Sometimes I get emails. Some are from people about the class over at GrowingHerbsForBeginners.com. Since I never post this kind of thing on the blog there, it goes here.

Often they have a question, or they may have deleted an email with their handouts. I fix and answer what I can.  I also get some ‘thank you’ emails that are so darn sweet. Those are the ones that make the occasional website and techie frustrations all worthwhile!

Today I got one that almost made me cry. Here it is:

Thank you for answering a newbie’s questions with kindness. I am trying to learn to garden again after quitting several years ago. At the time I joined a garden club thinking it would be fun and educational. That was a mistake. There were some nice people there, but the ‘experts’ beat me over the head with their knowledge when I had a simple question. I quickly learned that asking questions lead to feeling stupid and belittled because someone had to show me how smart and ‘right’ they were. Thank you for not doing that.
I am a beginner and am not interested right now in every botanical name change or which specific type of Praying Mantis I have in my yard. I just want the basics, so thank you for giving me that and for always replying to my questions.

Candy P. 

PS. The links you sent are very helpful!

I’ve been in this situation many times and am ashamed to say I have been on the giving end a time or two. After reading this I felt awful about ever having behaved that way and vowed to always do a good job in the ‘kindness to newbies” and “people in general” departments.

I suppose that includes not poking bossy-know-it-all’s in the nose?

Grow Bag with Bulb Fennel

Did you know I tried growing some larger herbs in Grow Bags this year?

No? Well you can read the original post here.

To recap, I bought several Grow Bags from Gardeners Supply to try and planted smaller herbs in one, Florence Fennel in another and Marshmallow in the largest of the bags.

The fennel was doing well when the weather went from 65* to 90*F within a week. The fennel bolted resulting in much smaller roots than I’d hoped for, but that’s OK. This whole grow bag thing was an experiment.

The Marshmallow plants in the larger Potato Grow Bag did very well, but due to the height of the plants and our windy location, they had a tendency to blow over fairly often.

Note to self: Next time remember to place Grow Bags with taller herbs near a wind break.

I did learn a few other things about growing in the Grow Bags.

What I liked:

First of all…they do very nicely for larger herbs. I could have fit another plant in the carrot bag and still have had plenty of room for large bulbs to form.

The bags seemed nice and sturdy.

The plants did well with regular daily watering.

What I Didn’t Like:

The bags were thirsty.

They dried out very quickly on hot days, which was every day in July. The small herb bag containing a basil and parsley plant needed watering two or three times a day.

Watering seemed uneven. I realized this was the outer soil drying out due to the ‘breathability’ of the bags. If I had not been watering and checking the bags every day I definitely would have lost plants. Just sayin’.

Dry Soil on Outer Edges of Grow Bag

So….the BIG questions.

Would I use them again? Yes, absolutely.

Would I buy more? Yes.

I would also recommend them to friends, with the warning about soil drying out and plants wilting in hot, windy areas.

If you want to try them yourself you can find the Grow Bags here at Gardener’s Supply.

One thing I AM curious about is how they will hold up over another year or two.

I plan to bring these in for the winter, plant them again in the Spring and let you know

Kids on Hay Wagon

So, there is not much going on in the herb garden, which you already know if you read the last post. It has gotten warm again for a few days, which is  lovely after a taste of cold weather.  We spent some time outside today and got lots of fresh country air and ran around in shorts and tee shirts today.

We are fortunate to have great neighbors. Some come fully equipped with hay wagons, some with tractors, and some have other interesting heavy equipment like BIG plows, livestock chutes, and log splitters.

Late this afternoon some of our great neighbors (Gary and Betty) left their hay wagon parked in front of our barn loaded with some bales that just didn’t fit in their barn. It’s very nice stuff for goats, and we just happen to have a barn full of those!

I called my youngest two ‘Herb-Babies’ to help put the hay into the barn. They are both teens now, but still the babies according to the family hierarchy. Even at 45, all wrinkling and balding they’ll still be the babies, poor things.

When called to help, Very Youngest suddenly decided she didn’t feel well and donned the frumpiest get-up she could find which included my lined barn flannel and a pair of someone’s yoga pants. A quick mess up of the hair and POOF!  Instant Tragic Figure. Sheesh.

Tragic Figure Looks on as Brother Moves Bales

You will notice in this next shot Youngest seems to be feeling better. Obviously. There are less bales for brother and Mom to move now, so things are looking up.

Doing Her Lounge Lizard Act

She managed to live through the next 5 bales.

When the last bale was tucked in the barn an amazing thing happened. She made a full recovery. Miraculous. I asked the kids to haul the wagon to the drive so Gary and Betty could grab it easily. They were happy to oblige.

I was really impressed that a kid who had been on the brink of death just 10 minutes earlier was now manhandling the wagon around to the edge of the drive. Even more amazing? Hopping on and using the wagon as stage.

Boy, fresh air really does work wonders!

These photos of a funnel cloud were taken a few minutes ago from my front porch. I thought I’d post them real quick… just in case we blew away and landed in Indiana.

Storm Clouds Swirling

Clouds with downward Fingers Forming

Clouds Beginning to Circle

Bigger Funnel Cloud

UPDATE: It moved off to the East over the fields and we’re still in Illinois!

Pretty Little Bouquet

The white  lilacs in it smell heavenly and I think the little hen on the mug resembles ‘Saucy’ the hen strolling just beyond in the garden.

Thanks for the nice surprise, Nancy!

I love my pals