Spring Herb Recipes

Whether you have a backyard herb garden or prefer to grow herbs in pots, spring and summer harvests will have you incorporating vibrant new flavors and depth to your everyday meals. Last week Lilly and I hosted the Annual Herbal Event and were asked to post some of the recipes we talked about and brought in to share. Here's a couple tasty and unique ways to cook with fresh picked herbs.

Sweet Onion & Oregano Flax Crackers

Ingredients:

1 cup flaxseeds
1/4 cup hulled hemp seeds or sunflower seeds
1 cup flax meal
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/4 cup fresh herbs (rosemary, oregano, garlic chives, etc)
4 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
2-3 tbsp maple syrup
2 sweet onions
1/2 c water

*Various herbs can be used to tune them to your taste. 

Method:

1. Chop roughly 1 1/2 sweet onions and then process in a blender or food processor on low until it becomes a thick choppy liquid. The other half can be cut into very thin slices to later add to the rest of the ingredients. 

2. In a medium bowl mix together all ingredients and let sit for 30 minutes to let the chia and flax gelatinize. Mix with a big spoon or spatula. If the mixture seems to dry add a tablespoon or two of water. 

2. If you have a dehydrator spread mixture thinly and evenly on the liner tray. I have an Excalibur Dehydrator that I couldn't live without. Alternatively line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set your oven to the lowest setting, leaving the oven door cracked open to help keep the temperature below 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Dehydrate or bake in oven for 4 to 6 hours until crispy.

3. Break into cracker size pieces.

*Note: they can be preserved in the fridge for about two weeks and in the freezer for about two months.

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Fresh Sage and Homegrown Potatoes

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
2 lbs potatoes
Fresh Sage
Sea Salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrub and dry approximately 2 lbs. of small new potatoes.

2. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a large (preferably cast iron) skillet.

3. Lay a bed of fresh sage leaves so they completely cover the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle with sea salt (be fairly generous as it will be absorbed by the potatoes).

4. Cut small potatoes in half and larger ones into quarters and arrange cut side down onto the sage.

5. Bake uncovered until potatoes are tender (approximately 30 minutes).

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Luscious Lemon Basil Pizza

Ingredients:

Sourdough pizza dough
Olive Oil
Lemon Basil
Sea Salt
Mozzarella Cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out one recipe sourdough or Italian pizza dough (make your own or store bought refrigerated) onto a pizza stone that has been sprinkled with finely ground cornmeal. Drizzle some olive oil across the dough and smooth it out. Sprinkle with sea salt, add a layer of fresh lemon basil and top with mozzarella (don’t be stingy). Bake for approximately 12 minutes (‘til crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbling).

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Cabbage Slaw with Lemon Balm Dressing

Ingredients:

For salad:
8 cups shredded cabbage
1 large apple, chopped
2 carrots, shredded
½ cup raisins
½ cup cashews or almonds, chopped

For dressing:
½ cup minced lemon balm
¼ cup chopped green onion
1 cup plain yogurt
½ cup canola oil
3 T cider vinegar
2 T sugar
½ cup apple juice

Method:

Mix all ingredients, and chill ‘til read to serve.

Bluebirds

One of the simple pleasures in life is seeing bluebirds on my weekly walks along the Leon County Miccosukee Greenway. Sometimes four or five of these brilliantly colored birds can be seen lined up on a fence. Other times, I watch prospective parents flying in and out of nest boxes or I observe a bluebird perched on a limb of a large tree, swoop down to gobble up a grasshopper from the grasses below.

Many Tallahasseeans have never seen a bluebird, yet there are healthy populations even within the city. Bluebirds inhabit meadows and fields, open pinewoods and parkland, cemeteries and golf courses. They seem happy in neighborhoods with tall trees, open lawns with shrubby borders. I see them regularly while walking in the Betton Hills neighborhood and they sometimes nest in our front yard.

Bluebird parents at their nest box. Photo by Glenda Simmons.

If you live in or near this type of habitat you can provide lodging for bluebirds by setting out nest boxes with a one and one half inch diameter hole on a post or pole. Nest boxes should have doors so they can be cleaned and monitored. A predator guard should be installed on the pole below the nest box. These are commercially available or can be fashioned from 6 inch diameter stovepipe or PVC pipe. This will prevent raccoons and rat snakes from raiding the nest.

Though bluebirds are primarily insect eaters, they also eat berries especially in winter. Plant or encourage existing hollies, wild cherry, crabapple, red mulberry, blueberry, dogwood, elderberry, hackberry, pokeweed, black gum and native viburnums.

