POTPOURRI The Austin Herb Society Newsletter December brings to mind Christmas! The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin. Jay Leno So Mary Mills suggests: Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip. December 2011 and mola-appliquéd denim vests to herbal teas, vintage goods, and aromatherapy and skincare products. Herbs and other plants will also be available for purchase. Shoppers are invited to sample herbal refreshments while browsing through books on herbs, gardening, wellness, cooking and more, offered at 45% off retail prices. Savory Spice Shop-6th Street owner Karen Aboussie will provide a brief introduction on the history and symbolism of holiday spices, including both culinary classics like cinnamon and nutmeg as well as ancient aromatics like Frankincense and Myrrh. In addition, guests will have the opportunity to create their own mulled spice blend using fresh orange rind, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice and cardamom for a nominal charge. Recipes featuring mulling spices, including Spiced Maple Syrup, Mulled Wine Sangria and Creamy Rice Pudding, will also be on hand. Gary Allan Holiday gifts, goodies and more! Spice Up Your Holidays at Austin Herb Society Holiday Bazaar Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Zilker Garden Center Shop for sweet and savory breads, lavender-laced sugars and jams, fragrant spice blends, natural soaps and sundries, handmade jewelry and other handcrafted goods at the Austin Herb Society’s annual Holiday Bazaar from 9:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Zilker Garden Center, 2220 Barton Springs Road. Admission is free. More than a dozen vendors will offer products ranging from hand-woven baskets Handmade soaps and sundries (bath salts, sea salt scrubs, salve and insect balm) from Farm Fresh Soaps plus lavender edibles (sugars, jams and spices). Sweet and savory yeast breads, including Italian Herb & Cheese, Seedless Rye Loaf, Country French Round, Roasted Garlic and Potato and Buttery Brioche, from the Farm Fresh Soaps new, licensed micro bakery, Daley Bread. Custom-designed necklaces and earrings featuring semi-precious stones by Lucinda Rudin and Cindy Lu Creations. Hand-woven baskets by Susan Thomas. Skincare products, including oils and waters, from Susan Norwood of All Good Things. Fragrant and tantalizing herbs, spices, blends and festive gifts ideal for holiday gatherings, courtesy Savory Spice Shop. Natural cold process soaps, sugar scrubs, bath salts, lip balms, lavender spray, gift sets and more from Fleegal Farms Soap. Jewelry and antique objects from Babette Stevenson. Herbs and other plants perfect for giftgiving from Gabriel Valley Farms. Chinese herbal teas & information on the Provence 2012 Lavender Tour, hosted by Andra Millian. Jewelry and vintage items from Jean Bazar. Teas and aromatherapy products from Cindy Burrows. Mola-appliqued jean jackets and vests by Gay Klinger. Fun and festive flea market finds, including books, linens and kitchenware, from Betty Williamson. Herb-inspired books on cooking, gardening, wellness and home décor. For more information, contact Norise Jastillana, 358-4542, or visit www.austinherbsociety.org <http://www.austinherbsociety.org/> . Texas Herbal Holiday submitted by M ary H. M ills, pgherbfarm.com Growing herbs year-round is one of the joys of living in Texas. In fact the fall and early winter are great times to plant perennial herbs. Mulching will help protect the roots from freezing and covering tender plants during the brief freezes of south-central Texas will start your herb garden off to a great start in spring. Oregano, rosemary, thyme, bay laurel, garlic, chives, sage, dill and cilantro grow well throughout Texas winters. Dill, fennel and cilantro prefer to grow in Texas during the cooler part of the year. I was disappointed to learn that cilantro does not do it’s best when tomatoes and peppers ripen in my summer garden. I found that I could freeze the tomatoes and peppers and create wonderful Tex/Mex dishes seasoned with cilantro that warmed my family during the cool weather. Bay Laurel, a small tree or large bush is the source of bay laurel, a fragrant flavor that freshens foods cooked a long time such as slow cooker recipes, stews and soups. The plant is slow growing and is happy in a container on the patio or in a south facing window in winter. The leaves make a fragrant addition to holiday wreaths. Rosemary is my favorite year-round herb. Although