Herbs in the Garden

Archive for the ‘kitchen garden’ Category

It LIVES! Sage in the Snow

A few weeks ago I posted a bit about leaving some pots of Sage out all winter in the snow.

 Several kind and well meaning emails suggested that by leaving my sage outside in pots IN THE SNOW I was  murdering poor innocent plants. I can only surmise they live in warmer climates.

For all the Nay-sayers…See? It did come back!

 I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.  I’ve never even been on a turnip truck.

 At any rate, you can see that the Sage is back and although it needs a good trim, it’s doing quite well.

The key to overwintering herbs is to know the hardiness zones of both your herbs and your  location before you neglectfully leave your herbs naked in several feet of snow. Admittedly not all herbs can tolerate the kind of abuse I occasionally dish out- but I know which of my herbs will hang tough around here.

So don’t worry.

For those that worry anyway… in all honestly just the herbs that can take the weather and prairie conditions are the only ones I abuse in this way. The rest are coddled and kept tucked in the greenhouse, potting shed, kitchen window, or strewn around the house.

Big Pile Of Wood Chips For Mulch

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I love mulch.

Besides looking nice, in the summer months it really conserves water in the raised herb and kitchen garden beds. The last few years mulch for that reason has been really unnecessary…we’ve had WAY too much rain.

 See the picture to the right?

Well the county was out and about this week trimming storm damaged trees and branches that had grown up into the power lines.

The crew kindly offered to bring me some of the chipped branches when they had finished trimming along my road.

“Oh sure, bring me some. You can just dump them off the side of the drive over there.”

I had forgotten about it until late in the afternoon when I heard a BIG truck rumble into the drive. A big dump truck. Full of chipped branches. They dumped it fast,offered more should I need it…and took off.

I now have my summer pile of mulch. Size-wise it’s up there with a Chevy Pick Up- so it should last awhile.

 If you need mulch, check in your areas for inexpensive and even free mulch. Many counties have places where you can go load up your own mulch.

We have found that it is really easy to get mulch after storms that take out big trees. Trimming crews often just want some place to dump the stuff!

If you can’t find any, give me a call. I could probably spare a little of mine

Yes, you can and it  lives to tell the tale.

Although freezing fresh sage is possible, it’s not the usual was to preserve it.

I have been known to grab some frosted or frozen sage from the garden in a pinch and I am happy to report that the flavor was still fine for cooking.

I dry my herbs, then pop them in the freezer to kill off any lingering insect eggs that may have hitched a ride on the undersides of leaves. Sage is not much bothered by pests, but by habit, the dried herb still goes into the freezer for a few weeks.

This photo shows some potted sage in the snow.

Potted Sage in the Snow

No, it’s not dead, although I admit it doesn’t look terribly healthy at this point.

The good news?

As a perennial herb it will come back in the spring, or when I bring it inside…whichever comes first.

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Weeding…

You either love it and find it relaxing or you hate it and would rather be tied naked to an anthill.

Regardless of your feelings weeding still needs to be done.

 
Weeds not only look messy in the garden and in pots, they also crowd out your herbs and will cheerfully rob your plants of much needed  nutrients.

Whether you garden in containers, or in the garden, various weed seeds can be present in your soil.

It’s true that weeds are a problem in the garden, but they are actually a bigger problem when you grow in pots and containers!

Why?

You spend time watering and feeding your herbs, but when weeds are present the darned things repay your kindness and generosity by growing at ridiculous rates and sucking the life out of the plants you wanted.

Do your herbs a  great big favor and yank the weeds.

I know first hand that if the weeds get too bad you’ll want to throw up your hands and give up, and sometimes that is advisable.

I have been there and have the overgrown garden pictures on this blog to prove it…and I am blushing as I write that admission.

Weeds Growing With Herbs

Even if you really hate weeding, just take a few minutes a day and pull a few weeds. Unless you have a huge garden planted, a few minutes is all it takes to keep your herbs growing well and looking good!

Yep, the poor nectarine tree makes it’s yearly sacrifice to the hordes of Japanese Beetles.

The !#&$%! beetles get to it every year. I have read that besides roses, the fruits of peaches, nectarines and such are among the favorite foods for the hideous beasts. The good news is they are so busy destroying the nectarines that they generally spare the apple trees right next to it. They also have yet to discover the Apricot tree about 50 yards away (crossing fingers behind her back.)

They eat the fruit right down to the pits,or stones. See how this fruit is absolutely covered in the darn things?

There is not a nectarine left on the tree after the invasion. The birds won’t eat them and they seem to have no natural enemies…the wretched creatures.

OK, so he’s not really an elf, but he does great work!
All you have to do is find a 13 year old wanting some cash and willing to work for it. Ya gotta love farm kids!

This is hard work, gang! All the concrete blocks had to be dug up, cleaned off and stacked. You can see a pile in the background. There are several more just like it littering the garden area. Now…what to do with them all. Suggestions?

So, here’s the plan… the goats will eat the rest of the garden down and fertilize it for me over the next few weeks, then we’ll put new wood beds in for the fall season.