Arctic Rosemary and other indoor Herbs

I have mentioned in past posts that there is a way to keep herbs alive and thriving indoors, without extra light and without overwatering.  Herbs like Rosemary, Sage, Epazote, Aloe, and others.  If you are not familiar with Epazote, it is a wonderful Mexican herb which when added to bean dishes gives a great flavor and helps to prevent flatulence!  The flavor is hard to describe, but it is easy to grow and you can get seeds at many different sources, including Earthcare Seeds (organic), and Richters herbs.  But this post is actually to discuss some of the herbs that are not easy to keep alive in the winter months and Epazote is fairly easy. We are talking about Rosemary, Sage, Aloe and as an aside, Poinsetta.  All of these plants are desert or Mediteranen and they like to have what I call slow water, or misting.  My house is not an environment that lends itself to misting plants - too much wood and too much temperature difference that misting causes some condensation on my windows - and that leads to other hazards as well.  So I use "slow water" which translates to ice cubes.

 

Yes thats right - I water some of my plants with ice cubes.  Especially Rosemary, Aloe and Poinsetta.  The Sage sometimes doesnt care if it has slow water but the aforementioned three I have never been abe to keep alive if I am watering them with anything other than ice cubes.  This particular Rosemary plant is at least 4 years old (I lost track of the plant date during the last transplant).  We harvest some off of my three Rosemary plants at lease once a week which keeps them quite compact.

I know you would think that the cold ice would harm or freeze burn or frostbite the plant but it just slowly melts and gives the plant water that is available to a shallow root system, and that stays in the soil longer allowing it to be accessed.  When plants are watered with tap water or hose, the water can either run through the soil, leaving little for the plant to access or it builds up in the soil saturating it so the plant drowns.  I do adjust the amount of ice depending on the size of the pot and what plant it holds.  For the above pot I use three cubes.  For the Aloe below I use only one or two since it is a desert plant.  The Aloe is about 6 years old (from Richters Herbs) and I have included a before and after style picture.  Of course the big one you see is the after - after repotting and about two years of slow water! 

I know its hard to tell but the bottom photo is actually in a pot about 4 inches smaller than the top pot (yellow one).  The Aloe has thrived in this location which is in front of a North facing window, but we always have a light of some type on there.  I'm sure that is why it leans to the right - that is where the light is on!

It may take some practice to get to know what your plants like, but this slow water system will work anywhere if it will work here.  I usually give the Rosemary and Sage plants ice every day, but for Aloe and Poinsetta I only do once a week.  I do add worm juice to the Rosemary and Sage and Poinsetta once a year, but the Aloe is happy, happy, happy and I leave it alone with its' ice!  I know you are probably wondering where the pictures of the Sage and Poinsetta are but they are not in great shape right now - the Sage due to a canniballistic harvesting by my husband to make sausage, and the Poinsetta because it just bloomed for Christmas and it only wants to hibernate for a while!  Another time for those two!  For now - try your hand at indoor herbs and just put them on ice!  Its nice!

 

A little apple wine?

Bear Creek Winery in Homer has just announced another use for Alaskan Apples! 

*****WINE RELEASE*****

The Alaskan Apple wine is now for sale exclusively at the winery!!

Made from various kinds of apples grown right here on the Kenai Pennisula and boasts a clean, crisp semi-dry flavor!!!

This is a limited edition and supplies may not last long...

You can find Bear Creek Wines at 3 Bears Alaska, Big Lake Liquor, Moonshine Shop and other fantastic locations.  Find Bear Creek Winery on Facebook or at www.bearcreekwinery.com

Keep growing those apples!

P.S.***  I was able to score a bottle of the Green Apple Wine at Big Lake Liquor and it is marvelous!  Smooth, crisp, and sweet without being syrupy and with just a hint of spice!  I am not a wine critic by any means but I love a good Zinfandel and this Green Apple wine just might compete as  one of my favorites!  I might have to sample it again first!  If you try it let me know what you think!  Happy Apples!

Finally - the worm one! Or - Growing Dirt in your Garage!

 

At last - the worm bin blog is here!  Composting with worms, also known as vermicomposting, has been going since the dawn of dirt.  Worms aerate the soil, eat and expel organics, and add nutrients to the soil.  In Alaska, composting is usually a summer only event due to the fact that the compost piles are either frozen solid, covered in 4 feet of snow or far enough away that getting your kitchen scraps to the pile is an adventure in iteslf.  That is why I let worms make my compost!

 

I have a worm bin that I call the worm "still" because it looks like an alcohol still.  It is a four tier system (see photo below), that allows me to rotate the bins and clean them out as needed easily.  There are many different types of bins and I know you could build one yourself as well.  Try Mother Earth News for directions.  I end up creating about a bushel of compost (worm castings) per winter and about 12 gallons of worm juice which I use to water the house plants, herbs and fruit trees in the winter and in the summer it goes in the greenhouse and on the garden trees and plants.

 

I keep my bin in the garage behind our freezer.  It keeps some warm air circulating around the bin from the freezer as well as keeping the freezer cord from getting tripped over and unplugged or damaged.  That space also allows me to keep my worm juice jugs close to the system as well as the water jugs for dumping on the system.  It requires about 1/2 gallon of water per week whether you are feeding the worms or not.  I am using redworms and my worms came from Alaska Mill and Feed in Anchorage.  There are other places that have redworms available as well, both locally and to order. 

The system works well for all types of compost except for meat, dairy and grease products.  We even put in paper towels and napkins that have been used for juice and water spills and the worms love coffee grounds, tea bags and any type of old fruit.  The photo to the left is some of the apple leavings from making sauce with a few egg shells and paper towels from wiping down the counter after processing apples thrown in.  The worms do have a few favorites and egg shells and avacados are two of them.  They also love mango and papaya!  They don't get those often here though.

