I haven’t had a herb garden for ……… oh……….. about 15/16 years.
Miss Lou’s dad helped me make one when we were living in QLD, but I haven’t really had the place or inclination to make one since.
Until now.
To be completely honest with myself, I turned my back on much of what I learned about gardening, organics, herbology, essential oils, alternative therapies, spirituality etc during that time of my life as I just wanted to forget. I didn’t want to draw on knowledge associated with that arsewipe so that I didn’t have to remember the painful things too.
But it’s time to make new associations.
With our recent gardening exploits, my soap making exploits, and our cooking from scratch exploits, it’s really got me thinking about all the herbs that I could and should be growing myself for our use in all these things.
For companion planting in the garden to aid in natural pest control, bringing beneficial insects into our garden and getting the best out of our plants. For adding into home made soaps and other self care and cleaning products to suit our skin/hair, cleaning needs without synthetic chemicals. For use in our cooking for better flavour, texture and health benefits.
So,
I’ve started with just a couple of plants.
Lemon grass in a pot for kitchen and cosmetic uses, penny royal near the back entrance to repel ants and provide relief for mozzie bites, chamomile for therapeutic use.
Over the coming weeks I’ll be buying more small pot plants or propagating seedlings of more herbs that we would commonly use. I have quite a list that I want to put in. Parsley, Lavender, Mint, Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Marjoram, Sage, Chives just to start with.
Oh and Lemon Balm. Lots and lots of Lemon Balm. Just because I used to love brushing past it and inhaling the scent it released. Heavenly.
Gorgeous.
Now that we are having some luck keeping the animals in, I am looking at replanting the herbs.
Lemon Balm? Sounds devine.
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*sigh* so jealous..i have all these wild fantasies of having a herb garden but unfortunately, in reality, i could kill plastic plants with my black thumbs in gardening. i shall have to live vicariously through your herb garden. grow lots and lots of rosemary for me.
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Sounds like a damn good idea
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Oh the smell must be heavenly.
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That sounds fantastic. Herb gardens are great.
I am not sure about what the restrictions are on seeds going from my neck of the woods to your neck of the woods – but our basil and coriander have pumped out mega seeds and self-seeded everywhere here, so if you want (and the government doesn’t mind) I can send you a swag.
Just one warning – when your lemongrass becomes a mass and you want to separate it for replanting, don’t do it just before a flood.
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Oh I’ll be reading with interest about your herb garden… I am very keen to put in lots and lots of herbs here… we have the space and the water, I am just not sure what to put in and what to use them for.. apart from the standard cooking herbs!
Lemon Balm and Pineapple Sage make lovely cooling teas for summer sipping. Add chamomile in it’s various forms too. German chamomile for headache teas, apple chamomile for the fragrance, lemon thyme to use with chicken, maybe a patch of lawn thyme to release fragrance when you walk, sit, lie on it? Your garden is going to be the sweetest around. I wish you many, many bees.
I’m generally lost in the kitchen if I don’t have a couple of potted herb plants floating around, Basil probably being my favourite because it’s hard to kill (not impossible), grows back quickly and I use it in a lot of stuff.
We had lemon grass but the dog keeps eating it… grumble grumble
That sounds so cool; I have always loved the idea of having herbs on hand. In reality, I’m afraid to have houseplants of any kind because of the dog and cat. Either they would kill the plants or, my luck, they’d eat the plants and the get poisoned, or at least digest them a little and give them back.
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