Date: July 7th 2009

July 7, 2009

Dear Folks,

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

Ever wanted to learn about milking a goat? Now you can take a lesson
from Kathy Marshall out in Apache Junction.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/1215407694.html

. . .

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

. . .

A new service coming from yours truly, just provide your preferred
screen name for the information here (no obligation-just information):

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

. . .

WEATHER
"Normal" temp range for July: Temperature Range Low 77 / High 110+
August temps will be in the 74 to 108 range

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It's Almost Sowin' Time For The Fall Garden...
But you can get a jump start right now beginning July 15th. See
planting information below.

July in the garden is about harvesting and keeping the work activity
confined to the early morning and late afternoon/twilight time - and that's
a 'cool thing.'

With surface temperatures reaching near 180 in the mid-day, doing
anything then is neither healthy nor productive.

WILTING PLANTS I watch all my thin-leaved plants just wilt in the
afternoon, to retain their moisture levels. Plants like tomatoes, basil,
peppers, sage, and others just fold their leaves looking for all the world
like they are leaving the world, only to be standing upright and perky the
next morning. This is just one of the reasons why you should not water
mid-day -- the wilted-looking leaves may not be an indication of needing
water, and as crazy as it sounds, with the humidity on the rise, you can
actually overwater in the summer time.

Certain plants such as sage may go slightly dormant in growth pattern
during the high heat of July and August, so overwatering can be fatal to
them.

CHLOROSIS The extra water that our gardens do need with summer heat
can also create a mineral deficiency called chlorosis, where the iron in
the soil binds with the other minerals and makes the iron unavailable to
the plants. One of those 'side effects' of the necessary extra water. The
symptoms are a yellowing of the leaves leaving the veins still looking
green. Most prominent in the leaves of fruit trees, this is an easily
reversible condition treated with ironite. Sprinkle on soil surface just
before watering or water in after application. This is not a conditioner
which will burn plants. Many gardeners with a lot of fruit trees will apply
this prophilatically in June and then again in mid and later summer. Use
when the symptoms appear and the condition is reversed quickly, usually
in about 2 weeks.

BLOSSOM END ROT ON TOMATOES One of my regular customers had
a question on blossom end rot on the tomatoes. She uses above ground,
high-up watering and that is usually the culprit with blossom end rot.
Tomatoes in particular should never be watered from overhead, only
water at soil level. I've seen blossom end rot on some of heirloom
tomatoes after excessive rain in the summer due to the flat bottom
aspect of this particular variety where the moisture can just collect and
sit -- pointy ended fruit are less susceptible.

WATERING PROTOCOL
This time of year established gardens should be watered every 3-4 days.
If we have one of those spikes to the 111 and up you may need an
additional watering at twilight -- more water gets to actually sink in
rather than evaporate. If on the other hand we have a rain storm which
drops more than a half inch on your property you can skip the next
watering cycle for everything but trees IF that next cycle is within 3 days
of the rain fall.

USE your water meter for soil moisture level testing rather than 'eye-
balling' the soil or plants.

AROUND THE GARDEN...the banana produced a flower ! and is now
putting out 'hands' of fruit - I'm so pleased - check out the blog for the
pictures...the jasmine is blooming fragrantly, the mints are all starting to
put on flowers...the scented geraniums are flourishing...still getting some
fruit set on the tomatoes but I expect it to start dropping off as the night
time temps remain in the 80s (tomatoes don't set fruit when the nights
are that hot)...I played around with some 'ground cherries' a relative of
the tomatillo and tomato - these low-growing solano family members
produce a sweet cherry like fruit with a slight tomatoy back note to the
flavor - depending on the type, the fruit may be prominent on the plant or
hiding in a 'paper lantern' cover - fun stuff, but not enough to grow as a
'cash crop' just something to nibble on while cruisin' the
garden...harvested the rest of the horseradish (also noted on my
blog)...many of the herbs are starting to flower as well...trying some
sweet potatoes in the potato patch to see how they fare this summer -
will let you know...my garlic produced so well I'm going to expand the
area this fall and try one other variety. That's all from the garden for
now.

JULY PLANTING
With the excessive heat, transplanting any plants with few
exceptions is not advisable. However, the wealth of seeds to be sown
beginning July 15 and then into the beginning of August is tremendous.

While that seems sooo totally counterproductive consider that if you
want pumpkins for halloween and Thanksgiving you have to count
backwards 90-120 days so you seed in mid July to beginning of August.
Certain herbs can be seeded in successively every 2-4 weeks beginning
August through November.

Get started with these beginning July 15th. Remember to sprinkle newly
seeded areas once a day (early morning or evening). An extra tip is to
seed in existing gardens just under the edge of the outermost leaves. You
can water as normal and the canopy of the existing plants act as
nurseries for the seeds - hides them from the birds too.

Anise; Cantaloupe; Caraway; Chervil; Cilantro; Corn; Dill; Fennel; Luffa
Gourds; Musk Melons; Parsley; Peppers; Pumpkins; Sunflower; Winter
Squash

RECIPES:

WATER MELON ICE CUBES
Two ways to make this great drink addition.

1) Cut out all the fruit, and seed very well. Using a colander express the
juice out with a potato masher. If the colander has large holes, line with
cheese cloth. Freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Freeze solid then move
to labeled ziplock bags. The pulp can be tossed on the compost pile
unless you have gotten every seed out it, in which case you can make
jello with the pulp. (I make jello 'from scratch' using unflavored gelatin
and choice of natural juice - no sugar added - whether fresh or from
concentrate.)

2) cut and seed the fruit into 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes, lay on a cookie
sheet, freeze solid and place in labeled ziplock bag.

In the winter time I try to have some of these cubes left over for a taste
of summer in my water, wine or cocktail.

BBQ TIPS: Don't forget that tough woody stems of herbs like rosemary
make great smoking additions to the grill. Also make great skewers. One
of my favorites is to thread pineapple cubes on rosemary skewers,
watching carefully I grill on direct fire, turning to just 'mark' the fruit.
Serve immediately. Soak the stems for smoking and skewers about an
hour before use.

Have a great July, I will be back near the end of the month with more
timely planting info.

Catherine

Catch me on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/theherblady

. . .

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

Superstition Farm on Hawes between Guadalupe and Elliott -- the
Superstition Farm Dairy has its own farm store. Call (480) 986-7781 for
store hours and other events at the farm.

http://www.superstitionfarmtours.com


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!

NEW: Kathy now offers goat milking lessons.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/1215407694.html

For those of you in the East Valley, Kathy has taken her skills as a dog
groomer and is now offering grooming at her home in Apache Junction.
Her fees are more than reasonable and she has a real understanding of
dogs and their fears.

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

Home schoolers and other parents of young children...

Jodi Freeman is the author of children books. Her activity coloring book
on the some of native peoples of Arizona is a great learning and teaching
tool as well as a fun coloring book for your children. "My Coloring Book
on The Old Ones" is available as print or download, see more information
at this link:

http://www.lulu.com/content/2201352

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CLASSES/EVENTS:
No scheduled public classes at this time.

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/newe
st