|
Friday 30 December 2011 Summer 2011 A grand year for the herbs. The pesto was superpopular - especially with me. We learned how to dry out the leaves so they are the best. Next year, we will put up a greenhouse just for the herbs. Here's the rundown for 2011: Parsley - We grew Giant of Italy from Johnny's Seeds. It was moderately successful, although the perennial problem with aphids and spider mites showed up. This year, I grew it in the large containers, which seemed to make them far more robust than previous years, when they were grown in 6-inch pots. Isa made some wonderful pesto with this. Thyme - Summer thyme from Johnny's Seeds. I left these under the grow lights at the end of the season, let it dry out in the pot around Christmas, and then carefully gathered the dried leaves. This worked wonderfully, and kept the essential oils in the leaves. Lavender - This as the Lavender Lady from Johnny's Seeds. It was a flop - it got some kind of black mold and struggled toward death when it was brought inside. It looks like I have to keep these a little more dry during the growing season. Summer Savory - This grew like gangbusters inside the greenhouse, reaching three feet high by the end of June. Then it got covered with little white flowers, although it didn't have much fragrance. Then it got covered by spider mites and had to go for the good of the order. Cilantro - California Long Standing from Botanical Interests seeds dated at 1998! Some of them actually sprouted, a few of them grew, and then they died in the rains of late summer. I'll try this again with new seeds. Sage - From 2005 seeds, Territorial Seeds. They grew well and produced well in the large container in the greenhouse. Sweet Marjoram - Another batch of 2005 seeds from Territorial Seeds. It grew well and was brought inside to be dried and bagged. Oregeno - The best of the batch was the Zaatar (Ezov) variety from Horizon Seeds. They dried into sweet, aromatic herbs. A real keeper. Dragon's Head - I tried some of these medicinal herbs from Horizon Seeds. They grew well, but I did an awful job cultivating them. I need to do better on these, certainly. At the end of the year I had 6-inch stalks. Hope they survive the winter out there. Previous years All of the herbs listed to the left have been grown well inside the greenhouse here in Galena, or outside in the case of borage, chives, and the wild Alaska mint. The chives are perennial and come up all cheerful in the spring; the borage is self-seeding, which means that I tend to have it here, there, and everywhere throughout the garden, and I let it run wild. The pollinators, especially the bumblebees, love it. The basil is especially prolific in the greenhouse. Isa makes a wonderful pesto from the basil, which grows large and aromatic under the constant sunshine. She freezes the basil in canning jars, and we take them out throughout the winter. We've grown a number of varieties; the best is Genovese, with large, dark green leaves. We've found that we can clip the plants about two-thirds of the way and get a good second and third crop by the end of the summer. The thyme, oregeno, rosemary, lavendar, and marjoram are grown in pots and taken indoors for the winter. We had one rosemary survive four years, but usually the plant lasts two years or so. Mint and lemon balm are dried for use in teas and fragrances throughout the winter. Isa made some wonderful mint jelly for Christmas dinner this year. We also have a native variety of mint that I gathered out on some grass lakes, which grows like a weed throughout the garden. I generally let it go to flower by the end of the season to attract and cultivate the pollinators. It tastes pretty good, too. On the horizon is this herb mentioned by Dr. Andrew Weil called arctic root (Rhodiola rosea), which is supposed to be a great tonic. I planted some in the summer of 2010 and it'll be interesting to see if it is perennial in these parts. I'd also like to experiment with some Siberian ginseng to see how that does up here. As noted on the list, hops were a failure, at least as it concerns getting useable hops. I got the vine from one of the cheap catalogues and grew it in the greenhouse, where it gave me vines up to 30 feet long, snaking all over the roof of the greenhouse. The plant produced tiny little flowers without pungence and then the frost killed it. There just isn't enough season to give me useful beer helpers. The guy down the street who makes his own beer was disappointed. |
Mr. A's "herbs." LOL December 2011 
Basil. August 2010. 
Spearmint. August 2010. 
Borage. August 2007. 
Borage. August 2007. 
Borage and bumblebee. July 2003. |