My garden is so big- floating row covers would be expensive and then I would have to self pollinate- right? I've never done that.I'm already companion planting but never tried mugwort. I've got tansy, catnip, mints, lots of radishes, anise-hysop,yarrow,etc. Nothing is working this year. Could it be the continuous rain? The cayenne did work great for the slugs, but of course that washes off but the cuc beetles just laughed at me.I would think if they took a chew I'd be getting the last laugh. Right now I think the weather has me so depressed- if this keeps up the way its predicted there will be no vegetables and my perennial gardens are as depressed as I am. Thanks guys for your suggestions. Today they're predicting large hail, damaging winds so this all might be moot. We lost our Hickory tree last Thurs. to lighting.

Mint Teas: Makes a gallon - use only glass containers, plastic leaves a funny after taste. I use those glass jugs that apple juice/cider is often sold in. Citris Mint Tea (this is my Mom's favorite and I got the recipe from her): In a large pan (eventually needs to comfortably hold a gallon of liquid), bring 5 cups water to boil. Turn off heat and add a bunch of mint(I use 10-20 sprigs of mint, various kinds, and depending how strong I want it). Add 10 pinches or teaspoons of loose black tea (again depending how strong you want the "tea" flavor). Cover and let steep for 2 (two) hours. In a sauce pan, bring 5 cups water to boil, reduce heat and add 2 cups sugar (I only use one cup, because I don't like my tea too sweet), one cup lemon juice, and one frozen 12oz can orange juice concentrate. Keep well stirred until well disolved/mixed. Cover, turn off heat and let sit 2 hours. after the two hour wait: Add the juice mixture to the tea mix. Add 8 cups cold water and stir/mix well. Remove mint sprigs w/ tongs. Strain mixture using a very fine strainer into 1 gallon jug and top off with cold water if needed. Shake jug and refrigerate. Serve cold, over ice. You may want shake jug prior to each serving. Apple-Cinnamon Mint Tea (This one I came up with by making substitutions to the above recipe, as I prefer apples to oranges) In large pot (again eventually will hold nearly a gallon of liquid) bring 5 cups water to boil. Turn off Heat Add 10-20 sprigs mint add 10 pinches-teaspoons loose black tea (to taste) Add 2-3 cinnamon sticks. Don't use powdered cinnamon, it doesn't dissolve, found this out the hard way. Cover and let steep 90 minutes. In a saucepan bring the following to near boiling, but don't let it boil. Mainly just want it hot enough to get the sugar to dissolve: 4 cups unfiltered apple juice (has a cloudy white color to it) 2 cups cranberry juice (to replace the lemon tartness of the earlier recipe and complements apple better than lemon) 1/4 (1 quarter) cup brown sugar Stir until dissolved/mixed cover and turn off heat, let sit 90 mins. I originally used frozen apple juice concentrate, but it ended up too syrupy/sticky for some reason - using the actual juice turned out much better. After the 90 min wait: Add juice mix to tea pot, turn on heat to get it all steaming again and stir well. Then cover and remove from heat for another 30-40 minutes. Add 8 Cups cold water and stir. remove mint and strain the mix into 1 gallon jug, top off with cold water if needed. Cap and shake jug, refrigerate and serve cold over ice.

I'm up here in NH, and my herb garden got whacked pretty hard. All of my thymes took hits, although the creeping ornamentals (woolies, silver, etc.) did better than the culinary varieties. Variegated lemon thyme and English thyme, which were over three feet across, looked dead early on. BUT, they are coming back, some at the tips (branches tend to root) and some near the center, although they look very scraggly. I've pruned heavily and replanted some new plants in the middle of each cluster to fill them out, but left growing tips from the old plants for sentimental reasons (hard to say 'goodbye' to a favorite plant). At the nursery, when I mentioned my herbs took a hit, the first thing the woman said was that thyme got hit hard this year because of all the freezeÂthaw cycles and the lack of snow cover. That was certainly the case at my place. We had a mild winter, only down to -8F/-22C a couple of times, which made it a mild Zone 6 winter by straight hardiness zone measurements. It had to be the lack of snow cover, constant freeze-thaw and the fact that some plants ended up in standing water that then froze into solid blocks of ice that did most of the damage. Just goes to show that you canÂt rely on the zone maps to tell all. Other herbs that got whacked, but are coming back: winter savory, roman chamomile and munstead lavender (from both the ground and some Âdead looking branches). Herbs that bit the dust: Berggarten sage (which survived the last two winters), salad burnet (another one that had survived two winters), Greek oregano (which I thought was indestructible) both Arp and Madeline Hill rosemary (grown as a failed experiment next to the south side of the house), bronze fennel and French thyme. In general, plants that stayed evergreen or put out fresh growth from above-ground stems were hit the hardest. Herbs that seemed relatively unaffected were those that die back to the ground every year, for example all mints, sorrel, chives, garlic chives, Egyptian onion (actually left a few green stalks all winter), comfrey, French tarragon (yea!), rue, and, surprise-surprise, anise hyssop. One odd survivor - a pot of Ma Huang that I started from seed last spring and left out all winter. It certainly froze solid, but the plant survived. IÂm probably missing a few herbs, but that covers the bulk of them. Potted herbs that over-wintered indoors, like Vietnamese coriander and broadleaf thymes, have not gone outside, yet. I did put my Mexican culantro out last week, and it does not look happy, but it will survive. So, whitegarden, I think you might have a chance with at least the thyme and the lavender. But, if they are really alive and just look bad, you might consider filling in the dead spots anyway with a few new plants to make them look better. narcnh

i would love some of these if i could!! that would be so cool!! armenian cucumber tortarelo cucumber golden gopher musk melon? royal golden melon lee okra zolotistala melon casaba melon 1 bosc pear 2 mustard gai choy 1 garden peach tomoto 4 okra mix 1 daikon radish 1 canary bell peppers 2 lemon balm 1 sweet chocolate peppers 1 bok choy 2 green zebra tomato 3 peppers yolo wonder 1 peter peppers this year, i think will be a great year for that square foot gardening!! especially with all that is needing to be put in the ground!!! **big smile** i have lots of 6 blazing star liatres 21 single white angel trumpet-smells awesome 14 lavender datura- don't smell but is pretty!! 4 sesamie seeds so if anyone want's these, let me know. :') these are filled pretty good!@! ~Medo