our soil at the Purple Gate Herb Farm is slightly acid and rosemary prefers alkaline soil, the plant does pretty well here. It has survived the hot, dry, drought of summer and continues to fill the air with a fresh, pine-like scent in December. A wreath of rosemary branches can be hung to greet visitors at the front door. A swag over a fireplace or mirror on the wall is festive and functional. The fragrance freshens indoor closed rooms and rosemary contains a powerful antibacterial, rosmarin, that may help keep winter colds in check. Hospital staffs in France once burned rosemary in sick rooms to cleanse the air of pathogens. Throw some thicker rosemary twigs on the fire in a fireplace to enjoy the rich scent throughout a room. A few minutes in a microwave just before visitors arrive will greet them with a welcoming fragrance. (watch carefully and do not catch the twigs on fire.) The most wonderful part of growing rosemary in winter is that it provides fresh herbal additions to many of our winter culinary delights. Rosemary branches added to the grill will impart a delicious flavor to meats and vegetables. A little rosemary goes a long way to make meat, salads, vegetables and breads taste wonderful. My daughter, Catherine has a favorite rosemary shortbread that I make for her at Christmas. Rosemary Shortbread Preheat oven to 350 degrees Ingredients Butter a 9 inch cake pan or lightly coat a 9 inch round shortbread mold with vegetable oil. 3/4 stick unsalted butter (about 6 tablespoons) 1 tablespoon honey 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (finely chopped) or 1 ½ tsp dried, crumbled rosemary Beat butter, honey and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. In another bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and rosemary. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture just until combined. (Over mixing makes the shortbread tough.) Lightly flour a surface and knead the dough (about 8 times) or just until it comes together. Press evenly into pan or mold with lightly floured fingers. If using a cake pan, score the dough into 8 wedges and with the floured, flat tines of a fork press the edges decoratively. I hope you find more wonderful ways to enjoy herbs during the Texas Holiday season. Studying Texas Plants submitted by Mary H. Mills “Getting to know you, getting to know all about you” I began my study of Texas Plants by collecting field guides. I wanted to know the names of the plants I was seeing, what distinguishing features made them different and alike other species. The field guides described the plants, where they were likely to be found and often provided a drawing or picture to help us learn what we were looking at. Often the picture showed a plant in flower, an occurrence only for a short time in the life of the plant. The rest of the year it looked very different. How was I to get comfortable recognizing any of these plants? There is so much more to know about any plant than it’s physical description. Then I found a book that showed me that getting to know a plant was much more interesting. Reading about the remarkable, noteworthy and interesting story of the plants in this book makes each plant memorable. One is likely to seek out the plant, get to know it and appreciate it in many levels after reading about it’s history, unusual biological information like does it contain medicinal, psychotropic or toxic compounds?, or was it used by pre-European Native Americans? This book introduces us to plants in a remarkable way. I highly recommend it as richly informative and wonderfully written. Remarkable Plants of Texas. uncommon accounts of our common natives. by Matt Warnock Turner University of Texas Press. Austin. 2009 From the books introduction: This book is written for a broad spectrum of people who are interested in Texas native plants, from novices to experts, from casual observers to plant aficionados, from gardeners and naturalists to landscape architects and botanists, from city dwellers and suburbanites, to ranchers and park rangers. The book does not presuppose botanic knowledge, and technical terminology is kept to a bare minimum. I purchased the book from Amazon.com and it is available from the University of Texas Press. NOTE: in reviewing my notes I came across this email. I was sorry I missed this meeting! CULINARY GROUP TRIP— For those of you who asked, on October 21 the Culinary Group went to the Hill Country Herb Society luncheon to hear Dr Matt