At Birdsong Nature Center in southern Georgia, I enjoy watching bluebirds in winter feasting on mistletoe berries high in the pecan trees. The trees sit on the edge of the “House Pasture” that is burned annually and is teaming with life – broomsedge grass, wildflowers, lots of insects and, of course, bluebirds. Native plants are of utmost importance for supplying proper habitat and food for insects that bluebirds eat. Bluebirds primarily feed in open, grassy areas.

For those of you on larger acreage, try converting part of your lawn to meadow by mowing just a couple of times each year. This will encourage native grasses, wildflowers and, yes, weeds, thereby creating a more natural environment that will support abundant insect life leading to more bluebirds.

Like other birds, bluebirds enjoy a shallow bird bath or pool. The brilliant blue and red of the male bluebird and the subtle blue/gray of the female is intensified when they are splashing about in the water, especially on a sunny day.

If you want to entice bluebirds to a feeder for up-close viewing or for photography, you can set out mealworms in a small dish or feeder. Mealworms are actually beetle larvae that you can raise yourself or purchase. They are very nutritious and bluebirds gather them to feed their young; however, bluebirds are most capable of finding their own insects especially in good habitat.

To learn more about bluebirds, you are invited to join the Florida Bluebird Society for its regional meeting to be held on Saturday, February 6th at the Leon County Eastside Branch Library (1583 Pedrick Rd.). My husband Jody Walthall and I will present the program, “How to Change Your Landscaping to Benefit Birds, Bees, Butterflies and other Wildlife.” We will include a segment on managing for bluebirds and other cavity nesting birds. Participants may visit the home of Glenda Simmons after the program to see the changes she has made over the years for the benefit of bluebirds and other wildlife. The Meet & Greet begins at 10:30am with the program starting at 11am. For more information, go to www.floridabluebirdsociety.com.

Favorite Hummingbird Plants

Ruby-throated hummingbird sipping nectar from dwarf firebush flower. Photo by Glenda Simmons.

Late summer is the peak of hummingbird activity in north Florida. Young birds of the year are off the nest and on their own. Adults and youngsters from as far north as Canada are streaming through on their southerly migration.

 Many of us see a hummingbird in our yard daily and we think of it as “our” resident friend. This is probably far from fact. Fred Dietrich, Tallahassee resident and licensed bird bander for the Hummingbird Study Group, decided to study hummingbirds in his yard during the summer of 2010. He banded 72 hummingbirds through September 25. Only two of these were recaptures. This means he had a different hummingbird every two or three days!

By the end of June the southward migration of mature males is already in full swing. Mature females and young of the season may stay into the fall or are passing through north Florida from farther north as late as mid October.

Feeders are an easy way to attract hummingbirds, but plants add interest and beauty to your yard. Of the many hummingbird plants to choose from, I have four favorites. They vary in size and sunlight requirements. Two are Florida natives.

Firebush becomes a large shrub each year, up to six feet in height and width. A south Florida native, it is covered with slender, inch long orange flowers June through October. Plant firebush in sun to light-shade and give it room to grow. Butterflies, particularly zebra longwings, also use these flowers.

Pentas is much smaller at around three feet tall by two feet wide. Colors range from white to several shades of pink to red. It blooms June until frost. Pentas, though a perennial in south Florida, does not always survive our colder winters. Protect the roots with an extra six inches of pine straw or leaf mulch over winter. Pentas likes lots of sun, but will still bloom in considerable shade. It is a favorite of butterflies as well.

For shady locations, two terrific perennials are Indian pink and cardinal guard. Indian pink is a north Florida native wildflower and grows to just two feet tall by two feet wide. It blooms every April and May with erect, red trumpets topped by a bright yellow star – a lovely addition to a woodland garden.

The other shade perennial is cardinal guard, sometimes called firespike. It has beautiful lush foliage and reaches four to six feet tall with an overall vertical form. It blooms in late summer to fall, the prime time for migrating hummingbirds. The tips of the multitude of stems sport bright red “salvia like” flower spikes. I like to plant cardinal guard near a window to watch the hummingbird activity up close.

All four of these plants die back to the ground after the first frost. At that time, you may prune off the dead stalks and compost them. An insulating layer of pine straw or leaves keeps the roots a little warmer for the pentas and firebush. Be sure to pull back the mulch in early spring so sunlight can warm the soil.

These four are my favorites but certainly aren’t your only choices for hummingbirds. Perennial blue salvias, several of the Cupheas, porterweed, the old standby shrimp plant and many others will attract hungry hummingbirds. Give your migrating hummers a dependable stopover feeding station by planting some of these beautiful plants.