What did you do in the garden today?

[TJAnonymous]

Todays harvest - more ground cherries, 4-5 orange bell peppers, and a bunch of sesame seed pods! Oh, and a couple more Mara De Bois strawberries. Heaven, I tell ya....

 

[Smokerbill]

I tried to buy mint years ago & ended up with spearmint that does not go well with cocktails - but I kept it just because the bees LOVE it! Stupid stuff ends up everywhere too, lol. Bees & butterflies should love me, all I grow just for them...& what do I get, nasty spearmint everywhere & dumb moths instead of pretty butterflies.

I don't like mint because of the way it spreads. There was a big patch of it in one of my garden beds last year, and had spread to the path below the bed.

I removed as much of the root system as I could, and a little came back in the bed last year which I plucked out. And this year I haven't seen any mint in the bed. But there's still some growing in the path that I hoe out every once in a while.

And I have no idea what variety of mint it is. Lemon balm is in the mint family, I think, but it doesn't seem to be as invasive.

So I kept the clump of lemon balm for the pollinators. Chickens like to eat the leaves sometimes, too.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I don't like mint because of the way it spreads. There was a big patch of it in one of my garden beds last year, and had spread to the path below the bed.

I removed as much of the root system as I could, and a little came back in the bed last year which I plucked out. And this year I haven't seen any mint in the bed. But there's still some growing in the path that I hoe out every once in a while.

And I have no idea what variety of mint it is. Lemon balm is in the mint family, I think, but it doesn't seem to be as invasive.

So I kept the clump of lemon grass for the pollinators. Chickens like to eat the leaves sometimes, too.

I have both spearmint and lemon balm in containers. The lemon balm has gone bonkers....It has completely taken over the 3 ft x 18 in bed. If this stuff was planted in the ground, it would definitely spread.

Conversely, my spearmint is sparse. I even replaced it with a new plant entirely this year and it is still thin. The container it is in is about 18" diameter but has concrete in the bottom to keep it from tipping so the soil depth is somewhere around 9". Maybe that's why it isn't doing great?

I had lemon grass last year. It grew into a giant swell almost like Pampas grass. The winter freeze killed it off. I took the dead grass and spread it in my goat house & chicken coop because it still smelled heavenly. It never grew back though.

 

[Smokerbill]

I have both spearmint and lemon balm in containers. The lemon balm has gone bonkers....It has completely taken over the 3 ft x 18 in bed. If this stuff was planted in the ground, it would definitely spread.

Conversely, my spearmint is sparse. I even replaced it with a new plant entirely this year and it is still thin. The container it is in is about 18" diameter but has concrete in the bottom to keep it from tipping so the soil depth is somewhere around 9". Maybe that's why it isn't doing great?

I had lemon grass last year. It grew into a giant swell almost like Pampas grass. The winter freeze killed it off. I took the dead grass and spread it in my goat house & chicken coop because it still smelled heavenly. It never grew back though.

I mistakenly typed lemon grass in my last post. I meant lemon balm. I never grew lemon grass. LOL

 

[Sammster]

No... She passed away a day after my birthday this past May. Miss her a lot

I'm so sorry

 

[dirkandlorie]

Good to know. I have chives, flat and curly parsley, marjoram, tarragon, oregano, dill, rosemary and thyme. All started from seed early this year. My dang sage seeds never sprouted, even after planting them a second time. And I know they are slow to sprout, but they were in the seed cells for well over a month.

I have lemon balm too, but I'm not sure I like it. Guess I need to learn what it's uses are.

Lemon balm makes a lovely tea, can also make a nice jelly with it. As for drying herbs, I do have a dehydrator but don't use it for them. I just pick the leaves off and put them in a bowl on my table. Every time I pass by them, I give them a quick toss to help the air dry them, they're done in a couple days and into the jars they go. We're very humid here, but the air conditioning inside is not, so it works. ( I pick the leaves off, cuz I don't like the stems in my food, but you don't have to.)

 

[dirkandlorie]

I am the best rock farmer in the world! I'm sure of it! I have a raised bed that was filled with nothing but sifted compost, and when I went out today to fertilize it for putting in my carrots I found tons of rocks! They weren't in there when I planted my onions this spring, and there are no rocks anywhere near that bed. They must have magically grown there, and they've grown better than anything else in my garden this year!
I'm not kidding when I say hundreds of thousands of them! I've already resifted a few feet of this soil and dumped out a 5 gallon bucket of rocks out in the woods. I will have my carrots, so back to sifting that soil! A smarter woman would just pick a different bed to plant them in, lol.

 

[Sueby]

My braids don't look nearly that pretty....

This was probably my best one over the last few years. I grew up showing horses, I attribute my braiding to braiding manes & tails!

Conversely, my spearmint is sparse. I even replaced it with a new plant entirely this year and it is still thin. The container it is in is about 18" diameter but has concrete in the bottom to keep it from tipping so the soil depth is somewhere around 9". Maybe that's why it isn't doing great?

I have my spearmint growing in a half barrel container with holes drilled in the bottom. It's probably about 12" deep. It comes back every year, but not from the roots, from the flowers dropping seed. That's why it's all over my garden, I leave the flowers for the bees. I can send you some flowers if you have any idea how to make them grow from that, lol.

I am the best rock farmer in the world! I'm sure of it! I have a raised bed that was filled with nothing but sifted compost, and when I went out today to fertilize it for putting in my carrots I found tons of rocks! They weren't in there when I planted my onions this spring, and there are no rocks anywhere near that bed. They must have magically grown there, and they've grown better than anything else in my garden this year!
I'm not kidding when I say hundreds of thousands of them! I've already resifted a few feet of this soil and dumped out a 5 gallon bucket of rocks out in the woods. I will have my carrots, so back to sifting that soil! A smarter woman would just pick a different bed to plant them in, lol.

I like to say the state flower here in CT is a rock, so I understand that! We are at the tail end of the Appalachian mountains & we were once covered by a glacier so we have them big & small! It's a nightmare to dig here. I feel your pain.

Dang, we just lost power. The sun is out.

 

[Sally PB]

I freeze my basil and chives though, they have much better flavor that way.

Can you give more info about how you do this?

 

[igorsMistress]

Can you give more info about how you do this?

I just rinse, pat dry and lay them out to dry completely on paper towels, then freeze in a freezer bag; they have to be completely dry so they don’t stick together. I’ve tried the blanch and lay on a cookie sheet, then freeze method but didn’t like it; too much work. You can also purée and freeze in ice cube trays.