Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 15

hi; id-Illinois Newspapers U1 Thursday, June 9, 1S31 C2 Abby Joe Grant C3 Horoscope C5 Fresh herbs are fragrant, useful garden plants 11111 sew The Green Thumb Mindy Catanzaro of Areola is a freelance writer who has completed the Master Gardener program at the University of Illinois While herbs have earned a prominent place in many vegetable gardeners' hearts, their popularity continues to grow by leaps and bounds, as shown in the last few years by the number of people turn BySUESMYSER Lifestyle Writer A v' 4: J. S- i "J' work peat moss and fertilizer into wood frames, then cover it with plastic," he said. "I would have had some monstrous plants, but the snow and cold the first of April caused me to lose every one and I had to start all over. I had taken the plastic off when that cold spell hit." Hetzer said he plants white Silver Queen Hybrid corn because it makes a nice solid ear that's all filled out, and the worms don't bother it. "I spray the corn when the silks are real light and then spray them again when the silks start turning brown." Don'tworryifyouseehiminthegar-den, shaking his corn stalks.

He has a reason. Til go shake the corn and let the silks fall. You see, the silks are female and the pollen is male; the pollen falls on the tassel and creates corn." Hetzer said if the ground is dry when planting time arrives, he soaks the kernels of corn a day and a night to make them swell. "Otherwise, they have to try to get moisture out of the soil." He plants his potatoes just a shade different than some gardeners do. "I put the eyes just under the ground an inch or two.

When the potatoes come up eight or 10 inches tall, I'll completely cover them with straw, and they come up through the straw. When the vine dies, the potatoes are close to the top of the ground. The straw helps to keep the weeds down and the moisture in the soil." He likes to plant white cabbage because it doesn't grow real big, just about three or four pounds, and it has a mild flavor. He's has 204 cabbage plants dotting his garden. Tomatoes, he said, ripen more evenly if you put straw all around the plants.

"The sun reflects off the straw and the tomato ripens even." He has 248 tomato plants beginning to bloom. His garden is strewn with 150 sweet peppers and 30 jalapeno pep- Anyone who has been working in a garden since age 5 should know a little about raising good Dale Hetzer, who will be 76 in September and grew up on a farm near Toledo, said he doesn't always follow a conventional style when it comes to gardening. Ask any senior citizen about the quality of his produce, and most will tell you it's good. "I raise this stuff, then take most of it into the senior center in Mattoon'and give it away." His friendly face is warmly tanned from years of working outside. He said nine or 10 families live out of his garden, and he and his niece preserve lots of it.

"I make jelly and jam." Hetzer said he uses zucchini squash to make a sweet treat that tastes like apricot jam. "You peel the zucchini, take the skin and seeds out; then chop it in a food chopper, wash it and drain it, Mix in some apricot Jello, sugar and Sure-jell, then seal the jar." Another favorite of his is making jelly out of green tomatoes that ends up tasting like raspberries. He doesn't plant anything just because a book or old tale says it's time, like planting potatoes on Good Friday. When he feels like the ground is ready, he runs the tiller both ways through the garden, checks the moisture content and sees how the soil works. "This year I tried to get it in too soon, and the ground was too wet.

I don't fertilize the ground until I put the plants in. Then I take a little handful and hoe it around the plant. What good is fertilizer in the middle of your row? Do you want to fertilize your weeds?" he asked. But long before he works the ground, he is busy making cold frames behind his niece Judy Rohrs home in Trilla. "I spade up a couple of patches and Photo by Doug Lawtwad Dale Hetzer doesn't follow conventional gardening styles aerate the ground and keep it from packing so tight Hetzer, who has smoked for 60 years, said he is in reasonably good health.

"Except for about with a heart attack and pneumonia in February that slowed me down. I lost 20 pounds and still haven gamed it back. He has outlived two wives and has pers plants, 40 hills each of burpless cucumbers and zucchini and 34 hills of muskmelon. One vegetable, the purple beet, he said, is hard to grow. "They are hard to get up.

It's a hard, shriveled up seed," he said. "But if you scatter the seed on top of the ground and wet them slightly, they will come right up. Cover them up with newspapers, weighted down or you can mix the seed in potting soil and sow it down the rows. Beets and carrots really need sandy soil." He plants his 90 feet by 140 feet garden on ground owned by a friend in Trilla. One secret to having a good garden, he said, is to have plenty oflit-tle red worms in the ground.

