Yarb Tales

The Heritage Herb Garden at the Ozark Folk Center graces the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, the native and exotic herbs help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Today the Ozark Folk Center exists to perpetuate, present and promote the Ozark way of life in an educational and enjoyable manner; through craft demonstrations, musical programs, the Heritage Herb Gardens, workshops and other special events. Geographically speaking, the Ozark Plateau is a large upland region of the southern United States that ranges from a tiny southern portion of Illinois, southern Missouri, north Arkansas, and just a slice of eastern Oklahoma and Kansas, between the Arkansas and Missouri Rivers. Ethnically, most white settlers in the Ozarks were of Scotch-Irish, German or English descent. These families were subsistence farmers eating meals based on pork, wild game, poultry, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, beans, turnips, mustard, “poke sallet” and corn.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The next Herb Harvest Fall Festival, beginning on the evening of September 30, 2010 and continuing until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 2, marks the beginning of a sojourn around the Mediterranean Sea. This year we begin in The Cradle of Western Civilization, with a focus on Greece and Turkey. We will travel clockwise around the shore during the next several fall herb events in order to explore how Mediterranean herbs affected our ancestors and continue to enhance our lives in the present day. Applying this knowledge to the Ozark region, we will bring experts to speak on herbal topics related to agriculture, cuisine, culture, gardening, medicine, textiles and trade. Most importantly, we will learn how the herbs of the region apply to people of the Ozarks and the United States. The theme of this event relates directly to the mission of the Heritage Herb Garden as stated in every Yarb Tales column.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Farmers Markets are going full tilt right now. If you are not growing fresh produce yourself and have not found a way to get to market or send someone to shop for you then you are simply missing out. Red is still on Main Street and we can shop with him almost every day. He grows vegetables in his own garden plus he buys from other farmers. On Wednesday mornings Stone County Farmers Market on Main St. opens at 7:30 a.m., the Rosewood Nursery Market on Park Ave, near the fairgrounds is open by 8 a.m.; on Saturday Stone County Farmers Market on Main Street opens at 8.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

This is the time of year when it is good to review methods for staying comfortable in your skin and still go outside to work and play. For me, protection against sun and biting bugs begins by dressing correctly. I wear jeans or slacks, socks and boots, long sleeves and big straw hat. My pant cuffs get tucked and secured inside the boot tops and, when working with plants with toxic oils, shirt sleeve cuffs are tucked inside work gloves.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

I am writing this column from the International Herb Association (IHA) Educational Conference and Meeting of Members in Collinsville, Illinois, the Horseradish Capitol of the World. A professional organization, IHA’s public claim to fame and best educational gift to all interested persons is the Herb of the Year program. The next Herb of the Year for 2011 is horseradish. I am bringing 38 starter plants home from conference. These little plants will be for sale in the Herb Shoppe beginning this Friday. Anyone that wants to harvest and prepare fresh horseradish from your garden should hurry in. These little plants are from prime stock and are ready to get in the ground.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants

Currently the Arkansas Ozarks seems locked in an extended dry, hot spell. This is normal weather and does not have to give cause for alarm. It is just a time to adjust actions and expectations in the garden.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Compost happens—all of the time. Thank goodness, for without the decomposers that transform waste into humus we would all be up to our eyeballs in, well, you know. In fact, we would not be here to see what would happen. The cycle is necessary to our very existence. I wax philosophical on this subject because I spend hard labor and quality time in the compost area, sometimes alone, sometimes with community service youth. I chop, pile and mix all of the materials with sweat. I work out serious problems back behind that fence.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Elephant garlic, Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum is a relative of garlic, onion and leek that we are seeing now in many a cottage garden. It is named for its very large, often apple-sized bulb. Individual cloves can be the size of a large dates. It occurs in stands marked by celestial globes atop stalks often 3-feet or even taller. It should be dug when about half of the leaves have yellowed and died.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas, and help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

It is garlic harvesting time again! The perfect time to dig garlic is when the leaves have begun to yellow but while there are still four sets of leaves that are still green. Lift the garlic before the leaves turn completely brown. Harvest while there are still some green leaves because each leaf sheaf becomes the packaging that protects the cloves inside the bulb. Each sheaf attaches all the way down to the base of the bulb at the roots. As the leaves die, soil organisms begin to break down the leaf structure. The garlic that is harvested after the leaves are brown is good to eat but must be eaten first. The cloves will lack the paper-like packaging and sprout sooner.