Turner talk. He is at the University of Texas. His book REMARKABLE PLANTS OF TEXAS: UNCOMMON ACCOUNTS OF OUR COMMON NATIVES, was the topic. It was fantastic. Charting An Unknown Path submitted by Mary H. Mills Studying herbaceous plants has become an obsession. Who knew the group of herbaceous plants was as extensive with so many diverse plants? I found out that many herbs are inexpensive and easy to find for sale in my area. These common herbs grow in many soils and conditions to reward us in many ways. These herbs were the ones I learned about early in my investigations. The use of many plants were recorded in many ancient cultures in the world and we are lucky enough to be able to review the literature and learn about plants used for culinary, medicinal, cosmetic (including insect repellents), and rich scented potpourri, wreaths, perfumes and dyes. The Purple Gate Herb Farm Caldwell, Texas 2001 My first herb gardens were designed as theme gardens to display what I was learning in my research. I had an ancient garden, medicinal garden, fragrance garden, myth and magic garden and I was richly rewarded with the enjoyment of walks in the gardens with interested visitors. A possible Christmas gift for yourself or a valued friend? My family moved from the location where I developed these gardens and I am now faced with creating new gardens in a new environment. I began reviewing my notes and research to develop planting designs. Then I found myself in a long lasting, hot, dry drought that lasted almost the whole year in our new home. The plants I transplanted from our old home (about 600) were stressed by the excessive heat and dry environment and began to die. Predictions from many sources were discouraging and the consensus was this drought could last for years.. A Texas drought in the 1950's lasted for 7 years! It was heart breaking and almost made me give up on having interesting herb gardens in our new location. now absorbed in this interesting idea. I will welcome suggestions to help me on my way. My criteria for plants in this new design idea is two or three of these characteristics: Plants must be native to Central Texas or be adaptable to our area Plants must be drought tolerant, like dry conditions Plants must have culinary, medicinal or other documented uses by locals or Native Americans. Plants must prefer sandy soil ( as this is what we have in our new home) Desirable plants will be somewhat cold hardy for our area. I began reading the books I have collected over the years. I have had a long interest in the historical use of plants, especially by Native Americans since my Clan Grandfather in Alaska introduced me to his healing practices for our Tlingit tribe. He inspired me to study other native healers who used local plants of Texas for healing. I also had an interest in Texas Archeology and my husband, Bud, my three children and I participated in summer digs for 8 years. My research opened new and interesting ideas. Soon I began to be made aware of so many other plant families that included vines, mosses, cacti, succulents and even trees! An idea began forming in my mind. I could combine all my interests developing a native Texas garden. I am An added bonus to planting herbs in any garden is they often attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. These pollinators increase production of fruits, vegetables and seeds in the garden. I plant to continue with herbs from other cultural areas as well. For example lavender, lemon, balm, lemon verbena, pineapple sage and many other richly scented herbs will benefit my garden by attracting these pollinators. So......Here I grow again. The search is on. Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night Visit our sponsors! American Botanical Council Gabriel Valley Farms www.gabrielvalleyfarms.com www.herbalgram.org Geo Growers Ana’s Herbs www.geogrowers.net www.anasfoods.com Great Outdoors Austin Onsite Acupuncture and Nutrition www.austinonsiteacupuncture.com www.gonursery.com It’s About Thyme www.itsaboutthyme.com Barton Springs Nursery www.bartonspringsnursery.net Natural Gardener www.naturalgardeneraustin.com Becker Vineyards & Lavender Farm www.beckervineyards.com Ronda’s Montessori Garden www.rondasgarden.net Bonnie’s Greenhouse 254-799-7909 Savory Spice Shop www.savoryspiceshop.com Chez Zee www.chez-zee.com Vivero Growers www.viverogrowers.com Fleegal Farms Soaps (web orders only) Wheatsville Food Co-op www.wheatsville.coop www.fleegalfarms.com