"They a son, Larry, who resides near Heartville. When it's not garden sea son, he works at the senior center, "You name it, I do it." But during gardening time he's fully occupied with the plants. By the time fall arrives, he likes the garden to be clean, ready and waiting for the next round. "I pull every doggone thing and burn it. ing out for Mattoon's herb festival each spring.

This popularity can be attributed to many; things, from the wonderful flavors fresh herbs add to foods, without salt or fat, to the ease of maintain-, ing the plants. Herbs can be grown indoors in a sunny kitchen window; parsley and chives can conveniently be snipped and added to dishes at the end of preparation or for garnish if they're kept in this manner. They also are grown easily outdoors, tolerating many different exposures and confinements. As long as the soil is not extremely wet and poorly drained, your herbs will continue to thrive. If your' soil matches this description, a raised bed will remedy the problem.

If your needs are small, however, the plants will flourish just as well in flower pots or In fact, it is preferable to grow some herbs in containment, even if keeping a larger garden. Mints are aggressive plants and tend to overrun the rest, of your plants if not kept in check, most easily by. containing the roots. When choosing a site for your herbs, any sunny to partly sunny location will do, as long as the area gets at least four to six hours of sun each day. Work in peat or compost each spring to increase the quality of the soil, but don't fertilize your herbs regularly.

They prefer soils with low to medium fertility. If given too many nutrients, the plants will produce an abundance of foliage, but with little flavor. Throughout the growing season, water levels must be maintained and weeds kept in check. A good mulch, applied to a depth of three to four inches around the plants, will help in both these areas by retaining moisture for the plants and discouraging' weeds from taking root. Compost, wood chips or shredded bark, ground corn cobs or dried grass clippings all are good mulch choices.

Some herbs that easily can be grown in our area, according to the University of Illinois College of Agriculture, include: Oregano, which has a stronger flavor than, but similar to marjoram and thyme, and is a major in- gredient in Italian and Mexican cooking. The leaves are used in beef, poultry, seafood, lamb, steak and cheese dishes, as well as in dips and sauces. It is a hardy perennial with sprawling stems, reaching up to 2 feet tall. Oregano plants produce 2-inch to 4-inch clusters of small, purple pink flowers in summer and fall. The plaints should be divided every two to three years.

If the stems are snipped at the first two sets of leaves after the flower buds form but before they open, two or three more harvests will be possible throughout the season. Mint leaves can be used in sauces, added to vegetables or salads, steeped for tea, baked in cookies or breads. One tablespoon added to a quart of fresh peas provides a wonderful addition to an old summer favorite. Dried mint leaves also are used in potpourri or sachets, with such companions as lavender and roses. Perennial mints grow upright and may reach two feet tall.

They send out runners that can be divided for easy propagation, but also tend to be weedy and aggressive if not kept contained. Lavender is a woody perennial, grown for its aroma, which is released from the dried flowers. Used in sachets, perfumes and potpourri, lavender is a favorite among gardeners who like a Victorian influence in their garden, as well. The plant grows to a height between one and a half to three feet tall. Its flowers bloom in June and July and attract butterflies to your garden, which is an unexpected benefit.

Lavender is propagated by cuttings or layered divisioa when the plant is three years old. jv Rosemary is a wonderful cooking herb when used fresh, as preferred over dried. Its pungent, disr tinctive flavor livens up beef, poultry, pork, lamb, sauces, stuffing and soups. It is popularly used in Italian pasta sauces and in veal dishes. Rosemary is an evergreen that reaches 2 to 4 feet tall.

Pale lavender blue flowers appear in the spring, adding interest to the balsamic-scented shrub. Rosemary can be propagated by cuttings of -four to six inches and should be brought inside for the severe winter, as it is not hardy in our Some annual herbs that do well in our region include: borage, anise, coriander (cilantro), scented geraniums (grown as perennials in warmer climates), nasturtium, fennel, chervil, summer savory and parsley. Many of the more common herbs can be purchased at local seed stores and nurseries; seed catalogs will be helpful to those of you who desire more exotic herbs. Dee Hawn of Savoy, a Master Gardener and an herb gardener of 10 years, offered these tips to add subtle zip to your cooking with herbs. In chocolate recipes, include teaspoon cinnamon; it enhances the chocolate without a noticeable cinnamon flavor.

