Planting Oregano

The winter and rain have both returned to the Bay Area this week. In fact, it's going to rain the entire week! The thermometer shows 58 degrees right now, but it feels a lot colder. Last night I put on some gloves under the blanket before falling to sleep. The rain is good for all of my plants, but I hope they don't die from the cold.

This morning before it started raining again, I went out there to check on everyone. I got some oregano clippings from the herb garden on Sunday, so I added them to my herb pot. Herbs are usually very easy to grow. I have stuck some leftover fresh herbs from super market, and they just started growing and flourish. I had friends giving me some clippings from from their yards, and they all now live in my herb pot.

The only one that didn't survive from last year was sweet basil. They all died off from frost. I will try to grow some again this year and keep some in a small pot so I can bring it inside on cold nights.

Cloning Soapworts

Soapworts (Saponaria) cuttings

On August 22, 2010, my last day of the summer herb class, I took a couple stalks of soapworts home. Master Ken had shown us how to make all natural herbal shampoo with soapworts. All you have to do is get a bunch of soapworts, put them in a pot, add just enough water to cover them and cook until the water turns into a soapy liquid. Squeez the cooked soapworts as much as possible to get all the liquid out and save the liquid in a bottle. That is, my friend, the most natural shampoo you can get. According to Wikipedia, "The crushed leaves or roots of S. officinalis have been used as a soap since the Renaissance. Museum conservators still use the soap made from its leaves and roots for cleaning delicate fabrics and it also makes a fine shampoo."

Normally I would spend a few dollars on drug store shampoo like most people, but my best friend recently asked me about an all natural shampoo & bodywash by California Baby. This stuff is expensive! It's for sale in a 17.5 oz. bottle at $20. That's not including shipping. I am not sure just how natural it is. On its website, it states the cleansing agent is 100% Decyl polyglucose. Decyl polyglucose is a surface-active agent, and is used in soaps, cleansers and cleaning products. It's made of sugar (glucose) extracted from corn starch, and fatty alcohols called decanol, which comes from coconuts. That's pretty good; however, I can make my own at the cost of pennies.

I made some cuttings from the 2 stalks.  I cut each stalk into 4 pieces, dipped the ends in rooting hormone and then stuck them in this tray:

For the last 3 weeks, I misted the cuttings with the water bottle everyday since I don't have a sprinkler system. I am still quite new at cloning, but I was told that soapworts are easy to root and grow, so I remained hopeful. Three weeks later, I can see new leaves growing on two of them (see top picture).  I decided it's time to move them to bigger pots so they can continue to grow more roots.

All the cuttings have developed roots

I carefully removed all the cuttings out of the tray and discovered they all have developed roots! I divided them into two pots so they can further develop before I plant them in the ground.

Soapworts in pots

Sniff Some Rosemary to Improve Memory

One of my rosemary bushes

I came across an article called "10 Tricks for Improving Your Memory" today. If you don't feel like reading the entire article, here's the list:

1. Talk with your hands.
2. Take a chill pill.
3. Get plenty of zzz’s.
4. Eat more fruits and veggies.
5. Join a book club.
6. Go to yoga class.
7. Sniff some rosemary.
8. Pay attention.
9. Learn a new song.
10. Go ahead and doodle.

Maybe you are one of those people who talk with your hands already, but if you aren't, number 7 has to be the most effortless thing you can do to improve your memory. You have to breath anyway, right?

Now where did they get this information about rosemary? This is the blurb from the article:

"Parsley and sage are great, as is thyme, but when it comes to improving memory, rosemary is king. In a recent study, UK researchers looked at scents and how they boosted or detracted from mental performance. They found that office workers whose cubicles were infused with the scent of rosemary had better long-term memory than those in unscented cubes. “There are other essential oils that can help with memory, but rosemary is by far the best and most economical,” says Cher Core, an aromatherapist in Boston. “Diffuse rosemary essential oil in the air, wear it in a perfume, use it in mists and more. It is a good choice for those studying and folks who need help with memory, focus and concentration.”

Who are these UK researchers? Let me Google this. Ah ha! Here's another article on "Lavender, Rosemary Scents Affect Memory". According to this article, the "The calming, sedative effect of the aroma of lavender may impair memory and attention, but the stimulating effect of rosemary may enhance certain aspects of mental function".

Here's another article on "Improving Your Memory" that tells you to eat some rosemary leaves in addition to sniff them. Rosemary shortbread cookies are good for you!

Not that I study much these days or need help with memory. In fact, excellent memory runs in my family, but I am going to place rosemary in my car and all over the house anyway.

mini rosemary shortbread cookies I baked back in June

Barrels of Herbs

Sweet Basil, Thyme, Marjoram, Chocolate Mint, Pennyroyal, and Peppermint

Yesterday was the last day of Master Ken's summer herb class. For the past 8 weeks, I have tried to learn as much about herbs as I could.  I also have 2 barrels of mix herbs to show the little knowledge I have gained.

