Herb of the Year for 2023: Ginger ( (Zingiber officinale). Named by the International Herb Association
Flower of the Month for August: Gladiolus
August is National Watermelon Month
August’s Feature: Your Herbal Harvest

August Calendar Roundup
Week 1
August 7: The Shakers (America’s premier herbalists) arrived in New York Harbor on this day in 1774, on a ship called Mariah.
August 9: National Rice Pudding Day. This pudding has an 8000-year backstory: first recorded in India in 6000 B.C.
August 10: Chicago IL was incorporated as a village on this day in 1833. (Not as old as rice pudding.)

Week 2
August 15: Today is the birthday of Julia Child (1912-2004), also known as Our Lady of the Ladle.

Week 3
August 17: National Vanilla Custard Day.

Week 4
August 28: Pepsi-Cola (originally an herbal drink to treat indigestion) got its name on this day in 1898.
August 29: Just what we need! National More Herbs Less Salt Day.

There they are, green and growing in your garden. But you need them in your kitchen, too. What to do?

You can begin harvesting your herbs for daily use when the plant has enough foliage to ensure continued growth. Successive harvests throughout the season encourage bushy plants with stronger leaf growth, so plan to cut back your plants and preserve your harvest frequently.

Harvest in the morning, after the dew dries but before the temperature climbs, to ensure that you’ve gathered the plant when its essential oils are strongest. Here are a few  things to remember:

• Herbs are at their best when they’re fresh-picked. For daily use, gather just what you need. Wrap in a damp paper towel and place in a tightly-closed plastic bag in the refrigerator.
• Long-stemmed herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano, savory, dill, fennel) can be kept on the kitchen counter for a few days. Strip lower leaves for immediate use and put the stems in a narrow-necked vase filled with water, out of the sun.
• Herbs produce their most intense flavor after the flower buds appear but before they open. Harvest at this time for most uses. Plants such as basil and oregano may still be suitable for vinegars after they’ve bloomed, however.

Here is a guide to help you plan your herbal harvest.

• Gather annual herbs until frost, making as many successive harvests as possible without damaging the plant. Don’t cut too near the ground, for lower foliage is necessary for strong, continuing growth. At the end of the season, harvest the entire plant.
• Gather perennial herbs until about one month before the frost date. Late pruning encourages tender growth that may be killed by the frost, and plants need the regrowth to see them through the winter.
• Gather flowering perennial herbs (tarragon or lavender) in early summer, then cut the plants to half their height to encourage fall flowering.
• Collect herb seeds (mustard, fennel) as the seed pods darken and dry, but before they burst. Secure a paper bag over the seed head to complete ripening, then cut the stem and hang the bag for further drying.
• Dig herb roots (chicory, ginseng, goldenseal, horseradish) after the foliage fades. Dig, wash off the dirt, dry thoroughly on a screen, store in paper bags.

• Okay, so what’s the connection between Chicago and herbs? If you didn’t already know that onions are herbs, it’s time you found out! The place-name “Chicago” means “onion field.” The word was first recorded in a 1688 French document, where it appears as Chigagou, an Algonquian word for the wild onions and garlic that grew in the area. For something a little different, marry onions with mint, as in this intriguing recipe: Roasted Sweet Onions with Mint. And listen to Susan’s podcast, “The Magical, Mystical, Magnetic Onion.”
• Celebrate St. Julia’s Day by reading her book, My Life in France. You might also enjoy the memoir Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, by Julie Powell, who cooked all 524 recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking—and lived to blog about it! The blog became a book (naturally) and the book became a 2009 film, starring Meryl Streep as the irrepressible Lady of the Ladle. Cooking doesn’t get much better than this.
•  Observe Vanilla Custard Day by getting better acquainted with vanilla, perhaps the best-loved flavoring of all time. Vanilla pods are the fruit of the vanilla planifolia, the only orchid to produce an edible substance—and after saffron, the second most expensive herb to grow. For a classic plain-vanilla baked custard recipe, try this one. And if you haven’t read it yet, now is a great time to indulge in A Plain Vanilla Murder, China’s 27^th mystery.
• If you’d rather make your vanilla custard with condensed/evaporated milk, simply substitute. And while you’re at it, you might want to know how Gail Borden came to develop canned condensed (or evaporated) milk and why it was so important at the time. What’s the difference between condensed or evaporated and sweetened condensed milk? Here’s the low-down.
• Learn the history of one of the most famous soft drinks of all time. Pharmacist Caleb Bradham brewed up a drink he called “Brad’s Drink,” designed to ease indigestion and boost energy. It was concocted of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, and high-caffeine kola nuts. You can see the original formula here. On August 28, 1898, he gave it a catchy new name: “Pepsi-Cola.” The rest is history.
• Visit my new Substack project, Place & Thyme, where we can share more of our community interests. Subscribe (it’s quick, easy, free), and you can be a part of whatever we’re doing over there. Love to have you join us!