It is easier to dig the bulbs if the soil is moist but not muddy. When the garlic is ready to be lifted, it pulls easily without the use of a spade but the use of this tool will insure that you get a whole bulb every time. If the soil is very dry, the stem often pulls loose, leaving the bulb still lodged in the soil. If the soil is muddy, the bulbs are harder to clean. Timing is everything in life, including garlic harvest.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

As a member of the Herb Society of America’s Ozark Unit, I am choosing vetiver grass as my signature plant for the year 2010. The signature plant program encourages research so that members of IHA can become expert on any herb they wish to know better. In this way unit programs are developed, members sharpen study and presentation skills and the goal of educating members and the public is achieved in a thorough and diverse way.

Vetiver grass, formally known as Vetiveria zizanioides was given the new genus name Chysopogon in 1991. Also known as khus khus, this herb is a tall, clumping grass that is native to tropical Asia. It is cultivated in Haiti, Réunion and Java for the essential oil of its roots. The essential oil is valued in the industries of perfumery and flavoring. I keep the essential oil of vetiver on hand for making insect-repellent oil for my skin.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

On Wednesday afternoon, join horticulturist Kathleen Connole to learn how to take cuttings, propagate by division and save and sow seed. While you are here be sure to visit the Herb Shoppe and herb plant arbor just across from the school house.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

I have been consuming Judy Barrett’s writing in the bimonthly news magazine, Homegrown: Good Sense Organic Gardening for Texas and her most recent book, What Can I Do With My Herbs? published by Texas A&M University Press I asked Ms. Barrett to come from Texas for the Heritage Herb Spring Extravaganza because she writes like a gardener’s gardener. Ms. Barrett will be presenting a program by the same name as her book this coming Friday, April 30th at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. Early-bird workshop participants can attend her Organic Herb Growing Forum on Saturday morning. Even though her soil is more alkaline, her summers are hotter and winters are shorter and warmer, the herb gardening wisdom she shares is applicable to gardeners all over the South and Mid-South, United States.
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The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants

If you are interested in eating for flavor, texture and nutrition, make plans now to see Pat Crocker during the Heritage Herb Spring Extravaganza, April 30 and May 1^st at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. The Committee of 100 for the Ozark Folk Center is the sponsor of this very special herbal speaker from Ontario, Canada.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Over the long history of Arkansas State Parks there have been a myriad of surprising delights and educational opportunities that cannot be found anywhere else. For example, the very first Lavish Herbal Feast occurred on April 22, 1989, at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas. It was a collaborative production of the all-woman volunteer organization, The Committee of 100 for the Ozark Folk Center, herbal experts Jim Long and Billy Joe Tatum and the Heritage Herb Garden and the park staff. The meal began with a Sweet Woodruff May Punch reception hosted by the Herb Garden Committee of the Committee of 100. The feast featured five courses with live violin music by Maestro James Gambino. The dinner was the opening event of the third annual Heritage Herb Weekend.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The wait is over for early spring flower nibbles! Violets, Johnny-jump-ups, redbuds and dandelions all temptingly perched atop supporting stems, are just waiting to be chomped. What could be more cheerful than a salad strewn with these?

