Timeless Herb Secrets

Making Bath Salts

Baths salts also make excellent Christmas gifts and they are so easy and cheap to make.

To make bath salts you will need measuring cups, a large bowl in which to mix your ingredients, a large spoon, a mortar and pestle to ground your herbs - you can also use an electric blender - and containers for the bath salts.

The ingredient list is as simple as the tool list. You will need table salt, sea salt or Epsom salt, dye, which can be ordinary food colouring (Moir's is a well know South African
brand), fragrance to set the 'mood' for your bath salt, and finely ground dried herbs.

You can use special soap fragrances, aromatherapy oils, or herbs to create your 'mood'. Soap fragrances add nothing but fragrance, but aromatherapy oils and herbs add a desirable health dimension as well.

Most of the ingredients can be found in your local supermarket. Special soap fragrances and soap dyes can be purchased from soap craft stores.

Aromatherapy oils can be purchased from health shops. Ask your health shop for guidelines in using aromatherapy oils.

Get all the ingredients together. The packaging (bottle, sachet or packet) will determine how much salt you need. Fill your packaging container with the desired amount. Pour from the packaging container into your mixing bowl.

In a smaller bowl take ¼ - ½ cup salt mixture. Stir in your fragrance, starting with a few drops and adding gradually until you reach the desired strength of scent. Equal parts sandalwood and lavender makes an exceptionally fragrant and relaxing bath salt. Make sure that the salt is mixed well with the fragrance.

Next stir in your dye. Add it gradually, like the fragrance, until you get the colour you desire. Be sure to stir really well. You want to ensure that the colour is evenly spread
through the salt crystals. Add back to the rest of the salt mixture and mix well. Pour or scoop into your packaging container, seal, label and decorate.

The packaging should be something that can be sealed. This keeps the salt fresh and fragrant. We prefer to use little cellophane bags and twist tags, raffia or ribbon. They are
simpler and easier for the person making the salt and the person using the salt. They are also a lot cheaper than glass jars.

If you want a more sophisticated and elegant look, a glass jar is your best bet. As long as it has a lid. You can tie raffia, ribbon or yarn around the jar to give it some decoration. If
you are really creative you can purchase glass paint form a craft store and paint decorations on the jar.

Do not give bath salts to people with high blood pressure or any heart condition nor to elderly or frail people, or those that can hardly move their joints without excruciating pain.

Enjoy making them and let me know what you think.

Help! I'm Mutilating My Plants.

Jacky, one of the participants in the Food Gardening for Beginners e-learning program posted an interesting question to the discussion forum. She is concerned about mutilating her plants with her home-made organic insecticide.

Here's her post and my reply. Maybe this will also improve your chances when playing Russian roulette with your crops.

Jacky's Post…

Prior to the course I started up my first "mini" garden - in pots & crates - in the courtyard. All started off fabulously. I have lately been under attack by caterpillars & worms. They have virtually destroyed my lettuce, watercress, rocket, spinach, borage, etc.... I made a spray with sunlight soap, garlic, chillies & water (trying the organic approach).

I have not yet ascertained if this works, as with all the wonderful rain we are having - I can't keep up. (Not that I am complaining about the rain.) Does this solution work, or is there an alternative "organic" solution? and how much sunlight should I use, as I think I am now burning & wilting my leaves? Eish!

My Reply…

I'm not a big fan of home made spray concoctions. Not that they don't work. Most are actually somewhat effective, and at least a few have been used for many years.

My problem is that most garden gurus who recommend them haven't got the foggiest idea why they include specific ingredients and which insects they will control. We often see them hailing their recipes as 'general sprays'. This does not make sense, and neither does it work that well, as a caterpillar is simply not a snail and a snail is not an aphid.

Some gurus are not even aware that most of these sprays are actually repellants. Meaning you have to carefully cover everything you want to protect. Otherwise the insects just move to another untreated plant. And again, a repellent for one type of insect does not always work that well for another.

My last problem is that people do not think about the effects these so called safe organic sprays will have on their plants and the environment.

Your spray being a good case in point of just about all the above. So let's have a look at each ingredient you are using.

Water
The water is just a carrier for the other 'active ingredients'. So no problem here.

Dish Soap
Dish soaps are a common ingredients in home-brews for soft bodied insects such as scale, whitefly and aphids. The usual safe rate of application is 5ml - 15ml per liter water. The soap is supposed to "clean up" the soft-bodied insects by washing off the wax cuticle that surrounds their bodies.  And it can be quite effective against aphids and whiteflies.

