attractive color; mildly gusty.

White wine vinegar - Nearly clear; very delicate flavor.

Rice vinegar - Very subtle flavor.

Champagne vinegar - I haven't found this one locally here, but it's touted to be similar to white wine vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar - Pretty, light brown coloring; strong flavor of apples.

Malt vinegar - I haven't made an herbal vinegar with this one yet, but I like it on fish and chips! Very powerful scent and strong flavor.

White distilled vinegar should be reserved for very strong or hot compositions as its flavor can be a bit overpowering to your final product.

If you are planning on giving some of your flavored vinegars away as gifts or you place high emphasis on a visually pleasing end product you'll want to boil your chosen vinegar for just about three minutes to sterilize it. If you skip this step, your vinegar may appear cloudy after a few months in storage.



Herbs

-- Please practice safety first! --Never harvest and consume any plant unless you know it's safe to eat! --


You can use fresh or dried herbs, but by far the better choice is fresh from your garden. Choose a day after a rain or rinse the chosen herbs the day before you plan to harvest them. Rinsing them after they're picked will lessen their flavor content. Pick them in the late morning when they are dry, but preferably before they get hot from the sun.

Pull pieces of leaves off of them stems and add them to whatever jar you've decided to use. You can recycle old mayonnaise and mustard jars, use jelly jars or do what I like to do and use the bottles the vinegars are packaged in.

Pour vinegar over the herbs and cover. You may begin checking the flavor after a few days. However, I just let mine sit for at least three weeks before using to allow the flavors enough time to slowly steep from the herbs. I like mine strong, but if you like a more delicate flavor simply remove the herbs from the bottle once the desired taste is reached. Pouring this mix over a bit of cheesecloth is helpful if you'd like to strain out all of your steeping herbs.
If giving as a gift - after straining, add a whole sprig of the herb to the jar for increased visual appeal.

Mix and match your own concoctions of herbs and spices - whatever sounds good to you.

One of my favorites is Rosemary, Tarragon & Chives - with a Nasturtium flower for added color.

-Two sprigs of Rosemary
-Two sprigs of Tarragon
-As much chopped Chives as will fill about half of your container - they have a subtle flavor in vinegar.
-One Nasturtium bloom, pick a color that goes well with your chosen vinegar's color.

Remember that any added ingredient is entirely optional - if you're short on Nasturtium blooms or Chives, simply leave them out. Add Peppercorns or Garlic cloves, whatever you'd like!

Have fun with these easy, and yummy treats! Your flavored vinegars will keep indefinitely.

Added note:
I prefer to store mine out of direct sunlight so the colors don't fade.


Chelle

September 7, 2010.

I don't do much in the way of drying fragrant plants/leaves but I do have one Lavender plant that I've dried and I love the fragrance! I don't know if the company still exists but years ago I used to buy all kinds of dried flowers, herbs, spices etc. in bulk from the San Francisco Herb Company. I'd mix up batches of different scents and put them in decorative jars and containers. I also made little scented sachets using tightly woven lace or nylon netting. The sachets make great little gifts themselves and I also used the sachets for package ties on Birthday and Christmas packages.

Check your local fabric store for remnants; tightly woven lace is best to keep the potpourri from falling through. cut into small squares or rectangles. Sew or use fabric glue, adhering 3 reverse sides together and leaving one end open. Turn right side out and using a teaspoon, place rosemary or other mixture of potpourri inside the little bag. Tie the end tightly with a thin ribbon; tie a bow and voila ... pretty scented sachets!

Hi Oldplanter, and to ATP.

What growing zone do you live in? Rosemary can be grown in the ground down to zone 7.
It makes such a wonderful low hedge, that I can harvest from year round for recipes. And just enjoy for it's beauty and wonderful scent in the garden. The bees love it when it blooms.

I live in the southern part of Maine ,, I have taken a picture of it but I can only send it thru emails I think ,,
I'm new to this type of corresponding

Oldplanter, if the photo is on your hard drive, you can post it here easily. If you look below the area where you type your post, you should see a green box that says "Upload an Image." If you click on that, it will give you the option of browsing your computer to find the photo you want to upload. Ha! The hardest part for me is finding the darn picture on my hard drive!

Yes.
And I can't wait to see your photos.

I snip rosemary twigs off and put them in my cupboards. They repel the weevils that seem to show up occasionally in the grains. I just toss a sprig into the back of each shelf and put the groceries in front of them... Every few months I brush out the old bits and toss a new one back there.

I have also put a few fresh rosemary leaves in each section of an ice cube tray and filled the tray up the rest of the way with chicken broth. Once they're frozen I pop them out and store them in a baggie in the freezer, and when I'm making soup, I drop a couple in.

Marilyn: Love those tips!! I've never had weevils in my pantry but what a great idea for a repellent! And, I love your idea of freezing sprigs of Rosemary in ice cube trays with chicken broth!! Next time I'm at the $ store I'm going to buy a few ice cube trays!

Lots of potential Ideas here!

Good idea for the ice cube trays for soup I need to find someone to help me download the picture on my comp, I need to find the picture of the Rosemary plant like Woofie said the hard part is to find the folder ,, but dont give up I'm having senior moments more often now ahahaha

One thing I've done to make things easy for myself is;

Placed a folder on my desktop named ATP.
When I have a photo I want to post, I copy it into that folder. That way I only have one place to navigate to when uploading.

Yes, I do that too, Evan. And since I generally have very large photo files, I save them in a reduced size in my upload folder.

Marylyn, I've never had weevils, but I keep it in my cupboards to deter pantry moths. It really helps - it seems like they can't smell to find their food sources, or else they just hate it so much that they leave the cabinets. When I do a major pruning, I will put the branches around my Brassicas in the garden to confuse the Cabbage Whites. I guess it's a good all-around pest deterrent! I wonder what else it works for?

I grow my Rosemary in the ground, and it is now about as big as my car (though I do drive a small car ) after five years. You'll need to bring it during the winter in Maine, so won't get so big. Rosemary has a long taproot, so use a deep pot, and make sure the soil is well-draining. A lot of people kill Rosemary with love, so make sure you're not watering it until the soil is really good and dry, especially in winter.

Even in my humid climate, Rosemary will dry with little effort. I just set the cut branches out on the counter for a few days, then I can run my hand along them to remove the leaves into a container. Hanging from the rafters is another option.

I don't eat meat, but I hear it's popular on chicken and lamb. I love it on potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squash, either separately, or sometimes I'll chop up all three on a baking sheet with some olive oil, rosemary, and a bit of salt and roast until the potatoes are a bit crispy and the squash is tender. It also pairs well with white cheeses, so sometimes I'll make a "gourmet" mac n cheese by mixing pasta with a cream sauce, rosemary, and some Gouda or Swiss.

It's wonderful in bread too! A couple days ago I baked some wonderful Rosemary/Garlic whole wheat biscuits! Yum!

Ahh yes, how could I forget that? My husband is the baker in our house, but he does make a wonderful herb bread with lots of rosemary. It's good in a regular loaf, but if you make focaccia, rosemary is absolutely amazing in it.