I have slowly but surely started to integrate herbs into my cooking. When I pick green beans, I also pick basil to sauté with the beans. I have also made hot tea using fresh marjoram, peppermint, lavender, ginger, and stevia.

I now have 3 different kinds of mint - Pennyroyal, Chocolate  Mint, and Peppermint. I am most familiar with the scent of Peppermint.  Chocolate Mint doesn't smell or taste like chocolate. Pennyroyal has many medicinal uses and its essential oil is highly toxic.

Lemon Basil, Sage, Peppermint, Pennyroyal, and Chocolate Mint

Stevia, My Latest Addition

My stevia plants arrived in the mail today. I ordered them from Hirts Gardens through their Amazon account. I first learned of stevia about 3 years ago. I had some exotic tea at this Chinese tea house with decor that reminded me of a kung fu movie tea house. The tea was pleasantly sweet, and I did not add sugar. I asked the waiter what was in the tea that gave its sweetness. He told me it was stevia, a naturally sweet herb.

After I got home, I looked up Wikipedia to learn more about it. It's widely used as a sweetener in Japan where it has been available since 1970. Why is it not widely used here when we have a serious obesity problem in our country? Why did the United States ban stevia in the early 1990s unless labeled as a supplement, but in 2008 approved rebaudioside-A extract as a food additive? At the same time, Americans are eating Equal, Sweet'N Low, and Splenda as sugar substitutes. I think all these sugar substitutes taste nasty. They just taste artificial to me. I can never drink a diet soda.


Of course I know why a natural sweet herb like stevia is kept away from people. "According to US-based market intelligence provider Information Resources Inc. (IRI), for the 52 weeks ended March 22, 2009, US sales of sugar substitutes were roughly $372m, with sales of Splenda sugar substitutes at about $217m. Sweet'N Low and Equal's sales were $48m and $37m, respectively." See Artificial sweeteners market to change for more information.

Regardless of increasing artificial sweeteners sales each year, the obesity problem and its related health problems have only gone up year after year. I like natural sweets whether they are sugar can, stevia leave, or raw honey. I will take sweetener in its most natural form any day. You will not see opening one of those pink, blue, or yellow packets.

Cooking with Herbs

Monday nights are school nights for me this summer. I am learning about useful herbs from Master Ken. Tonight Master Ken wanted to do a live demo of decoction, also known as making soup, during the class. He brought in some celery, sweet corn, carrots, herbs and a few loquats from Alemany Farm, where he volunteers on Monday afternoons.

Before we started cooking, we got to take a walk through the campus garden to pick more veggies and herbs. I immediately grabbed my basket and ran out there. I love the campus garden! We will never go hungry there. We picked big fat zucchinis, green beans, new potatoes, a couple heads of broccoli, basil, rosemary, rose pedals, garlic, onion, strawberries, etc. My basket was getting really heavy. I left my camera on my desk otherwise I would have taken pictures.


While the soup was cooking, Master Ken started making a special blend of pesto. In addition to basil and olive oil, he also added some blueberry juice and loquats. The pesto was naturally neon green and sweet. It wasn't bad at all. Later on he added some salt and perhaps a few other herbs to it. I had some tortilla chips with the sweet pesto.

The soup turned out quite well, too. How could it not? Everything was so fresh. The soup tasted great and healthy. Food tastes so much better when you get to pick it from your garden where you have put in the time and sweat.

What Can't You Fry?

Fritz Fry was such a success at Solstice Convergence that I decided to do it again for the herb class. I brought in my deep fryer and some farm fresh produce. I had to make some onion rings just like how my college roommate/best friend used to make - with panko (Japanese style bread crumbs).


I had everything prepped and lined up just the way I wanted. There were onion rings, button mushrooms, green beans, sliced red potato, sliced zucchini, sliced yellow squash, and other assorted sliced squash. Everything was dipped in flour first, egg wash second, and then rolled in panko before dropped into hot (~375 degrees) oil.


Master Ken suggested that I experiment with different herbs and edible flowers. I deep fried some lavender blossoms, zucchini blossoms stuffed with mushroom and garlic or strawberry, mushrooms rolled in panko with fresh rosemary, rose pedals sandwiched between zucchini slices, mint leaves sandwiched between squash slices, and a bunch assorted edible flowers. Basically I was deep frying everything in different ways I could put them together.

I couldn't sample everything, but everything I fried was consumed by someone. It felt festive with all the mixed aroma in the air and colorful fried goodies to share. I was glad that I wasn't asked to fry bugs.

