grow an herb garden

I went to the National Arboretum in DC and have so much fun in there herb garden I want one of my own!

I killed about half in one pot, but saved the rest. I wish they would grow faster. Patience is not my virtue.

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.

This is huge. I have a tendency to kill innocent plants and that they are growing and green is a pleasant change from the norm.

Right now we don’t really have the space to have the herb garden of my dreams and it isn’t the season to start growing anything either. I would, though, really like to have some indoor plants. I am just afraid that the cat won’t leave them alone. Just a few herbs indoors, all I have to figure out is where to keep them and what herbs to keep.

We kept the basil alive for 8 months, which has to be some kind of record for me. We’ve had two pots of parsley, both of which bit it within a couple months. The first oregano went about 2 months after the first parsley, but we haven’t replaced it, yet.

We were also growing tomatoes and peppers, and they were great until Shawn gave them some plant food and they died overnight. Not sure what happened there. The tomato plant only ever gave us one tomato and the pepper plant kept growing mushy, small peppers, so we’re obviously doing something wrong.

Everything we put outside keeps growing mushrooms in the pots. Yikes.

I have prepared my garden bed (added more soil and put a bag of potting mix on top). So far I have planted mint, chives, sage and rosemary. Will look to plant some more. Maybe oregano, thyme and we’ll see what else. Soooo glad my dog hasn’t dug them up as she usually does with freshly dug soil, good puppy hehe

have already made a start on this. I cleared a patch ready or my herbs, pulled out 3 rose bushes and replanted them elsewhere. I need to top up the soil next and then put potting mix on top. Have cleaned the wall behind the garden. The herbs I do have are growing nicely in pots so will put them in the garden when it is ready. Looking for more varieties of herbs to grow. This is something I will be involving my 5 year old daughter in

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.