Every week something new pops up in the garden and I've been busy dehydrating so many all spring and now summer. The first one I did were the early dandelions. I dried some of the petals and then have some flowers infusing in Olive oil for soap.
Next, I picked a lot of Morrow Honeysuckle flowers that grow wild on the North side of the greenhouse. It is a very large bush and smells amazing.
I ended up with a jelly jar full of dried petals, not sure what I will do with them yet.
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I let this Mullein plant grow up next to the Wisteria trellis. I will be making a tincture for respiratory aid for my husband.
The rest of the leaves are drying in the dehydrator along with some of the flowers. This will be used for making a tea. I've never been a fan of tea, but lately I realize that so many blends are very beneficial, so now I'm learning to love it. lol
I think a combination of Mullein, Lemon Balm, and Calendula would be a nice blend to try. I didn't take a photo of the Lemon Balm but that is drying as I post.
Mika was chasing a chipmunk throughout the veggie garden and knocked over some of my dill. That had to be dried and some of it went into a dill sauce.
I did this batch of Garlic Chives earlier in the month. They have regrown and today I will be doing a few more trays. I love adding chives to my potatoes all year long.
I did these salt potatoes and used some fresh. The greens I sauteed in oil and balsamic vinegar and the pork is topped with Jalapeno Cowboy Candy that I processed last fall.
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The Borage is blooming this week; I will be picking some of the flowers and leaves to dry as well.
I have a huge Cilantro that is in flower and for some reason I'm thinking why not that too. Now that the weather has turned so hot, many of the cool loving plants are beginning to bolt. Time to harvest what I can.
Currently, my garlic decided to die off early and the bulbs are so small. They are drying in the greenhouse this week. The only thing I will do with these is make fermented honey once they have cured.
That's it for today friends. I hope you have a wonderful week and try to stay cool.
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Midsummer Eve we had some sun. We haven't had any winter, grey and dreary! Since March it has rained off and on almost every day. I haven't grown anything this year, because it's so cold, except I planted lemon seeds and they've all come up and then passion fruit which has also grown big. I have them in glass. You have really had a good time growing. I'm happy for you!
It's too bad the weather has been so topsy turvy for you and that you have not been able to grow much.
We have had so much rain, but now intense heatwaves. I hope your weather is kinder to you. I'm so busy already processing so many things from the early cool-weather crops.
You have a lot of interesting herbs in your garden! It's remarkable how you make use of petals and flowers for your soap. What more! The leaves are very useful for tea-making. Garden is everything! 💚
Thanks, I'm in the process of drying many plants and herbs to make different tea blends. It is a lot of work but we are hoping to enjoy it.
Thanks for reminding me about the mullein! I've been told that tea made from the dried leaves is good for the respiratory system. I meant to dry some last year, but forgot all about it.
Now is the perfect time to dry the Mullein and mine is just now flowering too.
Still a long ways from having time/energy to start dehydrating here... Another boiling hot day, 100F yesterday...
Yes, we had 98° yesterday and it was brutal. I've been picking early in the morning and then dehydrating. I don't feel like doing it either.
¡Interesting!