grow an herb garden

but all my herbs are immense and beautiful. It’s now time to bring the tender perrenials indoors, so I’ve dug up my rosemary and laurel tree. I’ve had it sitting outside for about a week to acclimate to being in the pot and I dug up six basil plants (tiny ones) that were the product of a midsummer experiment with a bare patch of ground and two year old seed. I’m going to bring them into work to offer as winter kitchen window pets. My kitchen windows are not bright enough.

I discovered today while giving Mummy’s vegetable garden it’s first weeding of the year that my lemon balm grew back and is rather healthy. I was under the impression that it was an annual and never bothered to look for it. It being September, I don’t quite know what the quality of the product is going to be, but I’ll find out soon (found it well after noon, herbs are at their best in the early morning).

All in all, a great experiment, to be expanded upon next year. This fall, I’m thinking cold frames so I can grow my own annual seedlings next spring, to not be at the mercy of my budget.

Will post “finished” pictures when I have more time to figure out how to post multiple pictures in one entry. This is getting frustrating and I want to go fishing.

obscuring my spearmint. I moved it today (I didn’t think it was going to be as robust as it was and hadn’t put it in a pot) and wasn’t wearing shoes, so I couldn’t get the shovel down far enough. I’m sure I did some damage, all the tops are droopy now. It should recover shortly. I pruned back the branches in this catnip, since I was putting my rosemary in that spot and it has asthetic purpose.

Two new mints, including one I’m almost certain is the one Becky grew for her mint jelly. I used to eat a peanut butter and mint jelly sandwich every night for a before bedtime snack when I visited her, on wheat bread with a glass of milk. It’s the Crisp Scottish variety.
I also got:
chocolate mint,
two basil plants,
a cinnamon basil plant,
a toothache plant – which Larry refuses to try despite hardly being able to talk at times,
a bay laurel and a rosemary which are coming right back indoors in just a few weeks,
licorice plant,
some cilantro (finally),
garlic chives, which I tried to grow from seed and nearly succeeded and
parsley, which I reluctant to buy, but I must try making soup with a bouquet garni at least once, but can’t justify buying the huge amounts it comes in in the store.

Since my garden is almost totally surrounded by untouched brushery, it can be a bit difficult to tell what’s an herb or flowering perennial and what I’d yank out of the ground if it irritated me in the slightest way. The boundaries are very unclear and surprisingly, I didn’t find quite enough big rocks while hacking it up to make a border, maybe only halfway around. It’s not like they’re difficult to find anywhere else in the yard.

Mummy finally dumped the pictures on the computer

But happily my oregano, thyme, apple mint and bergamot are flourishing after a winter in waterlogged clay soil. I’vc acquired some chives from a co worker, which not so happily spent the winter in an ill fitting six inch pot. They’re not doing so well, but I won’t start worrying until the end of the summer. Also three varieties of mint from one of Larry’s friend’s lawn – standard, peppermint and spearmint. I didn’t dig up quite enough dirt for the spearmint’s roots given the amount of time they spent in a plastic bag beside the house, but they’ve recovered nicely. Not as vigorously as peppermint, but what does?

We dug up a roughly 8X6’ section of newly cleared south facing slope. Then I hacked it up again about eight inches deeper, digging out a bunch of big rocks, including one I couldn’t lift myself.

My bosses gave all the women miniature rose bushes for Mother’s Day (it isn’t often a mother receives another baby for Mother’s Day) and I have it out near the sage, which is sending hopeful little leaf buds out very, very slowly. The rosemary did not recover, though its roots did smell like pine earlier in the spring.

Got a big chunk of chive plant from a woman at work today. I need to find a winter home for all my herbs in the summer garden, jsut mixed in, two varieties of basil, thyme, oregano, apple mint, lemon balm, sage and rosemary. The lemon balm and sage are in a soggy bt of the garden and not doing so well. Our house is surrounded by trees, so finding a sunny hot dry spot that isn’t already part of the garden and due to be tilled in the spring is difficult. Have I mentioned that I live near a bog? I’m going to dig up and transplant everything as soon as I figure out a spot.

As a side note, after my mini greenhouse seedlings gave up the ghost, I went out and bought plants. Haven’t been disappointed yet. I wonder what will come back next year.