I’m quite late posting about my June Urban Farm Challenge adventures, but the information is certainly not out of date, so I hope you'll find it useful.

This challenge was a good one. I love using the herbs and flowers in my garden and have been infusing for a few years now. I might actually have an infusing problem; It seems there’s always something brewing in my dining room closet (a cool, dry, dark spot close the kitchen).

This month, I must admit, I did not quite challenge myself to do anything too new, but I did work on projects that I’m quite happy with.

The botanicals challenge was really all about using plants: drying them, mixing them, infusing them, distilling the essence of them, and using essential oils. I did some infusing and drying, and have plans for one more project that I’ll try this week.

I’ve written about infusing on the blog several times:

Infusing vinegar (with strawberries in this post)
Chive Blossom Vinegar
Peppermint Foot Scrub
Infusing Simple Syrups

For this month’s infusion challenge, I infused more simple syrups (I love them!). This time I went for lemon-thyme syrup and followed the recipe in the challenge for strawberry-thyme syrup, which is already almost gone (I tripled the thyme in the recipe and would add even more next time).

I also infused a batch of vodka with good black tea (excellent!) and made strawberry vodka with Green Bluff berries. For the tea vodka, I used about 2 cups of vodka and three tablespoons of a good quality black tea. I allowed it to steep for about 4 hours before straining the leaves. For strawberry vodka, I use a ratio of 1 part ripe, sliced berries to 2 parts vodka. Place it in a dark, cool place for about 2 weeks or until the berries have lost their color and the vodka tastes like fresh berries.

I also dried some herbs from the garden, something I have never done, but is so simple it will become a part of my yearly harvest. As thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, basil, mint, and other herbs begin to flower and pass their prime for fresh use, pick them and place them in a dehydrator or in small amounts in paper bags to dry. It won’t take long for most herbs to dry completely. Once they’re done store them whole or crushed in an airtight container. Easy! And you’ll have fresh herbs in your pantry each year. I love using herbs more fully rather than letting them bolt in the garden.

The part of the challenge I want to try in the next week or so is making my own hand lotion. It sounds so easy. I’ll let you know how it goes!

What botanicals do you grow (or forage!) and how do you use them?

 

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