 
March 10, 2010
The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Garden crew, Committee of 100 Herb Garden Committee and the Ozark Unit of the Herb Society of America collaborated together to bring home a big blue ribbon from the Arkansas Flower Show the weekend of February 26 through 28, 2010. The theme of this year’s show was “A World of Gardening”.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Garden crew is preparing for the Arkansas Flower Show coming this weekend, February 26 through Sunday, February 28, 2010 at The Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Visit http://www.arflowerandgardenshow.org/display_gardens.htm for full details. This show kicks off our spring season. We will bring a market packed full of plants, books, seed and herbal products.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Biomes are geographical areas of the world that are inhabited by plant and animal communities adapted to the environmental conditions found in the regions. The concept of biomes was pioneered by Victor Shelford (1877-1968) in the book Bio-ecology. Shelford served as the first president of the Ecological Society of America, an organization that was established from 1917 to 1936.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

In order to grow herbs from places other than the Ozarks it is good to know something about where they are from. Our useful plants are native to particular biomes. Biomes are geographical areas of the world that are inhabited by plant and animal communities adapted to the environmental conditions found in the regions. The environmental conditions are created by climate and geography. World biomes that are not under water include tundra, taiga, grasslands, deciduous forest, chaparral, desert, desert-scrub, savanna, rainforest and alpine.

The Heritage Herb Garden at the Ozark Folk Center graces the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The holiday season is upon us and with it, the use of herbs in cooking traditional foods. Our religious celebrations have their origins in the eastern Mediterranean. Rosemary, native to mainly the coastal areas of the Mediterranean; sage, northern shores of the Mediterranean; and thyme, mountains of Spain and other European countries with shores on the Mediterranean are herbs that we can grow here in the Arkansas Ozarks for use throughout the year.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

During the weeks of December this column will explain how to grow herbs from the Holy Land in local gardens for use throughout the year. Dill, Anethum graveolens is an annual herb native to the Mediterranean region and southern Russia.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Protecting plants for the winter is an annual affair that occurs in stages. This year the Heritage Herb Garden has enjoyed an extended Indian summer, making the job of bedding in the plants a joy rather than the usual frantic, freezing rescue mission of years past.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

On the top of the Ozark Folk Center mountain most of the plants have escaped killing frost. Zinnias and cosmos are blooming and peppers and tomatoes still bear fruit even though the majority of tree leaves have fallen. The Butterfly Hill below the administration building is receiving fall clean up.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

It is time to do those late fall garden chores. Though most plants have ceased obvious vigorous growth, cool season annuals, soil processes, insect life cycles and the roots of perennials continue.

In the vegetable garden, collect the seed of the heirloom varieties. The tomato seeds are fermented in a bit of water for a few days and then washed clean. Squash and pumpkin seeds should be washed clean and stored dry. Green beans, peas and okra pods should be gathered on a dry day, hulled, dried and stored.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

The yellow jacket hive that was housed in the hillside herb garden is now dead. We have learned much about this insect and how to eradicate a nest that poses danger to people.

Yellow jackets are beneficial to the gardener because the workers feed on liquid food such as flower nectar. They transfer pollen from one flower to another as they feed. They are also attracted to ripe fruit and sweet beverages. I have witnessed and heard many stories of terrible stings from drinking a big swallow of soda pop containing a yellow jacket.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

A subterranean nest of yellow jackets is built in the rocky ledge of the hillside herb garden. During the day, constant and orderly streams of thousands depart and land at the entrance of the cavern. These are the workers who will soon be killed by frost. The queen is safely housed deep inside of the nest.

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants.

Cover crops such as oats, wheat, annual rye, Australian peas, hairy vetch and several types of clover feed garden soil with green manure when they are turned or tilled in the spring. Gardeners must commit to tilling or turning in the perennial vetch and clover in the spring or these plants will develop roots that will be almost impossible to eliminate from the garden.  

The Heritage Herb Gardens at the Ozark Folk Center grace the park with visual colors and textures, sweet and pungent aromas. With their natural display, they help us to interpret the history of the human use of plants

Fungus is among us or, more correctly written, fungi are beside and within us. I cannot even say how many there are. The numbers are huge, like constellations, grains of sand, dollars or ideas—and they are alive. Like every energy system, fungi have to have a habitat, a place in the world in which to eat, grow, reproduce and die. They feed on and break down specific kinds of tissue under particular conditions.