Most years I purchase a rosemary tree for someone else

container with no drain hole and proceeded to drown it. I don’t know what our daughter-in-law, Pam did with hers. I just know it didn’t make it.

So, I will see what I can do with one as soon as I pick one up. I love rosemary. I love it with butter on fresh carrots. I love to put it into soups and other good stuff. I just love the smell of it. And it is great to put into stuffing or rub on your holiday birds, prior to baking. This is one herb, we use a lot of at the Home Farm Herbery. We love it in our Frittatas. Frittatas are a wonderful way to clean out the refrigerator with some panache!

So what do we do with those lovely little trees that are sold in Wal-mart or Lowes or Home Depot? You know the ones I’m talking about. They are out there about 3 weeks before Thanksgiving and are really hard to resist.

Most herbs come from the Mediterranean and the soil is very gravelly there. Plus lots of dry season even on some of the islands like the Balearic Islands.

Like everything in life, there is a little secret to things. And the secret to rosemary is that it likes to be constantly moist but doesn't like to sit in the water, so it has to be well drained. Rosemary hates water around its roots, but it will die if the roots dry out. Just like some people, it likes to shower every day, but not sit in a bath!

With that in mind, what do you do about it? First, upon arriving home from the store with your plant, you put pot and all into a larger pot filled with gravel. Be sure the bigger pot has a hole at the bottom for drainage. You can place all of this on a plant saucer to catch water. If you don’t have a plant saucer, use a disposable aluminum pie plate or some other kind of dish for a “catcher” to keep the water off your table or countertop.

Every day or every other day simply water your rosemary at the base of the plant. It doesn't need much, perhaps half a cup. Let the water run right through the plant and out into the saucer (be sure to empty the saucer). Nowadays I do not have many plants in our home. Our flowers from our gardens are what we use in the spring, summer and fall. So I do not keep anything that needs to be maintained in the winter when I am not here.

However, when I did keep a lot of indoor plants, I just put my plants in the sink every morning and water them that ways, letting all the water go down the drain. Then I put them back in place with something under them to catch more water.

Now rosemary needs a bath every once in awhile, just like all of us do. A gentle rising gets rid of any dead leaves and other debris that tend to build up around the base of the plant. Remember not to wash the soil away. You can let it soak for a little while, and then drain very well.

For those of you who like long steamy showers, once a week or every few days, take the rosemary tree into the bathroom with you. Put it on the counter or sink and close the door while you are taking the long shower. While you are feeling good, the rosemary will get the humidity it likes.

Now at this point, your plant makes it through the winter, then in the spring you can plant it pot and all in a sunny, well-drained location and make sure it gets plenty of water. I would dig a hole about 2 or 3 times bigger in diameter and about ½ again as deep. I would fill the hole with 2 or 3 “ of gravel and then center my rosemary pot on top of the gravel. Then I would fill the diameter of the hole with more gravel around the pot until the top of the pot.

Your rosemary should grow beautifully. Make sure that there is plenty of room in the pot, and mix the potting soil with sand or vermiculite- anything to keep it draining well. Gravel mixed with your dirt works really well. As it grows it will probably get “bushy”.

During this time, you can go out and snip off fresh rosemary and use it in all your wonderful recipes. Be careful not to get to crazy with the scissors, especially if you want to bring the rosemary back to its original tree shape again in the fall.

Before the first frost, bring in your rosemary. You can then shape it into a tree, and enjoy the "trimmings" on your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey. Take your “trimmings”, place on a clean cookie sheet in one layer. Pre-heat your oven to 350° and place the cookie sheet in oven for 3 to 5 minutes. This should dry the herb out well enough for you to then put it in an airtight jar for your winter use.

Rosemary leaves and branches are pretty tender, but are really worth the time and effort to enjoy this fresh herb all year round.

In my old age, I spend a great deal of time trying to get the Home Farm Herbery off the ground. I have developed quite a knack for blending herbs and spices and we are just starting to get people buying our unique blends. If anyone wants a brochure, just email me and I will email back an attachment that contains our brochure. Better still, visit our website.

We have pictures of them on our website. Just click on this hyperlink, www.learn-america.com/stories/storyReader$218 and that should get you to our page and see what we have.

Right now I am developing some lavender skin cream and some rose skin cream.

As soon as I get it to where I am satisfied with it. It will be added to our page. As of now, everyone who has tried our baths salts loves it and has come back for more.

Just email me with any questions or if you are in the area, stop in and say hello. Please remember to ……

“Tread the Earth Lightly”… and in the meantime… may your day be filled with…

Peace, Light and Love,

Arlene W. Correll