herbs, was Re:noobie

[Guest guest]

That sounds fantastic :-) Our growing season hasn't started yet as we are still

getting stiff frosts. Maybe another six weeks to go before I can think about

putting anything out.

 

Jo

 

, yarrow wrote:

>

> I love growing herbs too! I'm in the SF Bay Area, and everything

> stays outside. The only ones that mind the cold are the lemongrass

> (it's been under a cloche, and I hope the green I saw there the other

> day is lemongrass, not weeds), some of the rose/scented geraniums,

> and some aloes.

>

> The oregano is almost ready to harvest. I cut it back last spring

> just before it bloomed, and it stayed a more manageable size. Sadly,

> I didn't use the dried oregano because I had fresh. In the past week

> I've picked celery, russian kale, mache, and kohlrabi. I also have

> garlic chives, scallions, thymes, lavender, marjoram, mints, lemon

> balm, plantain, borage, and bronze fennel (grows like a weed here). I

> grew dill from seed one year -- very easy. I grow comfrey so that I

> can make tea for my plants. And this winter I've had a great crop of

> stinging nettles.

>

> This week I finally planted my tomato and pepper seeds -- 42

> varieties of tomato and 6 pepper -- and built a bubblewrap greenhouse

> around them. Most of the peppers are hot and ornamental, so I can

> tuck them in among the echinaceas or put them in gallon pots. I have

> room for (at most) 20 tomato plants, so I hope to give a lot away --

> I planted that many partly to test germination of the seeds I saved.

> Later in the season I'll plant cucumbers, squash, beans, and maybe

> carrots. Oh, and I planted walla walla (sweet) onions and garlic a

> few months ago, and I have some huge (8 ft.) perennial kales,

> artichokes, and lots of flowers.

>

> I planted a thornless blackberry 2 years ago. Last summer was the

> first crop -- lots of berries, once I covered it with netting to keep

> the birds from pooping on and tasting the berries. I still need to

> build a better trellis. I planted a couple of year-old blueberries

> last year, but they didn't survive. I also have raspberries,

> strawberries, and red currants. Since it's a community garden, I

> can't plant any fruit trees.

>

> At 4:50 PM -0700 3/16/09, arborhall wrote:

> Still too cold up here in the Pacific NW to start planting, but some

> of my herbs do great winter-ing over. I love my lemon thyme! Not only

> is it pretty, it tastes good. I have some chives, and some winter

> savory, and a regular thyme. Inside I have my variegated society

> garlic and some oregano (I always forget what kind, it's a succulent

> and can't stay out over winter, smells heavenly in the house if you

> brush up against it, grows like a weed). I have some catnip mint for

> the cats and peppermint and spearmint for me. My fennel lived

> through the winter, too! I want to get another fern leaf dill, it

> didn't survive the transplant to the raised bed last year. And my

> pineapple sage did amazing last year, but they don't winter over here

> sadly. What does everyone else like to plant and use?

> Besides the herbs I usually only plant tomatoes and some squash. I

> would love to have a large garden this year and even plant corn, I've

> never done that, it would be fun I think, and the goats might help

> with clean up in the fall.

> I can't wait for my Honeycrisp apple tree to be full again. My

> husband likes the Granny Smith better (I notice he more severely

> pruned MY tree back instead of his!). The nectarine never does much

> as well as the apricot tree. I should replace them with something

> that would be more happy here maybe. Blueberries would be great and

> thorn-less blackberries!

> Ann

>