Start with your kitchen scraps, I keep mine on my counter in a coffee can, but you can get a special bin to keep them in so you dont have to empty so often.  Once you have a nice quantity of scraps for the worms or you can't get the lid on the coffee can anymore, tear a few pages of newspaper into strips about an inch wide and soak the lot in a cool water bath.  These will cover the scraps when you put them into the top bin layer.  You need at least an inch of paper over the whole layer so there will be no odors or mildew form.  Layer the scraps into the bin.  I usually can tell where the scraps need to go as there will be an indent in the paper materials where more scraps have been eaten.  If there arent any indents to be seen, just peel back the old layer of paper and place the scraps evenly on half of the bin.  Cover with the new paper strips you tore, and if there is any water left in the bowl or container, dump it on top as well.  This system has to be kept very damp for the worms to be happy and do work.  A dry bin is like sandpaper for the worms and also does not produce the worm juice that you need to feed your plants.

The above photo shows a fresh fill up after a clean out.  The blue that you can see also in the photo above is the tabs from tea bags.  The worms eat those too!  The photo below shows a bin that is ready to be cleaned out.  When your top bin is full it will be time to clean out the bottom bin.  Take the bins out of the base and remove the bottom bin setting it aside.  Replace the other two bins into the base and clean out the soil from the bin you set aside. I always clean out the bins by sifting through the new soil and putting the worms that are left there into the now top bin of the system.  You can skip this step but once your dirt dries out your worms that are left in there will die. 

 

  

 

If you dont have time to do a clean out by going through the soil by hand and picking worms, try setting the bin aside, cut an avacado or mango in half and place cut side down on top of the bin.  In a day or so come back and pull the fruit out.  Your worms will be gathered in the fruit and you can just place that fruit in the bin, thereby saving your worms!  See photo below of worms gathered on a half apple.

 

 

Redworms are not Alaska hardy, so they cannot survive freezing.  My garage is not heated except what the boiler puts off, usually stays about 50 degrees in there in the winter. 

 

If you have trouble with flies around your system, something is wrong.  Either you do not have enough newspaper stripping over the product or you have put something in there that should not be in there.  I have had one fly outbreak and it was due to not having enough paper on the top of the system.

 

When I use my worm juice I generally dilute it by 1/2 to make sure none of the plants would be burned.  I mix the worm dirt in with my garden and potting soil just like you would compost.

 

This can also be a great learning experience for kids (especially boys) as the worms fascinate them and they learn that not everything has to go in a garbage bag.  My kids have also had success using the worms as fishing bait!  Have fun with it!

 

There are other things that worms can do as well.  Check out the Alaska Bioshelter blog at https://sites.google.com/site/alaskanecoescapeedu/

The Karns bioshelter does some amazing things, including using worms to compost household waste and septage!

Starting the New Year

I had a big debate with myself about what the first blog of a new year should look like and although I'm not sure an internal decision was made, I decided to "go forward with faith" as I like to say and see what happens.

I know many of us gardeners right now are looking forward to spring and what the next growing season will bring and, I am among those folks!  I for one am really glad I did some seed saving last year, and actually throughout the winter I have done some seed saving as well.  Prices have gone through the roof it seems for some of our favorite seeds.  I was able to save seed for the Tabasco Peppers that Reed grew, a couple of acorn squash, and the Halloween pumpkin we had.  I also saved a couple of heirloom tomatos as well.  This is also a good activity to practice with your kids in the garden.  We  have a rule with berries here at Wicked Raven that we leave some for the birds, bees and bears as well.  It's a good habit to teach the kids that we have to leave a little to maintain the diversity of our area, and so that nature can take care of her space.

The other item I am really happy to have, although it was not a saved seed plant is the Lemon Tree - Meyer of course! The one shown is from Mile 5.2 Greenhouse in Eagle River Alaska and we have had it for two winters now. We feed it worm juice (oh thats right~ I promised you a worm blog didn't I - next time)! We feed it about 3 times per year and it sits in front of the French doors that face east and get lots of light even on the darkest day!  We do not supplement the light at this time - simply due to cost and wanting to make sure that the plants we are promoting are sustainable for our region.

The taste of the lemons we harvested from the first season with this tree was phenomenal!  I have not had a better lemon for flavor and texture.  We got 6 lemons off the tree the first season but I think I may have depleted the nutrients badly as it has taken the tree a bit to recover from that amount.  We are definitely in the learning process with lemons.  If it happens again that it sets that many I think I will cut some blossoms to keep the tree healthier.

Cut lemons store in the fridge for easy use in tea, cookies, water, or other fun recipies.

We have now added an additional two lemon trees, and Reed has a mandarin tree that is thriving  in our indoor orchard!  With careful watering practices - you have to put a finger in the dirt before watering these trees or you will over water - you can have your own indoor fruit orchard as well!  It is also a great lesson for kids so they know they can grow all year anywhere!

Other plants that we keep year around indoors here are Rosemary, Sage, Epazote, Greek Myrtle, and we also have a couple of avacado trees.  The avacado trees are not old enough to produce yet - we will keep you posted on those and I will discuss growing the other herbs in a later blog ~ stay tuned and have a blessed New Year!

This is the beautiful lemon blossoms (there are two here).  They smell so amazing and fill the living room with their smell - nothing better!  I use a paintbrush to polinate them even though they are self polinating I like to make sure they get what they need so they can produce those amazing lemons!