A big mass of winter creeper grew in a huge tangle in our backyard. Even though it’s a vine, this pile was so thick that it looked like a bush, three feet tall. It took many passes to chop it all out, and the center vine was as big around as a thigh. (Mostly, I don't like killing plants, but this thing is a monstervine that takes over everything. Horrible stuff, invasive and hard to kill. I can’t believe they sold this at the hardware store as a groundcover.) Not only this, but it sheltered mosquitoes, lots of them. So it had to go.
In it's place, we planted the herb garden. Besides oregano, catnip, and basil (covered in a previous post) we grew lavender, rosemary, lemongrass and strawberries in that spot. 3 beds, each surrounded by rocks, enclosed a center area, making a small bed for the lemongrass. Off to one side is a small tree of some kind, not yet determined, possibly a chokecherry.
Rosemary & Lavender (one plant each) In April, we went to Baker Creek and bought these as seedlings from a vendor at the festival. Both plants fared well in the spot, which received a lot of sun. The bed was raised slightly, enclosed by a circle of rocks about 4-6 inches high. These plants shared their bed with basil and peppers, because when the plants were small, they had plenty of room. As they grew, though, the basil partially shaded the lavender. Still, they fared fairly well and are overwintering in the garden. I am hoping that the proximity to the large rocks on their south side, plus the glass windshield and mulch I place over the plants when the weather is particularly nasty, will help protect it from the winter. I've taken cuttings just in case, and with luck, these will root and form their own plants.
Lemongrass (one plant) Another plant given to me by my good friend Steve, this one came as a scraggly-looking weed, half dead and decrepit. It soon revived, filling in with bright green spears of grass, looking like a beautiful living fountain in the middle of our herbs. The leaves made the best tea, and the smell was so nice. Unfortunately, the way we planted it made it too difficult to dig out for the winter, and since it is a tropical plant, it will probably die. I pulled some pieces and started roots in water, but so far, they look pretty bad in the pot.
Strawberries (two plants) We bought these at the farmer’s market. I could not decide between the two types, so we bought one of each. Of these, one died, and one went on to make more plants. I wish I'd kept the tags so I'd know which one we have. Ah, well. We've mulched them with corn stalks and leaves (although the leaves are not recommended, as they hold moisture next to the plant, which is, apparently, bad). I hope they make it. If they do, they will get transplanted to a different spot, since the bed they are in is pretty small.
Showing posts with label herbs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label herbs. Show all posts
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Review ('08) Catnip, Oregano and Mints
More review of the results of our ’08 garden. The catnip was grown from seed, as was one of the oregano plants. The others were starts from various sources.
Catnip (1 small bed)
Catnip is a mint. I didn’t know this until I started growing it. I planted a couple of seeds in a pot, and transplanted these into a bed which I planned to share with another herb. Luckily, I never got around to figuring out what to split the space with, because the catnip would have killed it off. It took over the entire bed, and was, by far, the most productive of all the herbs I planted. Unfortunately, our cat did not care so much for the homegrown organic stuff, but our neighbor’s cat certainly did.
Oregano (1 small bed, 2 plants)
I started the oregano from seed, but only a pitiful sproutling or two emerged. These stayed small for most of the summer. I didn't even know they were still there when I came home with the starts from the store, Lowe’s I think. After a while, though, I noticed I had two oregano plants in the bed. One was large and took over the space (Lowe's) and one that was small but growing (from seed). I could not detect a difference in flavor, but the super oregano was probably a hybrid. We saved no seeds from the other.
Spearmint (2 plants) Chocolate Mint (1 plant) Pineapple Mint (1 plant)
My friend Steve brought two plants he'd dug up from his spearmint bed. It seemed that no matter how much he neglected it (build a deck over it, never water it) that bed of spearmint perservered. In fact, I often heard him talk of it as if it were a nuisance. I planted the two plants he gave me beside the house in the preexisting beds, only with different results. Instead of having mint everywhere, the plants struggled. When I cut the top 4 inches off the stalks, the rest of the stalk would turn brown and die. The plants struggled and never did well.
Similar results with the chocolate mint, planted down the bed about 4 feet away. I bought this plant at the local farmer's market. It smelled great, but never took off, and, like the spearmint, did not like being cut.
The pineapple mint died right away. I planted it in a sunny spot, but did not prep the soil, and kind of forgot about it. I am going to try to grow kiwi there next time.
Catnip (1 small bed)
Catnip is a mint. I didn’t know this until I started growing it. I planted a couple of seeds in a pot, and transplanted these into a bed which I planned to share with another herb. Luckily, I never got around to figuring out what to split the space with, because the catnip would have killed it off. It took over the entire bed, and was, by far, the most productive of all the herbs I planted. Unfortunately, our cat did not care so much for the homegrown organic stuff, but our neighbor’s cat certainly did.
Oregano (1 small bed, 2 plants)
I started the oregano from seed, but only a pitiful sproutling or two emerged. These stayed small for most of the summer. I didn't even know they were still there when I came home with the starts from the store, Lowe’s I think. After a while, though, I noticed I had two oregano plants in the bed. One was large and took over the space (Lowe's) and one that was small but growing (from seed). I could not detect a difference in flavor, but the super oregano was probably a hybrid. We saved no seeds from the other.