Permaculture Solstice Convergence 2010

This was quite an ambitious schedule. I was not able to attend everything that was on the list, but it was definitely a fun filled day. It was also the first day of Master Ken's herb class, so I went to the class first. There were mostly new people in this class, and unlike Master Ken's two other classes, mushroom cultivation and beneficial beast, this one is mostly women. I was a little surprised by that. Maybe guys just don't feel like learning about herbs?


Two guys were in charge of the fritter fry booth at the outdoors kitchen. They fried up all kinds of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, cheese, and snails. They had a beautiful display of squash blossoms. I had fried strawberries, raspberries, bananas, cheese, oyster mushrooms, and even a squash flower stuffed with garlic and blue cheese, I think. I am not sure exactly what he stuffed it with, but it was delicious. I am a firm believer of anything deep fried tastes great. It was my first time having a deep fried flower. I always felt a little weird about eating flowers. I have zucchini flowers on the farm. I should just pick them to make some tempura.


Tellur, a herbalist from Blue Wind Botanical Medicine Clinic, had a nice display of various medicinal herbs. He also did some demos. My association of medicinal herbs while growing up in Asia was not exactly a positive one. I have been skeptical ever since due to childhood experiences. However, I like Master Ken's approach, which is to use medicinal herbs to prevent illness and not to cure illness after already falling sick.


The convergence ended with a potluck. I had not been eating much meat for quite a while, the BBQ was actually a little hard to eat. Other than that, it was excellent. I even got to take some mixed vegetable soup home. I was glad the shortbread cookies were gone pretty quickly. I think they were just the right size. Everyone I talked to liked lemon-lavender cookies better than rosemary cookies. I already have a couple ideas to improve the lavender cookies for next time.

I would like to grow a cabbage this size in the front yard just to show people how awesome it looks. I wonder if the deers would eat it?

Mini Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Tomorrow is the Horticulture Permaculture Solstice Convergence. I didn't think I had any skill to share at this event until two nights ago. It just occurred to me that I can use the herbs on the farm to bake a few things for people to sample. I have a lot of rosemary. I love rosemary olive oil bread, but can I use rosemary for something sweet? After Goolgling rosemary cookies, I found plenty of recipes. It certainly isn't something new although it's far less common than chocolate chip cookies.


I made a beginner's mistake while I was mixing the flour into the butter/sugar mixture. Instead of adding the flour in small portions and mix in between each small addition, I dumped the entire 2 3/4 cups of flour into the butter/sugar all at once. If you have made the same mistake, then you know that dough will not form into a ball. It just falls apart. I didn't want to add water into the mixture, so I added some olive oil. That helped a little, but I still wasn't able to form a dough ball that I could actually roll out flat. I ended up work the dough in small patches and just flatten it by hand on the counter and cut the cookies out with the cutter. I used the mini cookie cutter since I don't know how many people are going to be at this Solstice Convergence. It's scheduled for 1-7 PM. I don't want to run out of cookies in the first hour.

The cookies turned out nicely. I had to stop myself from keep eating them. They are most likely going to run out pretty quickly. Urban farmers love free food. I know I do. I better pack them up and get ready to bake some lemon-lavender shortbread cookies.

Sweet Basil

I am growing some sweet basil for the first time this year. Basil is not something I use in my cooking frequently. Basically I use it for lasagna, pizza, and pesto sauce. Why is it called "sweet" basil? It's not sweet to me. Out of curiosity, I look it up on Wikipedia to see what Wiki has to say about sweet basil.

"Basil (Ocimum basilicum) (pronounced /ˈbæzəl/ or /ˈbeɪzəl/), of the family Lamiaceae (mints), is a tender low-growing herb. Basil is a culinary herb prominently featured in Italian cuisine, and also plays a major role in the Southeast Asian cuisines of Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The plant tastes somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, sweet smell."

Sweet basil in the Southeast Asian cuisines????! I don't remember ever noticed sweet basil in Asian cuisines. There's Thai basil in Thai dishes, and that's about it. I read a little further down on the Wiki page on other basils.

"Most of the Asian basils have a clove-like flavour that is generally stronger than the Mediterranean basils. The most notable is the holy basil or tulsi, a revered home-grown plant in India and Nepal. In China, the local cultivar is called (traditional Chinese: 九層塔; pinyin: jiǔ-céng-tǎ; literally "nine-level pagoda")..."

"九層塔"! OMG! I remember this name. I was just a kid then and I couldn't stand the smell! When I asked my mother that that smell was, she told me it was 九層塔, and I never forgot that name as something to avoid. There are three herbs that I absolutely can't stand, and this"nine-level pagoda" is one of them. I had not idea that's a type of basil as well.

My pot of sweet basil was getting over crowded, so I divided it into 4 smaller pots. Mmmm, the smell makes me want to make a Margarita pizza.