In yeast breads, adding teaspoon ginger helps the bread rise. For those trying to cut down on their salt intake, try celery or celery seed. The natural saltiness cuts down on the need for sodium. Dee also suggests harvesting your aromatics (mints, etc.) before noon in order to get the peak oil concentrate. Dee has plans to publish an herb cookbook in the fall and has graciously allowed me to pass along her recipes.

Lookforthoseinnextweek's column. Include gardening in your daily exercise routine Sharon Hargis 1 Hargis is lifestyle editor of the Journal Gazette and True or false? 1. Muscles turn to fat if you stop exercising. 2. Sit-ups decrease stomach fat.

3. Working up a good sweat burns body fat. 4. For weight loss, it's good to exercise. but not essential.

If you answered true to any of the above statements, you were "myths-taken," according to the a recent article in Good Health is Good Business published by the St. Louis Dairy Council. The article on "The Activity Continuum," written by Ellen Coleman and Robert Reber, had some interesting ways to integrate your daily activities into a routine to meet your exercise goals. I constantly need advice on this because I have a hard time "finding time" to stick to my exercise plan. Today, with sedentary lifestyles and jobs that require us to sit or stand all day, we could all use a little boost to keep up our energy levels.

"This cycle of inactivity promotes fatigue, on-the-job stress and risk of many health problems, the article said. If time is a factor for you too, they advise ac Annual rose show-Sunday in Mattoon The annual Lincolnland Rose Show will beheld Sunday at the Cross County Mall in Mattoon. The show is open to the public free of charge from approximately noon to 4 p.m. Anyone can exhibit roses in the show at no charge. Bring your roses for entry between 7 and 9:30 a.m.

No entries will be accepted after 10 a.m. There is a special section for those who have only a few roses, so the beginner will not have to compete with growers wVin Vmvfi larottr erardens. Here's why the above statements, the article said, are all false: l. Your muscles won't turn to fat with less exercise; they just shrink in size. Any fat gained through inactivity is a result of consuming more calories than you burn.

2. No matter how you exercise, you can't lose body fat in just one spot. But aerobic exercises running, biking and distance swimming do burn body fat wherever it's stored and in whatever body part you move. Since sit-ups aren't aerobic, they don't reduce body fat, but they do burn calories. 3.

You may weigh less after a workout, but sweat loss isn't fat loss. Each pound of weight lost during exercise equals 2 cups of perspiration. Replace it with fluids: milk, juice or water! 4. Exercise is a must for weight loss! By losing weight without exercising, you may lose more lean muscle tissue than body fat. Some experts say you just become a smaller "fat person." Dieting without exercise causes the speed at which your body burns calories to drop.

Your body actually conserves calories and may store them as body fat. I don't have any "official" information on this other than my own experience, but the woods are alive with poison ivy and ticks this year. The foliage is beautiful, lush and green, but if you are going to be out in rural areas, try to wear hats, long sleeves, long pants, socks and tennis shoes if possible. Be sure to check hair and clothing for ticks before going inside. We've already found a few ticks in our house and we have no indoor pets! cumulating your exercise in increments of 10 minutes each throughout the day.

"Perhaps 10 minutes before work on a stationary bike, a brisk 10-minute walk during your lunch break and 10 minutes of gardening after work," the article said. "Experts say, about 1,000 calories of moderate activity a week puts you in the middle of the activity continuum." So, as usual, I probably make this a lot harder than it is. If I could motivate myself to walk down to the mailbox in the morning (country folks have long driveways), around the park on my lunch break and down to the creek and back after dinner, I could easily work 30 minutes of exercise into my day. Is there some way you can do the same? As Reber, who is a professor at the University of Illinois, said, "If you don't take time to exercise, you won't have enough time left in life for all you want to do!" Good advice. As the writers also point out also "strengthens bones and muscles, builds lean muscle, controls body fat, helps reduce the risk of some cancers and decreases your risk of heart disease." The public will have an opportunity to see all kinds of roses, including hybrid teas, granamoras, noriDunaas, miniatures, climbers, and old garden roses.

Each of these types is eligible for prizes in the show. For more information contact Maurice Crites, 1001 Broadway, Mattoon, or John Faust, 730 Franklin, Charleston. Anyone interested in attending monthly meetings of the Lincolnland Rose society to learn more about roses may confab flriteunrFfllist. Members of the society will be available during the show to give advice on the care ana growing ot roses..