Problem is that plants have wax cuticles just like insects have. Removal of the plants wax doesn't kill it outright, as it might an insect. But it does allow water to be lost from the leaves. This leads to leaf scorch and leaf drop which will weaken the plant and can eventually result in death.

Garlic
Garlic is a repellant, and a number of insects including whiteflies, aphids and beetles will rather look for more sweet smelling pastures than those permeated by garlic. It works, plain and simple. There is one caveat though. Good coverage is essential. The stronger the concoction the better. Ideally the smell should last for more than a week. And dish soap will make the garlic spray more effective.

Problem with garlic is that you cannot use your edible crops for up to a week after they've been sprayed. Not that the garlic is harmful, you just cannot wash off the smell.

Chili Pepper
Hot peppers contain a compound called capsaicin which causes the burning sensation. And it has been shown to deter insects, though it will not necessarily kill them. In home-brews ½ to 2 cups of the hottest peppers you can find is mixed in a blender with 2 cups water. Be careful when doing this. Capsaicin can cause severe discomfort and pain when it gets on your hands and into your eyes. Even the fumes when blending can cause discomfort. The resulting liquid is strained and mixed with 1 liter of water and 1 to 2 teaspoons of dish soap. This brew is then sprayed onto the plants.

Problem is that home-brews are not always that effective as it is difficult to get a strong enough capsaicin concentration without causing some discomfort to yourself in the process. And when you do, the resulting concoction might be damaging to your plants, heightened by the addition of dish soap. One last drawback is that the capsaicin also does not "stick" to the plants long enough to have a lasting repellant effect. Meaning you have to spray more regularly.

Final Analysis
Putting it all together again, your home-brew is essentially a repellant spray which needs to be used with caution if you do not want to damage your plants. But it should be very effective against most soft bodied insects if you can get thorough coverage. It is also worth noting to always use a new home-brew recipe on a few plants first before spraying all your crops.

Solution
Get your recipe right and spray more often or buy a good quality commercial insecticide. Preferably organic. And before you roll over your eyes or gulp for air, allow me to explain. It has been proven that when used judiciously, and in a safe and responsible way, insecticides might have little or no impact on the environment. It is the large scale, irresponsible overuse that is poisoning all of us.

Also, when you are starting out, you need all the help you can get. Take a sample of the insect in a sealed zip lock bag to your local garden centre. They should have at least one knowledgeable horticulturist on their staff. (If not, find one that does.) Ask the person to identify the pest and recommend a safe control.

Key is to use insecticides that are known as 'contact' insecticides and not 'systemic' insecticides. The latter are 'absorbed' by the plant and the whole plant become poisonous to the pest. Not something you want in your food crops.

The 'contact' insecticides to consider are those that are registered for use on tomatoes. They do leave a residue though. So pay careful attention to the application rate and the safety period.

If you have any recipes to share please post them below.

Need some food gardening inspiration?

Then check out how people are using the Food Gardening for Beginners e-learning program to start their own productive food gardens. Visit www.masterherbgardening.com/foodgardens.html

Tips For Making A Crop Plan

A crop plan is simply a diagram that forms part of your overall food garden blueprint. It shows the position of each bed in the food garden and where each crop will go in the beds. It allows you to make costly mistakes 'on paper', not in the garden.

Use the following tips when making your crop plan:

Gridded paper makes the job easier.

Don't overcrowd.  When using intensive gardening techniques you can plant a lot closer than conventional food gardens but you need to know how to use the system.

Plant 3 to 4 plants of each perennial herb. That allows you to harvest them in succession.

Be aware of the lifecycles of the herbs you intend growing. Confine perennials to their own permanent bed. Don't mix annuals and perennials up in one bed.

Don't ignore height; otherwise some crops might be shaded by others. Taller crops are best planted to the back or on the south side of the bed.

Keep your invasive herbs, like mint, separate. Either in pots or contained by paving.

Every hour spent on the crop plan will mean several hours saved in the garden. But beware of analysis paralysis.

To get a complete blueprint for your food garden join me in the "Food Gardening for Beginners" learning program.

