I brought them inside despite the crazy warm temps, thinking we would have a freeze months ago, but no. The photo below was just for pretty factor the day I brought the first few inside, just before Thanksgiving. They are now growing on a north facing windowsill (with no direct sun).
Herbs add flavor to all kinds of foods and drinks, and as a bonus are known for their medicinal properties. The parsley below was delicious in this chimichurri steak recipe.
Parsley is not the most flavorful herb, but adds a unique and understated flavor when combined with other ingredients.
Parsley harvest from the raised beds in mid Nov
I am working on a post about the Garlic and Onions I planted in the raised beds. We use so much of both that I knew I must grow some this year. I am experimenting with winter gardening for the first time in the raised beds. We are fortunate to have many warm months to garden here in Georgia. However, I hope we get a little winter here soon.
I was fortunate-thanks to my sweet mother-in-law, Margaret to visit former President Andrew Jackson’s former home, The Hermitage, located near Nashville, TN. She is a former teacher and loves to take us to teachable locations. Many of the buildings date from the early 1800’s, and the tour of the house and grounds was fascinating but emotional, as I know that this plantation was maintained and exists in large part due to the previous labor of slaves.
It is difficult to visit a place like this, but I want to honor those who worked the land here and who at best were subjugated human beings and at worst, lost their lives while doing it.
Central Sun Garden at the Hermitage
Nasturtium
The gravel garden path from the house began with deep shade- extra welcome due the outrageous temps and full sun around the house. The first plant that caught my eye was one of the few plants marked with a nameplate in the gardens. I zoomed in under the dense crepe myrtle branches and captured this cool, shady Nasturtium dressed with red pops.
Purple Coneflower ‘Echinacea purpurea’
Stepping out of the deep shade I encountered purple coneflower, with sun loving iris behind them. This day in late June, the heat had weight. It might have been the hottest day of the year, but well worth it because everywhere was flush with summer blooms. It seemed that every plant was showing off it’s best and brightest beauties that day.
The gardens are almost exactly the same configuration, and use similar or the same types of plants as were grown here nearly 200 years ago. There are even some original plants, and descendant plants. I found this to be a beautiful tribute to the garden’s original designer- English designer William Frost, and also to Mrs. Rachael Jackson. Rachael was known for her love of plants, and helped to plan and maintain the gardens. The Hermitage Gardens page gives details on the plants, and the garden’s history.
Canna Lily
Many of the plants in the gardens are edible, medicinally useful, and/or native to the southeast-like the first two plants in this post, the nasturtium and the purple coneflower. My focus on herbs and vegetable plants on this blog grows from my desire to showcase plants with a useful purpose.
I could go on and on about how I felt to be connected to the history of this place, mostly for the tragic things that happened here. But, I just want to stop here for a minute, just sit for a spell (as my mother Alawayne, and her mother Hazel would say). Just sit a spell here in the sunshine, and be grateful to be able to enjoy the lovely flowers.
Step #1-Find a spot with good sun. 5-8 hours per day. Mostly level with slight drainage slope. Southwest or South facing is usually good.
I built my first raised garden bed back in 2013. I needed a second bed this year because I started so many seeds, and I was ready to expand my garden. I completed the construction of the second bed in June finally-thanks to a lot of help from my wonderful husband. He did a lot of the hard work this time because I was recovering from surgery.
Step #2- Get materials, Construct, & Fill the Bed –
Materials needed– untreated wood, corner stakes, screws and drill, hammer
I refilled last year’s bed back in late April because it had settled and lost volume. I used some of my own compost from the Earth Machine, and I supplemented with organic mushroom compost and organic pine bark soil conditioner.
The Rosemary, Lavender, Peppermint, and Oregano survived the winter!
Lots of shovel turning later and …
Step #3- Decide & Plan what you will plant & where in the bed you will put the plants
Step #4- Plant herb and vegetable seeds and/or plants
The picture above is from mid May at planting time. Everything looked a little yellow here, but below is a photo from just recently. Everything took off and I have had the best garden year yet!
Sweet Basil
Pickling Cucumber
Early Girl Tomato
Step #5-Tend the beds by watering, removing pests, and harvesting throughout the season.
Enjoy the Harvest!
I am including a link to my Growing an Essay piece here. I find the connections and similarities between gardening and writing interesting.
Just a few quick photos of the summer harvest from mid July. The organic raised beds are growing & producing nicely, & I’ve only picked off three tomato hornworms-minimal damage!
