What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A trip around the herb 'garden'

I use the term 'garden' loosely here, since I am no where near the someday place I envision.
































There is....

oregano, chives, thyme, lemon balm, chamomile, a bit of dill, sage, the most luscious lemon verbena you have ever smelled, hyssop, lavender, rosemary, basil and of course, plenty of mint.

Not a day goes by where something is not either being dried or plucked by stubby, chubby fingers by the handful upon Mama's request.

What is so lovely about herbs is that the more they are used, the more they thank you with bounty. So I am never afraid to use them. In fact, my lavender has given me FOUR (so far) new growth periods this year because I keep cutting all the buds to dry!

Many of my herbs are in pots and I bring them in during the winter months to enjoy fresh herbs all year long; they do surprisingly well, only whimpering for warm sunshine around midmarch/april....just about the time they can be put back outside. But I do hope someday, to have a garden like this:




(forewarning: video is narrated in Japanese. But who needs words, anyway?)

8 comments:

N said...

Envy is a sin right ? You do realize you are leading me to sin with your pictures :P.

Bloom where you are planted. Or so the saying goes. You and your herbs bloom very well where they have been planted. This I can aspire to and try to do, not Tasha Tudor. So for many with a black thumb like me, you have to be our stand in for Tasha Tudor.

Dana said...

Beautiful pictures, as always. And I would love to have a garden like Tasha Tudor's as well! Hope things are going well for you all.

Unknown said...

Gorgeous photos, Rebecca! I feel like I'm right in your garden when I look at them! :)

Love, love Tasha Tudor...especially her illustrations! Just got a copy of Secret Garden that she illustrated at the thrift shop! :)

Bonnie said...

My lavender bloomed for the first time this year! I didn't get to clip as much as I hoped, but it looks like it might be getting ready to bloom again.
You have what I want: a portable herb garden. Unfortunately, our windows are not conducive to indoor plants. Neither is my potted plant black thumb.
I want to expand my herb garden next year, so I'm reading up on medicinal herbs right now, hopefully I'll have a good idea of what I want, and actually be able to find it.
Tasha's garden. Sigh. Did I ever tell you I met the author of one of the books she illustrated? (The Real Pretend- I forget who wrote it)
I had seen a her Day At Our House article in one of my moms home schooling magazines, and it had a few pictures in it. A few years later, at homeschool day field trip to????? (It was some settlement of I think indians, but they lived in cabins now, yadayada) I saw her boys. Nudged my mom as to who I thought it was, and chased her down in the gift shop. She was doing research for a new book, and tickled pink that I recognized her all these years later from a magazine picture. Truthfully, its kinda hard not to recognize two VERY hispanic looking boys dressed like the Amish.
Sorry, I just totally hi-jacked the comments.

Beautiful herbs, I wish I had a scratch and sniff computer!

Full of Grace said...

Looks Lovely, makes me pine for all my mint plants that a neighbor decided to destroy with his riding mower, roots and all.. I can almost smell all the fragrances from here :)

Rebecca said...

Amy~ what a find!

Bonnie~ I have been doing the same thing! Lots of things you don't even need to plant for medicinal value. Like: BURDOCK! WHO KNEW they were so great?!?!

I want TONS of echinacea for next year, and marshmellow root.

And while I want to plant medicinal plants, I also want to plant enough to make my own tea blends. I already have chamomile and mint but I am greedy. ;-)

Elizabeth~ watch. Next year your whole yard will be mint. I don't know many mints that die because of a little lawn mower. No worries!

;-)

Amanda said...

you have me drooling here!

I'm ready to come over and snatch a root from everything.
But only after we spend some time in the kitchen concocting up something to eat together with some of that lemonade up top;-)

Abigail said...

Sigh. Lovely.

This year, I only had cilantro, chives, basil, parsley, rosemary, dill, and mint. Does mint count if it grows wild all over the place? I'm counting it. It makes my list sound better.

I ordered seeds for more that never got started, including some for medicinal purposes. I hope they'll sprout NEXT year, otherwise I'll kick myself double.

Burdock is amazing. Want some of ours :) And milkweed! And cattails! Did you read a book on wild edibles, as well as medicinal herbs, 'cause if you did, please do give a review. I only know a bit, but I'd love to know more.