Date: June 7th 2008

June 6, 2008

Dear Folks,

HEAT ALERT! As I put the finishing touches on this newsletter (and get ready for my
vacation) the long-range forecast shows a heat spike for the weekend of the 15th -
110 into the teens. Keep the water meter handy for the garden and a glass of herb
water for yourself!

. . .

These are random notes, either responding to questions or related to any of the usual
and unusual cooking herbs or edible flowers and other edibles, many found at Farmers
Markets.* References to growing conditions are for Sunset Zone 13, USDA 9b. All
other information on use is applicable anywhere you wish to enjoy herbs!

*Please support your local farmers at these markets (locally owned, locally grown,
locally produced). To locate farmers markets in your area the USDA maintains a site -
click on the state and a pdf file comes up with markets listed by city.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm

For Arizona only Farmers Markets here is a special link:

http://www.foodconnect.org/farmers_markets/locator.asp

. . .

Locavore -- see near the end for locally owned shopping.

An On-Line Class -- see below

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Dear Folks,

WEATHER

"Normal" temp range for June: Temperature Range Low 67 / High 110+

Expect some scorchers this month!
***************************************
GARDENING

I am off on a short vacation, so this will be a short newsletter.

THE HORSERADISH PROJECT

As promised, I will share my horseradish story. The good news is my plan to plant in
the fall and harvest in late spring worked.

The horseradish died back some during the winter and just really jumped out in the
warming soil, but I felt I had to wait some before harvesting the roots, so we dug the
whole plant up about 3 weeks ago, I cut about 10 pieces of small thin roots off, and
we placed the plant back in the ground.

I notched some of the thinner pieces of root to tell top from bottom, placed in a damp
paper towel in a ziplock and into the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. If they stay
viable, this fall I will start a new series of plants.

I took the thickest pieces and set them aside for grating -- and forgot them! Of course
they dried out some by the time I remembered, but I wanted my own horseradish, so I
scraped the skin away, used my bullet blender with a bit of water to grind down,
waited about 5 minutes and added vinegar -- and I HAD HORSERADISH - nice kick
too! I wound up with all of a little less than 1/4 cup -- but it is mine!

Horseradish is one of those things that can give an 'indefinable' touch to foods. See
the recipe below.

Back to the horseradish plant itself. Typically they just can't take our heat. After
putting the plant back in the ground it drooped completely. Several days later, there
were new leaves coming up from the center. Today as I write this newsletter they are
about 3 times the size. So begins phase 2 of Catherine's horseradish project -- will
the plant survive the summer? We will see -- I will keep you posted.

JUNE IN THE GARDEN AND PLANTING:

As noted above June in the garden, can make you wish to live under a hose. Our
apples are ripe now; the apricots are done; the last of the peach trees are ripening;
plums are bright colors, but still very tart; and the basil is getting deliriously happy; we
have a ton of heirloom black cherry plum tomatoes (really a large grape type) set on
the vines and ripening in stages; the meadow garden with the pineapple mint, lime
scented geranium, french tarragon and still-very-happy nasturtiums continues to prove
a point about overhead-sun to me -- it gets no morning or afternoon sun this time of
year and everything is thriving on about 2 to 2 and a half hours of overhead sun a day.
This same garden gets sun all winter long from the east (deciduous trees to the east of
it), and has proven a great experiment of offering some plants which will not take a lot
of intense sun an option to a 'shade-specific' area.

The point of edibles: either essential-oil-rich herbs or fruiting plants like tomato (there
is a BCP type in this meadow garden too -- more about that in next paragraph) is they
need enough sun to create the oils or fruits. Sometimes the fine line between enough
and too-much proves to be exactly where the plants are placed in relation to cool
shade troughs (the shade of trees nearby can create a 'drift' of slightly cooler air at
soil level -- my thesis) -- so they benefit not so much from the actual shade but by the
'climate zone' created by the trees themselves.

Back to the BCP tomato -- this heirloom type freely reseeds in various areas of the
garden and because we enjoy it so much (has a taste similar to Purple Cherokee or one
of the Russian Blacks) we let it do "its thing." A notable point about the tomato in
this meadow area with its less than 4 hours of sun a day, is the plant is vigorous,
healthy and also not nearly as productive or large as the ones in the fuller sun areas.

What does that all mean to gardeners? The difference between a good and healthy
plant and one which is highly productive can be as little a difference as a couple of
hours of sun a day.

Next issue I will do a little more on 'zones' within your own garden.

PLANTING IN JUNE:

Seed in Basil, Chive (Garlic or Onion) -- making use of the canopy of flowering or
vegetable plants.

