Dakota Blooms: Your Guide to Midwest Gardening

 Parsley is a vibrant, green herb that we most often use to garnish our dishes. It is packed with flavor and can enhance many meals. Fresh parsley is always my favorite way to use it, and it is simple to grow. Parsley plants do very well in the Midwest and will produce for most of the growing season. Unfortunately, our harsh winters won't allow us to harvest fresh parsley all year round, so dehydration is one way to preserve it for later use. Follow below for simple instructions, pictures, and video on how to harvest and preserve parsley.     Step 1 : Cut parsley stems 1 inch from the bottom. Harvest in the morning at peak freshness.     Step 2 : Wash parsley  thoroughly.     Step 3 : Layer parsley in dehydrator, careful not to overlap. Remove thicker stems to save room.                               Toss   any unwanted, damaged leaves.     St...

      I have a bad habit of buying plants that sound fun or unique, but when it's time to harvest them, I realize I don't know anything about it. Thus, here I am writing to tell you what I have learned about the ever-so-spreading peppermint plant in my backyard. Thankfully, I planted it in a container. I'm sure I had plenty of ideas on how to use the peppermint plant upon purchase, but here I am now wondering what I am going to do with all of these very aromatic leaves. Let's dive in and discover the many uses of the medicinal herb. Starting with my favorite so far: Homemade Peppermint Essential Oil     Although you cannot make "true" essential oil from the peppermint without proper distillation (which requires some equipment if you're wanting to try), you can make a similar variation. Here is the recipe I follow: 1 cup peppermint leaves 1 cup olive oil (or another similar oil such as grapeseed) Directions: 1. Crush the leaves by using a pistil and mor...