Making Stevia Syrup

I didn't get a huge crop of stevia from the plant I managed to kill at the end of summer, but obviously it doesn't take a lot of stevia to do a lot of sweetening.

Rather than putting the leaves in my tea, I decided to make a syrup using vodka and water. Here's the recipe I used:

• 1 teaspoon of dried stevia leaves
• 4 ounces of vodka (the cheap stuff will do)
• 8 ounces of water (used to dilute the syrup after infusion) 

Add stevia to the alcohol and let it sit overnight. Test for sweetness within 24 hours. If you want it sweeter, let it sit another 12 hours, but not much longer or the stevia will have an aftertaste that I personally don't care for.

Strain the vodka through cheesecloth (I use double netting like the kind grandmothers use to make tutus for their granddaughters).

Add pure water to the strained mixture and pour into dark bottles. Store in refrigerator for up to three months.

Stevia Plant Failed

The stevia plant never did really take off and grow well, but I decided to harvest what little I had. That did it. The whole dang plant died then. It didn't put back out either; I left it for about three weeks hoping.

Herb Gardening

Early in the spring this year I completely renovated our garden hardscape and created an herb garden. I have bee balm, lemon balm, oregano, stevia, dill, parsley, basil, onion, garlic, chives, and cilantro. All of it is doing quite well except the cilantro. (I think I got it into the ground a little too late.)

 To the left is a still shot of my herb garden earlier this year. I'll post it in case you don't have time to watch the short video clip above.

I'm going to plant some ginger now that I've learned that it can be grown in a pot in Zone 6 and carried indoors during the winter months. See http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/herb/growing-ginger.htm for how-tos on growing ginger in your area.

I harvested some stevia today to use as a natural sweetener for ginger lemon tea. I'll share the recipe in the next post. But for today, here is a link to where you can learn how to grow and harvest and use stevia: http://lafermedesourrou.blogspot.com