You can join me at http://www.gofoodgardening.com

Colourful and Fiery Chili Pickles

Making your own gifts is satisfying to create and delightful to receive. A hand made Christmas gift is probably the most personal gift you can give, because it has taken up a lot more of your time and thought, than taking out your credit card and buying up the store.

Herbs often are the magical ingredient, especially if they are herbs from your garden.

Give yourself enough time to make the gifts, use only the best ingredients and be clever in matching the gift to the recipient.

Dad generally doesn't appreciate sandalwood bath salts or granny a bottle of fiery hot pickled chilies - unless she's quite a gal!

Bottles of pickled chilies are a simple, yet eye-catching Christmas present to make, especially when you use a whole medley of different colours and sizes of chilies.

If you aren't able to harvest your own chilies you will find a ready supply at the local greengrocer or fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket.

Recipe #1: Whole Pickled Peppers

Sterilize a 1lt preserving jar.

Wash the chilies and remove any blemished fruits. Poke a few small holes in the top of each chilli.

Pack fresh, washed and trimmed chilies in the sterilized bottle.

Bring 250ml water, 250 ml white vinegar, 10 ml pickling spice and 50 ml sugar (or to taste) to the boil and pour over the chilies, leaving no headspace.

Remove trapped air bubbles. Store in the refrigerator and use within four to six weeks.

It is as simple as that.
 
Recipe #2: Jalapeno Masala Pickles

Slice fresh, washed Jalapeno chilies. Bring 250ml water, 250ml white vinegar, and 10 ml pickling Masala to the boil. Add a little sugar to taste.

Add sliced chilies and bring the mixture back to the boil for one or two minutes, just to sterilise them. Don't boil too long or the chilies will go soft.

Spoon the chilies into a sterilised jar and pour over the picking mixture. Stir the mixture to ensure an even distribution of the Masala mix.

Remove trapped air bubbles.

Store in the refrigerator and use within four to six weeks.

Decorate the bottles with a ring of dried peppers for an extra festive feel.

Soil Preparation

In the "Let's Go Food Gardening" special report we briefly touched on soil preparation.

Soil preparation is the foundation of your food garden. And just like any other foundation, if you don't do it properly, it will haunt you in the very near future.

Fortunately, preparing the foundation for a herb and vegetable garden is a lot easier, and less expensive, than that for a building.

Start by double digging the area. The deeper you loosen the soil the better. Some experts, loosen the soil up to 1m deep. They believe that this encourages root development, drainage, and the natural organisms in your soil. Such as earthworms for example.
Remove all debris, perennial weeds and other unwanted plant material.

Add at least one big bag (60dm) of compost, or well rotted kraal manure, to every square meter of your food garden and a handful of bone meal or any other organic pre-plant fertilizer.

You can also add inorganic fertilizers such as 2:3:2 and some super phosphate if you want to, and you are not too serious about organic gardening yet.

Water the area thoroughly and give it a couple of days to 'settle' before you plant it up.

Once you've planted your crops, give them a 2-5cm mulch and water them well. This is also a good time to give them a 'foliar feed' with a kelp product. Just to help them through the transplant shock.

Chimichurri Sauce

This week's recipe from "The Seasoned Chef Cookbook" is a thick Argentinean sauce which is as popular in Argentina as blatjang - freshly prepared chutney - is in South Africa. A true herb sauce it is made from chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, dried oregano, garlic, chili pepper, and paprika. Olive oil provides smoothness and allows the flavours to mingle. Vinegar or lemon juice heightens the "bite".

According to Wikipedia the unusual name comes from 'Jimmy McCurry', an Irishman who is said to have first prepared the sauce. He was marching with the troops of General Belgrano in the 19th Century, sympathetic to the cause of Argentine independence. The sauce was popular and the recipe was passed on. However, 'Jimmy McCurry' was difficult for the native people to say. Some sources claim Jimmy's sauces' name was corrupted to 'chimichurri', while others say it was changed in his honor.

Chimichurri always earns us compliments and once you've tasted it you'll know why. Serve it with anything you can think of. It goes especially well with barbecue menu's.

Makes about 250 ml
50 ml white grape vinegar
75 ml olive oil
100 ml fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
15 ml dried oregano, or 50 ml fresh oregano
4 cloves garlic, crushed
10 ml paprika
1 green jalapeno chilli pepper, seeded and chopped

1. Mince the ingredients by hand or pulse in a food processor till smooth.

2. Cover and let stand overnight to allow the flavours to develop.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.