Spearmint (2 plants) Chocolate Mint (1 plant) Pineapple Mint (1 plant)
My friend Steve brought two plants he'd dug up from his spearmint bed. It seemed that no matter how much he neglected it (build a deck over it, never water it) that bed of spearmint perservered. In fact, I often heard him talk of it as if it were a nuisance. I planted the two plants he gave me beside the house in the preexisting beds, only with different results. Instead of having mint everywhere, the plants struggled. When I cut the top 4 inches off the stalks, the rest of the stalk would turn brown and die. The plants struggled and never did well.
Similar results with the chocolate mint, planted down the bed about 4 feet away. I bought this plant at the local farmer's market. It smelled great, but never took off, and, like the spearmint, did not like being cut.
The pineapple mint died right away. I planted it in a sunny spot, but did not prep the soil, and kind of forgot about it. I am going to try to grow kiwi there next time.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Review ('08) Tomatoes, Peppers, Basil
Overall, we were pleased with the results of our first garden. Some crops did better than others. We tried to stick with the heirloom seeds we bought at Baker's Creek, but a couple of our plants came from the hardware store.
Tomatoes (about 16 plants)
We planted two varieties of tomatoes, both heirlooms. Brandywine is one of those all-time favorites, and we liked it alright, but our favorite was the Paul Robeson. Although not as large as the Brandywine, the Paul Robeson (a deep purple, nearly black tomato) is really tasty. We planted these two too close to save seeds, as they cross polinated, but we plan to keep them apart next year.
A friend gave us some old tomato cages. These are the kind of cages you see everywhere, wire circles , larger on top than on bottom. They stand about 2.5 feet tall, with 8 inches or so of wire pushed into the ground. At first, they were great, and made our tomatoes look tame. But as the tomatoes gained height, they overflowed the cages and spilled out over the top. For the other tomatoes, we made bamboo supports that stood about 6 ft. tall and looked a little like coverless teepees over the tomatoes. These worked pretty well, and stood up to the winds. We just read about another method, one where you weave non-stretching twine between posts, so we will try that next year.
Of the initial 24 plants, only 16 survived to fruit. A couple developed a strange rot that hollowed out the center of each branch, and we pulled these immediately. A few small transplants were eaten by something, rabbits probably.
Basil (about 8 plants)
Two types, Thai basil and cinnamon basil, were grown both among the tomatoes and in the freestanding herb garden. The plants in the herb garden grew much larger, I suspect because they had better sun. We didn't care for the cinnamon basil's flavor, it tasted "grassy" but drying it seems to have helped. Both varieties took off once the weather turned warm.
Peppers (about 4 plants)
The Chinese peppers were shaded in the garden, and I suspect the lack of sun hindered their growth. We got two peppers from that plant. The habeñeros (which were purchased from Ace Hardware... not an heirloom) did remarkably well in the herb garden, and held its own among the vegetables. They were, by most accounts, far too hot to eat. Wunderle planted his tabasco plant in our garden (bought as a start from the farmer's market, I think) which did so well that we decided it would make a beautiful ornamental and should be planted someplace outside of the garden.
Tomatoes (about 16 plants)
We planted two varieties of tomatoes, both heirlooms. Brandywine is one of those all-time favorites, and we liked it alright, but our favorite was the Paul Robeson. Although not as large as the Brandywine, the Paul Robeson (a deep purple, nearly black tomato) is really tasty. We planted these two too close to save seeds, as they cross polinated, but we plan to keep them apart next year.
A friend gave us some old tomato cages. These are the kind of cages you see everywhere, wire circles , larger on top than on bottom. They stand about 2.5 feet tall, with 8 inches or so of wire pushed into the ground. At first, they were great, and made our tomatoes look tame. But as the tomatoes gained height, they overflowed the cages and spilled out over the top. For the other tomatoes, we made bamboo supports that stood about 6 ft. tall and looked a little like coverless teepees over the tomatoes. These worked pretty well, and stood up to the winds. We just read about another method, one where you weave non-stretching twine between posts, so we will try that next year.
Of the initial 24 plants, only 16 survived to fruit. A couple developed a strange rot that hollowed out the center of each branch, and we pulled these immediately. A few small transplants were eaten by something, rabbits probably.
Basil (about 8 plants)
Two types, Thai basil and cinnamon basil, were grown both among the tomatoes and in the freestanding herb garden. The plants in the herb garden grew much larger, I suspect because they had better sun. We didn't care for the cinnamon basil's flavor, it tasted "grassy" but drying it seems to have helped. Both varieties took off once the weather turned warm.
Peppers (about 4 plants)
The Chinese peppers were shaded in the garden, and I suspect the lack of sun hindered their growth. We got two peppers from that plant. The habeñeros (which were purchased from Ace Hardware... not an heirloom) did remarkably well in the herb garden, and held its own among the vegetables. They were, by most accounts, far too hot to eat. Wunderle planted his tabasco plant in our garden (bought as a start from the farmer's market, I think) which did so well that we decided it would make a beautiful ornamental and should be planted someplace outside of the garden.
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