Hurry in!
This is your last chance to save BIG!

By Tamara Galbraith

Fall is the time to trim back perennials...and that includes herbs. Mid-October is a good time for gardeners in milder climates to collect and use or preserve valuable herb flowers and leaves, and here are some tips for doing just that.

Annual herbs can be harvested until frost, while perennial herbs can be clipped up until about one month before your first frost date, if you have one.

Freezing is one of the easiest methods to preserve herbs, and if you generally use herbs for soups and sauces, the ice cube method is great. Rinse your herbs in cold water, shake off the excess, chop, and place a teaspoon of herbs in each water-filled cube space and freeze. Pop the cubes out and put them in plastic bags; you can then take a cube from the freezer as you need it, and toss the whole thing into your soup or sauce. Another method for freezing herbs for later culinary use is to spread the herbs loosely onto a cookie sheet, freeze, then transfer the herbs into a large plastic bag and seal. Do not re-freeze herbs after thawing.

Drying is the traditional method of herb preservation. If the herbs are clean, do not wet them. Otherwise, rinse dust and dirt from the foliage, shake off the excess water, and spread the herbs out on paper towels until dry. Remove any dead or damaged foliage, then tie the stems into small bundles with twine, string or even decorative ribbon and hang them upside down in a warm, dry, airy place out of the sun. Be sure to make small, loose bundles and allow for good air circulation around each bunch.

You can zap your herbs in the microwave, too. Lay a single layer of clean, dry leaves between dry paper towels and place them in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on high power, paying attention to your own microwave's wattage and tendencies. Let the leaves cool. If they are not brittle, reheat for 30 seconds and retest. Repeat as needed.

Herbs are sufficiently dry when they are brittle and crumble easily. When the leaves are dry, separate them from their stems and store in glass spice jars with tight-fitting lids, then keep the jars in a cool, dry place away from sunlight, moisture, and heat. To preserve full flavor, avoid crushing the leaves until you are ready to use them. Many herbs will retain their flavor for over a year...when it'll be time to harvest next year's herbs.

Spring bulb displays are less predictable than summer flowers, and it can be especially disappointing when different bulbs planted in the same windowbox flower at different times. The consolation is that this does at least extend the interest. A good alternative is to plant single-subject displays which, although often brief, are frequently bolder.

Make sure that there are drainage holes, and add a layer of material to aid quick drainage, such as broken pots or pieces of chipped bark (normally sold for mulching).

Add enough potting soil to cover the bottom couple of centimeters (about an inch). As the bulbs do not need a lot of nutrients during the winter, you can often use some of the potting mixture previously used for summer bedding.

You can pack in more bulbs by planting in layers. Place large bulbs such as daffodils or tulips at the lower level.

Add more potting soil, then position the smaller bulbs, such as crocuses and scillas. Try to position them so that they lie between the larger bulbs. Be careful about the bulbs that you mix - small crocuses will be swamped by tall daffodils, so choose miniature or dwarf daffodils, to keep a suitable balance.

Top up with more potting soil, but leave about an inch of space at the top for watering and perhaps for decorative mulch. As the windowbox will look bare for some months, a few winter pansies will add a touch of interest. Don’t worry about the bulbs beneath - they will find their way through the pansies.

By Tamara Galbraith

According to an article in the Washington Post few years ago, Americans are eating five times more fresh spinach than we did in the 1970s. And forget about the canned, slimy stuff Popeye downed in one shot back in the old days; we now prefer our spinach fresh. So...why not grow your own?

A relatively shallow-rooted vegetable--thus ideal for container culture--spinach likes temperatures in the 50-60 degree range...which is why areas with mild winters are such popular places to grow it in the fall, if not year-round. Since spinach makes an ideal container plant, it's a great choice for growing indoors for fresh winter produce. All you need is a sunny window!

If you're starting your spinach from seed, soak the seeds in a plastic baggie overnight in the refrigerator before planting. This will soften the hard coating of the seed and allow better germination.

While growing, use lots of compost, mulch well, and watch for insects, as they especially like to hide in the cracks of crinkly spinach types.