tel: 512 280-1192 Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Nursery Notes: Happy Thanksgiving gardeners! Our Fall
pottery sale continues: 25% off all of our pottery (except Tala-
vera). Maroon 'Aggie' bluebonnets & regular bluebonnets $3.29
per six-pack. $2 per two ounce scoop of bluebonnet seeds. 50%
off Chicory Greens (Catalogna chicory) just $1 each. Winter
hours for the nursery: 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Closed for Thanksgiving
giving (tomorrow). Forward this email to a friend
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Golden Baked Onions: this easy Thanksgiving recipe combines
cream, thyme, Dijon mustard, and mozzarella and Gruyère cheese
to create a dramatic side dish. (You can use yellow onions instead
of the brown ones in the recipe.) The Splendid Table
A Garden Gate in 5 Easy Steps: 'I am not sure when or where
I learned to make gates but … they are so very easy! This gate
literally took me a half hour from start to finish … once I assem-
bled my materials,' writes Joy in her Joy to Journey DIY blog.
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Six Oddball Facts about Turkeys: did you know that all turkey
species came from Mexico? Garbrielle Saulsbery unearths this
and several other fascinating facts about this culinary star of our
Thanksgiving table: Modern Farmer
___________________________________________________ Central Texas Gardener: Sustain beauty , wildlife and resources
with native plants. Visit a four-season wildflower prairie. On Sat.
at 4 p.m., Sun. at 9 a.m. KLRU
Sage: the Herb of Thanksgiving
by Chris Winslow
Although during Thanksgiving the spotlight tends to focus on
cooks of the house, it should also be a time for gardeners to receive
some acclaim.
So, gardeners of Buda, Kyle and Austin, if you grew any of the
vegetables that are part of your Thanksgiving feast tomorrow,
then speak up at the dinner table, and be sure to take a bow,
along with the cook!
For its contribution to our enjoyment of the Thanksgiving dinner,
no culinary herb comes to mind more than garden sage
Known in the botanical world as Salvia officinalis, this amazing
herb originated in the Mediterranean basin and has a long history
of culinary and medicinal uses in Europe and China.
Its genus name is salvia, which is derived from the Latin word
salvere , meaning to be saved. On the medical front it has been
used as a stimulant and a tonic. One of its most valued uses is as
a mouthwash, to help heal sores in the mouth and as a gargle for
sore throats.
Garden sage is easy to grow and stays evergreen throughout the
winter months. It likes good drainage and a sunny location for
at least the first half of the day.
Although it’s a perennial, it only lasts for two to three years and
needs to be replaced as the old plants begin to get woody and
deteriorate.
Sage flowers are blue to purple and bees love them. Pure sage
honey is said to be some of the most valuable in the world.
And not only does sage have a role in the kitchen and the med-
icine cabinet… but it looks beautiful in the garden as well.
There are about a half a dozen forms of sage that can be planted.
All have the same culinary and medicinal uses. Here are a few
to look for:
Common Garden sage will have the characteristic gray leaves
with the purple-blue flowers. ($3.59 for 4.5" pot)
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Purple garden sage has a purple-ish cast to the new growth.
The leaves then turn gray with age. ($3.59 for 4.5" pot)
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Tricolor sage is a variegated cultivar, which has green, cream,
and pink colors in the leaves. This variety will lose its pink
color if planted in too much shade. (not in stock)
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Biergarden sage is a gray leaf cultivar that has broad leaves
& stays slightly shorter than its common cousin. (not in stock)
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All of these cultivars are readily available and add great color
to the garden. A tip for using fresh garden sage leaves in a corn-
bread-dressing recipe: use 6 fresh leaves for each dried sage
teaspoon. Happy gardening everyone!
Please contact newsletter editor Darrel Mayers (pictured above)
with any ideas for articles or interesting links:
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: Its About Thyme facebook
Visit the nursery: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, 78748
