Rosemary

[Dover]

I've got an enormous rosemary plant that I'm going to be cutting back and am wondering about ways to use all those cuttings. I use fresh sprigs in some meals, but never have dried any, nor would I ever use enough to bother. I have occasionally added some sprigs to a bowl of water in the house as an air freshener, but again, that won't help me here.

Would they be good in mulch? Just hate to see all that fragrant rosemary go to into the compost or trashcan.

[LiberalEsto]

1. Here's a good web page on rosemary

http://www.demesne.info/Garden-Help/Herbs/Rosemary.htm

One suggestion was making decorative wreaths.

[crispini]

2. A couple of ideas....

Make rosemary infused oils or vinegars for holiday gifts.
Root the cuttings and give the plants away to friends.
Dry it and use it in a potpourri bowl.
Make rosemary jelly, also nice for gifts.

I'll think of some more -- I have a lot of rosemary too and have several of these ideas on my to-do list! :)

[murray hill farm]

3. When I cut back my plants,

I bundle the cuttings into 4 or five bunches, tie them with a ribbon or twine and hang them around the house and the whole house smells like rosemary. They dry nicely and hold their little leaves well....and look great, as well. When it is time to cut back again, I replace them with the new cuttings.

[jillan]

4. Wonder how to make an essential oil out of them.

Rosemary oil is great for allergies and keeping you alert.

[crispini]

10. Unfortunately, you need a still to make essential oil.

There *is* a no-still method I've read somewhere, but it sounded like a lot of work.

[jillan]

13. Alot of work - ugh - forget it. Altho I watched some show on Veria

where they took herbs, crushed them and put them in some kind of a large vile added oil...

Hmmm - I shoulda taken notes.

[crispini]

19. Infused oil -- different from essential oil.

Infused oil is really easy to make, you can just cut them up and add them to the oil and let it sit for a couple of weeks -- google "infused oil" to get step by step instructions. Essential oil, though, is very concentrated and rather different.

[Dover]

5. These are some excellent ideas and links...thank you!

I'll see if I can find a good recipe for rosemary vinegars and oils. That sounds good! And I'll have to experiment with the medicinal use of rosemary tea for aching joints.

I was also pondering its use as a mulch and did a google on companion planting. This is some of what I came up with:

ROSEMARY: Companion plant to cabbage, beans, carrots and sage. Deters cabbage moths, bean beetles, and carrot flies. Use cuttings to place by the crowns of carrots for carrot flies. Zones 6 and colder can overwinter rosemary as houseplants or take cuttings. (the whole page is very instructive about all kinds of companion plants).

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html#RADISH:

And a good graphic of companion plants:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

However that doesn't help me with my biggest pest problem which is grasshoppers.



And I happened upon this little piece of folk wisdom, which just happens to also be true!

Rosemary has a long, and sometimes entertaining history. Throughout time, it has been cultivated widely, and there is an old belief that if the Rosemary is growing well in the home garden, the woman of the house rules. There are stories of kings and lords stealing outside to injure the plant to cover up the evidence.......My personal Rosemary plant is gorgeous this year......in case you wondered :)

[Dover]

6. The most common way I use the rosemary is in the morning...

I throw a sprig into some hot oil in the frying pan just prior to breaking my eggs into the pan.
So simple yet so delicious! Mmmmm...rosemary oil.

Dip some fresh slices of tomato in the oil, add salt/pepper to serve with the eggs.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Mmmmmmmm

Sounds great, gotta try it

[knitter4democracy]

8. Try freezing it.

Last year, I cut mine way back before a hard frost and had tons, too much to use up. So, I stripped all the leaves off of the branches, put them in the food processor with enough olive oil to keep it running smoothly, and then put a teaspoon in each pocket of two old ice cube trays (that part's a bit messy). Cover each one with olive oil, and freeze. When frozen, pop them out into a freezer bag, and you have practically fresh rosemary whenever you need it. It's great in soups and crockpot stuff.

[Dover]

9. I didn't know you could freeze it.

However, there is such an abundance of fresh rosemary year round from my shrub that I can't see how I could justify all those steps to freeze it. What am I missing here?

[knitter4democracy]

11. It's easy--you just process it with some olive oil.

I read on how to do that with basil, so I'd already done up a basil batch (much better than the dried batch I'd done earlier!). Coating it with a thin film of olive oil while it's in the ice cube trays keeps it from going an icky brown, and it really ramps up the flavor, I think.

I do up a batch in the evening, pop the cubes out in the morning (or the next afternoon, if I forget) into the bag, and then grab it whenever I'm doing up a sauce, soup, or chicken in the crockpot (put one cube in the cavity, and it's soooo good!).

[wildeyed]

12. Add some to epsom salt and make scented bath salts.

Maybe I am weird, but I would love to marinate myself in a hot rosemary smelling bath.

[jillan]

14. okay - I'll try it!

I love the smell of rosemary.

[jillan]

15. I have a great chicken recipe with rosemary.

I just put it in the oven, and thought about this thread, so here I am.

4 chicken breasts, bone in

5-6 new potatoes, cut into wedges

Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and potatoes, sprinkle garlic, coarse salt and fresh rosemary.

Bake 45 min or until done at 375*

Yummy flavor. So good I even make this when we have guests over for dinner ;)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. What I do with mine

I grow tons of the stuff and have come up with some odd uses.

I make a tea of one gallon water and a handful of springs. I boil the springs in the water for 15 minutes then leave them sit until the water is cool. Then I strain the water and use it has a hair rinse. It gives me body and shine. This must be kept in the fridge.
Note: my hair is dark and I've been told not to use this if you're a fair blond.

I remove the leaves from the stems and chop the leaves up. Then add them to homemade candles. They give off a nice scent that I find particularity pleasant if I'm stressed.

If you have a problem with moths (like in your pantry) it makes a wonderful repellent. Lavender (which is also camphor herb) works well for this also. However I like the rosemary better in the kitchen.

Dry it and mix it 1 1/2 ounces liquid glycerin, 1 bar of grated castile soap and four cups water to make a nice bubble bath. You can also use equal parts baby shampoo and water if you don't feel like grating the castile soap. Use as much rosemary as you need to get your desired level of scent.

That's all I can think of right this minute. :)

[Richard Steele]

17. Hang and dry the cuttings, and trade the extras to other gardeners for stuff you don't grow.

Last year, that's how I got nice home-grown rosemary.

I didn't grow any, but I traded some of my habañero butter
to one of sweetie's co-workers who had rosemary but didn't
raise any habañeros.

Barter. It's still a thing.

[Dover]

18. Ooooo...gonna have to try some these salts, soaps and hair rinse ideas.

They sound heavenly!

[leftyclimber]

20. Late to the game, here, but use some as skewers.

Big sprigs of rosemary make great skewers for veggie kebabs. Like all things non-metal and skewery, make sure you soak any not recently cut ones a little first so you don't end up with a fire on your grill. :)