Herbal Harvest

Drying herbs above the BarBQ

Herbs drying on the back porch

I had a good harvest today. I pulled up a lot of the herbs I had planted. They will dry outside for a bit, then we will bring them inside. I already have a braid of onions drying in the kitchen. Jen wants me to put some nails up near the kitchen ceiling and hang bunches of herbs there to finish drying. I will probably do that. When they are fully dry, we'll harvest them and put them in jars.

NOW it occurs to me that I could have left some of them in the ground to see if they would winter over. Oh, well. There is always next year.

Joanna has given us plenty of ideas of ways to use these plants besides using them in cooking. I plant to make some Four Thieves Vinegar soon. Its a cleaner and disinfectant made from mint, basil, hyssop and other herbs. We are also talking about making dream pillows. Those a sachets of sweet scented herbs that are pinned inside a pillow to aid sleep.

I'm already thinking about what I want to grow next year.

Putting the Garden to Bed

Raised beds

 It's already fall. I didn't do much with my garden after the heat/drought struck, but I'm pleased with it none the less. It did well for its first year.

The raised beds have been put to bed. I harvested my herbs and have them drying. Two out of three of the beds have been mulched. I didn't mulch the bed where I grew the tomatoes because I am not certain how I will use it next year. This year it was open. Next year I may want to divide it into square-foot sections as well. I really like square-foot gardening. It lets me dabble in several kinds of plants in a small space instead of planting 90' rows of one thing.

Trellis bed

The watermelons on the trellis were a partial success. Two or three melons actually grew, but I didn't realize I had planted an ice-box melon. They were past the door before I had any clue they were ripe. Heck, the melon wasn't much bigger than a soft ball! I thought it needed to keep growing. There is a bright side. The raccoons didn't get my melons either! The last time I had melons I watched the cantaloupe religiously, poised to pick them at their prime. The day I was ready to get them -- all the melons were broken open and eaten. Coon tracks in the mud told me who the bandit was. :(

Herb bed

Jen and I picked all of the cilantro and dried it about a month ago. We have some nicely labeled jars in the cupboard now. I see volunteer cilantro coming up. We may have some fresh herbs for her salsa into the winter if the weather holds. I hope the rosemary winters over. It survived last year, but was in a more protected area. I'm mulching everything heavily. Time will tell.

Now, I wonder when I'll know the leeks are ready?

Garden Is Looking Good

Now that I am retired I am enjoying working in the garden. Having Rey here is a big help, too. We have been using the manual tiller that I inherited from Dad. (Rey's Mom called it a Medieval Torture Device.) We aren't certain if Dad found it this way or put two things together, but it appears to be a manual aerator with cultivator tines behind it. I've been the one operating it the most, but Rey likes to run it up and down the rows, as well. Unfortunately, he poops out on me faster than he should. Oh, well, wait till the summer is over. He'll get stronger. We have both lost a few pounds from the work.

It has rained so much that the west side of the garden is still too damp to till. I have been keeping the weeds out of the rest of the rows fairly well. Pat says he's going to rent a tiller again and run it over everything one more time. The "wet side" is where I have the melons, cucumbers and pumpkins planted. I hope they like it wet. Fortunately, the rains aren't coming daily any more. Occassionally we even have to water. Maybe the west side will dry out a bit.

Last year's raised beds are still being used. Three of them will be permanent strawberry beds. The fourth one is the salad garden. The spinach and some of the lettuce doesn't want to come up, but the Swiss Chard, cress, two kinds of lettuce and the carrots are doing well. We'll be able to harvest our own salads by June 1.

When George and I lived in Waverly in the mid-1980s, I found two wagon wheels that I used to plant an herb garden. Mom salvaged the wheels when we moved to Texas. One of them is still around. I painted it flat black and put it near the back porch for -- yes -- an herb garden. I want to grow more than six herbs, but it's a good start. I have dill, thyme, cilantro, chives, and rosemary planted with more to come.