OTHER EDIBLES TO PLANT: armenian cucumbers, chilies, eggplant, Cantaloupe,
Musk Melons, Okra, sweet peppers, Sweet Potato, summer squash, winter squash,
tomatillo, gourds, corn.

FLOWERS: Multitasking flowers like sweet alyssum will grow year round in full sun.
Purslane, portulaca and sunflower can still be planted or seeded in.

Get the beginners guide to growing in the desert:

"Edible Landscaping in the Desert Southwest: Wheelbarrow to Plate"

http://books.google.com/books?id=uDio8-sC2wMC

LOOK FOR: The June issue of "Phoenix Magazine" (page 42) did a nice article on me
showing me in the meadow (noted above).

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RECIPES:

We have been canning our apricots and peaches and I just had to try something with
the apricot preserves, my horseradish and basil!

APRICOT CHICKEN
2 chicken boneless chicken breasts
3-4 tablespoons of apricot preserves (preserves have chunks of fruit)
6 leaves of purple basil
knife tip of horseradish
water

Shred or sliver basil, mix apricot preserves, horseradish and basil together. Add
a bit of water just to loosen. Set aside.
Sear chicken 1 minute on each side on medium high heat. Turn over and add
mixture spreading across the top, reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 5 minutes.
Uncover and finish cooking without turning. Thin breasts take about 12 minutes total,
thicker may take 15 and huge may take 20. I added roasted eggplant, squash and
sweet potato sprinkled with some blood orange olive oil as a side dish.

MORE RECIPES at:

http://www.azalmanac.com

I have a regularly segment on gardening and cooking on Ed Phillips' streaming radio
program at the above site. The site has both current recipes and archives of past
ones.

And, my recipe book "101+ Recipes from The Herb Lady"

http://books.google.com/books?id=27dG_KCwjBAC

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FARMERS MARKET
I am at the Friday market on Center in Mesa. (And One Windmill Farms has
some great fall/winter produce and as always wonderful tomatoes etc.)

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My newly re-packaged herb blends are available through the website.

Have fun in the garden and kitchen,

Catherine

http://www.herbs2u.net

E-zine and books available at:

http://www.lulu.com/herbs2u

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LOCAVORE
Are you a locavore? Simply put a locavore is someone who makes the
conscious decision to purchase goods and produce grown, made or produced within
100 miles of their home.

More Information:

Edible Phoenix is a print magazine, produced quarterly and is part of the edible
communities organization.

Find the current issue at your local farmers market or go on line to:

http://www.ediblephoenix.com

. . .

BUY LOCAL

http://www.localfirstaz.com

Here is the place to start when looking for locally owned businesses. Begun as
"Arizona Chain Reaction" to focus on locally owned businesses, this non-profit group
encourages support of your neighbors and friends who own businesses in Arizona.
Check out their site.

. . .

Queen Creek Olive Mill is the only olive mill in Arizona, producing traditional and
flavored extra virgin olive oils -- the blood orange olive oil mentioned above is created
in a single cold press where they put the oranges right in with olives for pressing (they
also have a lemon EVOO which is also excellent).

Super offerings and now they have a lovely little patio area with nice snack/lunch
options.

http://www.queencreekolivemill.com

. .

Personalized branding iron for grilling. 480-330-3619

http://www.tbonebrands.com

. .

San Dominique Winery, Arizona's oldest continuously operated family winery, is also
home to garlic paradise. 602/549-9787.

http://www.garlicparadise.com/

. . .

Another great locally owned Arizona farmer is Kathy Marshall and her goats' milk
lotions and soaps made with the milk of her dairy goat herd. Fresh eggs too!

http://www.dbgoatsmilk.com

. . .

A source for finding other local sources of food is Local Harvest. They have teamed up
with the Slow Foods folks.

http://www.localharvest.org

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CLASSES/EVENTS:

I am putting together a program for an on-line class which would start next fall. If you
have an interest, below is a link for an information list - no obligation, just a way to
seek your input on the class and distribute information to you.

http://www.herbs2u.net/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/On_Line_Class/

GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH:
Copy whole link into your browser (or click on it) and then you can search for words
or phrases in box provided.

"101+ Recipes from The Herb Lady"

http://books.google.com/books?id=27dG_KCwjBAC

"Edible Landscaping in the Desert Southwest: Wheelbarrow to Plate"

http://books.google.com/books?id=uDio8-sC2wMC

My short booklet on choosing fruit trees like peach and apricot is now available --
choose print or download:

"What a Chill Hour"?

http://www.lulu.com/content/2185385

View the last newsletter and see prior ones at:

http://www.herbs2u.net/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/archive/herbs%32unl/newest