garden notes are below the book

Book is available only printed and bound it is $20 plus $4 shipping within the continental USA. Others please e-mail for instructions. 		I got to be The Answer Lady when a friend drafted me to man the question booth at an Herbal Fair. His comment was "Kathryn has wasted more time on herbs than anyone--maybe she'll do it." And I did, for several years. In so doing, I discovered that most herb lovers needed help with the same questions. My first book, Herbs Southern Style, was written to address this need. Many speeches, seminars and gardenclub talks later, I realized that much more detail was needed than I had provided. HERBS: The Answer Lady Tells All was the result.
The front and back covers show me at my real Answer Booth. Between the covers are the answers to all the questions you may have had about herbs from seed to soup. The first half of the book gives the fundamentals of sound herb growing practices. How do you build appropriate soil? What is enough drainage and how do you arrange it? How should seeds be handled? How much sun is full sun? All of this and more is laid out in clear terms. The second part of the book is divided into chapters by herbs. Specifics of growing each are included along with some history. Recipes for cooking and safe traditional remedies are featured along with ways to use the herb for fragrance, crafts or decoration. All herb lovers will enjoy this book but those who garden in hot climates will be especially grateful for the notes directed at their specific challenges.






If you'd like to have the book sent as a gift, wrapping and a gift tag will be included free of charge. Just e-mail the specifics of your request.
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GARDEN NOTES BEGINNING JULY 13, 2010
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JULY 22--tomato and mozzarella pasta salad We are harvesting tomatoes every day. I am constantly thankful that I chose Sunmaster tomatoes because they perform faithfully in the heat and are very disease resistant. With all these tomatoes, I'm in constant search of ways to serve them fresh. I saw this on a menu somewhere and thought it looked worthy of a try. Very easy instructions: prepare 1 package of your favorite pasta, drain it, toss it with 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and garlic powder to taste. Allow it to cool. Then stir in as many diced tomatoes as you have and 8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese. To make this high protein, lowfat and low sodium use Barilla plus pasta, salt substitute, and non-fat mozzarella. We used these items and it was great. My husband ground fresh pepper on his and loved it that way. I can see some possible variations. For example, if you prefer you could substitute mayonnaise or miracle whip for olive oil and you could add other diced vegetables if available. Something green would add pleasantly to the look of the salad.
JULY 17--garden salsa With tomatoes in full production it seemed like a good time to try homemade salsa. Here is my very flexible recipe: 4 tomatoes diced. 1 onion minced. Salt or salt substitute, garlic powder and herbs to taste. There is one little secret that it took me years to learn: tomatoes have to be drained. There is too much natural juice in them for a good salsa texture. Just sit them in a colander while the rest of the preparations are being made. Press them down slightly to encourage drainage if you want the salsa less liquid. I can't stand to waste all that fresh tomato juice so I catch it and drink it but if left in the salsa it is just too soupy. The traditional herb would, of course, be cilantro but in GA we can't produce cilantro in any quantity in mid-July. Therefore, I decided to try my zaatar marjoram which is doing just fine. This is one of the experimental varieties in my garden this year. I also added epazote which does fine every year. And the salsa was terrific. You may recall Zaatar from the description of the seeds I selected in January. I'm pleased with its performance and will keep it in my garden in the future. If you'd like to read more about it, here are some interesting resources. wikipedia article parks seed
JULY 14--more uses for Cucuzzi if you have it Oh my goodness! I did an internet search for more Cucuzzi squash recipes and hit the jackpot. There are recipes for relish, stew salad cake and cream pie made with this vegetable! Here's the link so you can see for yourselves. The author of these recipes spells the plant "cucuzza" but from her description, it is the same one. You do have to watch out because there is another squash/gourd of a different shape that sometimes gets called by the same names. It is also edible but may or may not taste and grow the same. I'll have to look into that further. Cucuzza recipes by Kim D
JULY 13--garden pasta recipe Here is an easy way to incorporate whatever the garden is producing plentifully in today's dinner: Prepare a package of angel hair pasta. I prefer Barilla Plus because it is very high protein but, unlike many "healthier" pastas, it tastes great and has a wonderful texture. while the pasta is cooking, chop up the veggies. They can be as coarse or fine as you like except for tomatoes which do best in chunks of at least 1" square. Drain the pasta. While it is still in the colander, return the original pot to the heat and add 1/4 cup olive oil. [more can be tasty if more oil is OK with you]. Toss the vegetables in the hot pot, starting with the firmest and progressing to the softest. For example, if you have beans, peppers and tomatoes, add them in that order. Sautee the vegetables until just hot and a bit tenderized. Put the pasta back in the pot with the vegetables. Add garlic powder, fresh herbs or Italian seasoning and salt to taste and toss everything with a pair of wooden spoons so that the oil, vegetables and seasonings are completely distributed. Serve in pasta bowls and top each serving with a bit of feta or parmesan cheese. Nonfat feta is available for those who are careful about cholesterol. Enjoy! The leftovers reheat very nicely.