I will post more details about the garden later. I also have a post in the works about the beautiful gardens at President Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage, which is located in Nashville, TN. I was fortunate to go view the gardens there a few weeks ago.
Start with mini greenhouse, peat pellets, and water …
Wait a day or two before planting for the pods to lose a little moisture (leave the top off for evaporation). Agitate the soil, and bust open the tops of the pods. This gives the seeds more room, and looser growing medium.
Plant veggie and herb seeds! Or flowers, if you like. I started this batch of seeds in mid-to-late February. Most of them were leftover from last year. Some I harvested from last year’s plants-like the green beans. I also bought more seeds (& a couple tomato plants I couldn’t resist) from Cofer’s Home and Garden Showplace- my favorite garden center ever. More about that later.
I also started a second round of seeds a few weeks later. Some are the same as the first batch-like greens beans and tomatoes. I am experimenting with staggered planting times, so I can harvest throughout the long growing season here in Georgia.
Below are pics of the second round of seeds I planted.
They are just getting started in these pics from mid March. Many of the plants are now in the raised garden bed. *Fingers crossed for no late frost.* My next post will be about the repair, filling, and planting of my raised herb & veggie garden bed. The project was completed a few weeks ago with help from my sweet husband, and my friend Peggy, who was in town for a visit to Gibbs Gardens! I will also post some great pics of the Daffodil Festival at Gibbs in the next week or so.
I grew the catnip plant above from seed, and it came back for the last several years. This year it was scraggly & had some strange aphids, but I managed to harvest & dry some for the kitties.
I let this last sad, spindly stalk go to bloom, hoping it would make seeds for next year. I collected a dried seed stalk, and now there is a brown stub of a plant left, with a single green leaf left.
Aphids Love Catnip!?
You can see in the picture above some tiny aphid? creatures-not sure what they are. If anyone knows please respond to this post, I am curious what type of creature they are. They have furry butts & appear to be bizarre weirdos. They are on the stem below the blooms. The top of the plant is bent over sideways.
People Love Catnip!
Catnip is useful to humans- similar to other herbs, and is used in tea. This links to an article by a MNN writer which details, (in step number 5), the properties and chemicals involved in the human/catnip process.
Side Note on growing from seed- the following quote from botanical.com may argue against growing this plant from seed:
There is an old saying about this plant:
If you set it, the cats will eat it, If you sow it, the cats don’t know it.
Hmm…I love old wives’ tales and folklore. There is often some scientific proof that the folk remedy or medicinal use is correct. Please respond anyone who has input on this topic. I would love to hear any reader’s thoughts on this.
I heavily harvested the overflowing oregano several times last year, and there seems to be even more this year. I love drying this herb for use later. I cut it with scissors, rinse it under cool water, then let it dry before I hang it upside down inside paper bags to dry.
A member of the ever versatile mint family, this plant is hardy and handy in the kitchen. I add dried oregano to so many recipes. I also grew rosemary and lots of lemon-lime basil that re-seeded itself in my raised bed. My favorite is always the lavender though, which has been very happy since I moved it from a container into the bed. It is now nicely nestled between the rosemary and oregano.
Finally, I have a simple, organic garden bed for veggies and herbs. I am late planting and posting mostly due to enormous amounts of rain. It was to originally be 3 ft. x 8 ft., but I easily modified it to 3 ft. x 4.5 ft. Next year, I will go full size. I started with untreated lumber and simple wood stakes. I filled 1/3 with my native clay soil and some leaf mulch.
I added 1/3 Organic mulch as conditioner and 1/3 Mushroom compost to complete the mix.
Lots of shovel turning and sore arms later and I get well-drained, dark, rich soil for edible plants.
This bed contains: Rosemary, Peppermint, Lavender, Sweet & Lemon-Lime Basil, Catnip, Thyme, Oregano, Dill, Cucumbers, Peppers, & Tomato– Early Girl, Yellow Pear, and Roma varieties. I grew most of the plants from seed, but picked up a few plants like Dill and Cucumber when mine died from too much rain. I hope this small garden will produce enough to make a few jars of homemade canned goods. I planted the bed about a month ago and everything is filling in nicely. Will post updated pics soon.
This English Lavender ‘Lady’ was started from seed about 5 years ago. It needs replanting in a larger container soon to encourage more flowers next year.
Lavender is a herbaceous perennial and mint family member. Inhaling the lovely fragrance has been proven to relax, calm, and soothe. Both the tiny purple blooms and fragrant leaves dry nicely.
