Preserving

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Herb Garden

Well, the herb garden is already out of control! The one oregano plant was about 5' wide and starting to bloom. The one and only thyme that survived this past winter was blooming also. So, I got out the pruners and starting giving out haircuts!

I have one large sage bush, 4 varieties of thyme, cat mint, summer savory, chives, purple bee balm, winter savory, 2 varieties of oregano, lavender, chamomile, cilantro, parsley, marjoram, tarragon, rosemary, nasturtiums, a couple of Stella Dora daylilies and a hydrangea that my late daughter bought me for Mother's Day in this garden. I think that's it. I also plant basil, parsley & nasturtiums in the vegetable beds.


This is the out of control oregano after it's haircut. I am sure that I will have to cut it back several times before the season is over.


This is my sage bush after a trimming. I got a small piece from my mother's bush about 5 years ago when I moved here.


Some nice mint that I harvested for mojitos! I have 4 varieties of mint, all in pots. I will not plant mint in the ground. It's too invasive.


Some parsley that I dried in the oven.

I used the convection setting on low and it turned out great! I also dried some basil in the oven. That also dried well.  I always have a hard time keeping the color when I dry the parsley and basil.

Well, this surge in the herb garden got me started drying my herbs early this year. I have some tarragon, oregano and summer savory hanging to dry. I always forget to start drying the herbs until later in the season. I think this will lighten my work load during the heavy harvest and canning time. The herbs will probably be nicer too.

6 comments:

  1. I had no idea how invasive mint can be. I planted it in March and I can see that it will grow too big too fast. I will probably take it out in the next few days.

    I love your sage bush; I wish mine was this big.
    You have a lovely herb garden!

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  2. MojVrt, The mint will take over. There was a small amount of mint on the side of my house when I moved here. It took me 3 years to get rid of it. Thanks a bunch!

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  3. What a nice selection of herbs!

    Is winter savory invasive for you? I had to take it out of my herb garden because it was seeding itself like crazy. maybe my climate is too favorable for this plant...

    You remind me that I forgot to plant parsley and cilantro, which I should so ASAP.

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  4. Angela, My winter savory has not been invasive. I have had it for about 4 years now. I do need to add compost to my herb garden though. I have not been as attentive with the soil in that garden as I should be.

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  5. My herbs are not nearly as big! I'm hoping that all will overwinter ok...expect that is for the rosemary. It's way too cold here.

    Mojitoes! My favorite. I wish we lived closer. haha.

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  6. Thomas, The herbs usually overwinter well....except for the rosemary. I covered my rosemary and thought that it had made it through the winter. Then it died. I also lost some thyme plants this past winter.

    "The Italian" has finally mastered his mojito recipe. We had them twice this week! I will post a picture at a later date for you to envy over :)

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