A few evening visitors

So I had a happenstance meeting with fellow Herbie, Carla, last week while at the Arboretum for "Yoga in the Garden".  She told me that herself & Nora were at the Arboretum a few evenings prior & were wondered by some very tiny frogs in the fountain near the perennial gardens & also by a hummingbird moth.  I went in search & uncovered both the baby frogs & tadpoles, along with the beautiful hummingbird moth.  I had only seen one other hummingbird moth a few years ago in my herb garden & had done some research online at that time, so I was able to identify it.  It is a moth & no relation to the hummingbird, but it really does look like a small hummingbird.  Look for them in the evening in your herb gardens.  And don't forget to enjoy these first days of Autumn.

* All a'round the full moon *

Full  Moon over Two Harbors, MN  09.12.2011  7:28pm

Just in case you are wondering, the Full Moon is this Thursday, 19 September, 2013 at 6:12:48 am (CDT).  Check out this website.  * All a'round the full moon *    You can sign up to receive an email to inform you a few days before the full moon, as long as fun Full Moon enlightenment.  I signed up about 5-6 months ago & am not getting any additional junk mail, so I recommend it if you want to know ahead of time when the "lunies" are going to come out. 


Addtionally, at the Arboretum this Thursday, 6-8:00 is the Japanese Moon Viewing in the Grass Collection.  I've gone several years & it is a beautiful evening. 
 http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/moonviewing.aspx

The Dill Monarch

I just went to pull one of the last few stalks of dill that is still growing in my garden.  Not to eat, but to insure some dill control next spring, although it's probably to late for that.  After I pulled the stalk & picked it up to throw in with the garden refuse, I noticed some caterpillars on it.  There were 5 of these beauties chomping away.  While I hadn't noticed a lot of monarchs around this year, it's apparent that they like dill.  I placed the dill back in the garden near the other still rooted dill.  I'll watch what happens.  So the moral is don't pull out your dill just yet.

Cool Cucumber Soup

Here's the recipe for the delicious soup that Veronica prepared for our summer meeting.  Cool & Delicious & it uses a lot of cucumbers.

Cold Cucumber Soup with Tarragon

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2007

Prep Time: 30 min

Inactive Prep Time: 2 hr 0 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 2 quarts, 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 pounds cucumbers (about 6 cucumbers), peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (12 cups)
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chervil
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 cups plain yogurt
• 3 cups sour cream, divided
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Directions

Combine the cucumbers, green onions, jalapenos, tarragon, mint, chervil, garlic, salt, cayenne, yogurt, 2 cups sour cream, olive oil, white wine vinegar, and lime juice in a large bowl. Working in batches, puree the ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Transfer the soup to the refrigerator until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve the soup, with each bowl garnished with a dollop of the remaining sour cream and some of the minced chives.

 

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A Hot Summer Evening

It was another hot MN Herb Society gathering last night during our summer meeting & dinner.  While a few brave souls dined alfresco, most of us enjoyed some cool AC.  Thanks to Veronica & Marlys for graciously hosting.  The food was delicious, as always - our members can cook. 

Prize Choy

I just took this pic the other day.  As always, in spring, I am seduced by the seed catalogs.  I like to try different things & frequently spend $2.95 for various seeds that amount to nothing.  But I did have a beautiful success this year with my Bok Choy (Prize Choy from Seed Savers).  A few of the plants bolted early, but most are looking lovely tucked in between my perennials.  The ones that aren't bolting are tucked in a partly sunny spot, so I think I will plant them all there next year, even though the soil is not the best where they are.  They look lovely & the deer have passed them by - so far.  I haven't though & we've been enjoying some fresh stir fry meals with it.

MN Garlic Festival

Ahhh, the last warm days of summer always bring out the best that MN has to offer.  Well the best garlic that is.  A few members of the MN Herb Society were seen strolling thru the County Fair Grounds in Hutchinson this past Saturday, celebrating GARLIC.  Oh that tasty treat that permeates the kitchens of cooks.  I picked up some new garlic to try, even though my harvest this summer was poor - only 10 head out of about 50 came up.  When talking to the vendors, they said that there was some concern that the Aster Yellow disease would be found in the garlic DNA, but luckily, it was not.  Some vendors also had poor harvests & once again, the vendors were not as plentiful as previous years.  Speaking with a vendor from Red Wing, MN, she said the consensus was the spring weather or lack thereof.  But as a true gardener, we never lose hope for a better crop next year.  So I bought - both to plant & to eat.  Let us know how your harvest went & if you had particular varieties that performed better.  For me, Chesnok Red was the only fairly consistent producer this past season.