Stevia

I grow stevia every year, dry the leaves, and use the powder for sweetener in drinks such as coffee and tea. My son uses it in a sports drink he makes consisting of water, lemon and stevia.

So, what is Stevia? It’s a shrub native to Paraquay where the Guarani Indians have been using it for over 1500 years. It is a natural sweetener with no calories and is diabetic safe. The stevia leaves are 10-15 times sweeter than sugar.

This plant is nontoxic and has been found to repel some insects; this may be due to the sweetness, which may act as a natural defense against aphids and other insects.

Stevia can be grown in containers, the greenhouse or out in the garden. Do not plant outside until all danger of frost is gone and the soil is warm. Young stevia plants are sensitive to low temperatures and all plants like to be moist but not to wet. Applying a layer of mulch around the plant will help to keep the soil moist in-between watering.

Harvest your stevia plants before the first frost. To harvest you can cut the whole plant and hang it upside down to dry or pick the leaves and use a screen, net or food dehydrator to dry them.

Once the leaves are dried, you can easily crush them into powder with your hands.

You can make your own stevia liquid by soaking crushed stevia leaves in water for a day or so, or by pouring hot water over the powder using a coffee filter.

Here is a wonderful Blog I came across that is dedicated to Stevia Recipes. It’s a wonderful site.

http://steviarecipes.blogspot.com/

Lovage - a herb we grown in our garden

Lovage is an ancient herb grown in English gardens and monasteries for hundreds of years, but originating in the Mediterranean. Europeans used it for treating minor stomachache, kidney problems and headaches.

I found lovage after a few failed attempts at growing celery. Lovage is far easier to grow, requires little to no care and comes back every year. It likes deep moist soil and sunshine or partial shade and grows as high as six feet tall. (Mine has gotten as high as 4 feet)

This herb looks and tastes like celery, although it has a much stronger taste it can be used in place of any recipe using celery – just use a little less.

Lovage is one of my favorite garden herbs; we use the leaves in salads and greens and the stock in soups, salads and stews or just raw. I have yet to use the root, but it is also edible – something we will have to remember to try this year.

One plant is definitely enough for a family.

Cream of Lovage Soup

Pea and Carrot Salad with Lovage

The resident deer

Writing my post last night it got me thinking of a time when one of the 5 or so neighbourhood deer was in our yard pruning one of the trees a little more than we liked. My husband tried to shoo it away and it just stood there looking at him. He picked up one of the dogs tennis balls and thru it toward the deer. The ball landed not far from where the deer was standing and it just walked over to the tennis ball and pushed it with it's nose.

The picture is not perfect but this is what I got.....needless to say we had quite a laugh over that one.

Cariboo Gardening

Well I thought it might be a good idea to create a blog on Cariboo Gardening, not only for information but to keep some kind of a record for myself.

It seems every year I start out great guns, making a map and writing the dates down when I've planted and when seeds have sprouted, and then.............I stop.

I've been planting a vegetable garden in the Cariboo for 20 years now, experimenting every year with something new. Last year we managed to grow 3 lovely honeydew melons that my grandson insisted on planting in my greenhouse. Other years it's been corn, cantaloupe, grapes, blackberries and more.

I guess the first thing to think about is deer proofing, we have tried all kinds of things and now have a 7' fence around the garden. I'm not sure what happened, maybe the weather, the climate but up until the last 5-6 years the deer and I had an understanding. They left the vegetable garden alone until I'd finished my harvesting and then they could have what was left, but that ended one year with all the broccoli being devoured before we got a chance to even taste it.
Since then the deer entered not only the garden, but also one year got in the greenhouse and ate everything but the stems of the green pepper plants.

We now have a 7' high fence around the garden and bright flagging tape hanging from the greenhouse doorway.