1. Instead of drying, preserve your herbs by freezing them in water. Place chopped herbs in an ice cube tray, cover with water and freeze. Store the herb “cubes” in plastic bags in the freezer.

2. Keep fruits and vegetables harvested even if there is more than you can use or give away. Keeping the fruit harvested will keep the plants producing.

3. “Everlasting” flowers like yarrow, baby’s breath, statice, strawflower, globe amaranth; sea holly and celosia are easily dried. Pick before the blossoms are fully open, strip the foliage and hang upside down in a cool, dry location. Bright yellow, orange, pink and blue colored flowers keep the truest colors. Reds and purples turn dark and unattractive; whites become buff or tan.

4. Eggplant is great sliced, coated with a little olive oil and cooked on the grill. It’s ready to harvest when the fruit is fully colored – which could be traditional purple, pink, green, white or striped! The seeds inside should be white and the flesh firm. Brown, hard seed indicates the eggplant is past its prime and could taste bitter.

5. Save water by reducing the overall size of your lawn. Try joining trees into beds with shrubs, perennials, and ground covers and use a drip system to keep them watered.

The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.

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This page updated:  September 28, 2006