Here in the frozen north, many perennial herbs must be grown as annuals. Some of my favourites, such as oregano and sage, do not survive the cold winters. I will pot the thyme, oregano and mint this year and winter them over and continue to add to the herb garden over the next years. Then in the very early spring cuttings can be taken indoors and started to give a quick start to the new plants.
This year there are mint, oregano, thyme, basil and parsley. The parsely did exceptionally well and I clipped the lovely leaves so just in case we do not get an early frost, there could be an additional small harvest. The herbs were spread on old window screens to dry in the sun, but we did not get much sun yesterday and certainly have not seen it today, so they are in the shed for now. I do have dehydrators somewhere still packed in the fiasco move from the aftermath of the flood at the bed and breakfast. This year they are not available in time.
I use dried parsley in soup and stews a lot when I have it. Oregano is a must on Greek salads and thyme is lovely with pork. The mint is for tea in winter and for soap and lotions infused in oils. It makes a good headache salve, but I never get headaches, thank goodness.
I also harvested a few potatoes. I was distressed to see heavy scab on the purple potato grown on the berm garden, but the ones from the straw bale area were perfect. I gave them to the man working here, along with some baby carrots and a few runner beans. The beans are producing nicely, however, exactly on this day last year the first killing frost came and the entire garden was wiped out, or that is everything above ground was. The tomatoes are lovely though very green still. I picked them green last year and they ripened perfectly in the house.
The garden is grown organically without the use of any chemical inputs whatsoever. What a delicious treat to harvest something from my own land and enjoy it for the cold season to come with great anticipation of planting again next year. I have always loved to garden. Now I have much land and can play to my heart's content.
Wouldn't you love some fresh zucchini? There is a ton of it and I cannot give it away! It is a good thing the animals love it too. They get the greens that are discarded and the birds will be allowed to forage in the garden once the harvest is done. The guinea hens do go there now and glean the bugs for me, keeping the pests to a minimum, plus the design of the garden is permaculture style, so pests do not decimate any one crop.
Isn't nature so grand? I am grateful for my land and the food grown thereupon. I am deeply thankful for the abundance in my life. And today of all days, I am grateful for being alive 62 years!
This year there are mint, oregano, thyme, basil and parsley. The parsely did exceptionally well and I clipped the lovely leaves so just in case we do not get an early frost, there could be an additional small harvest. The herbs were spread on old window screens to dry in the sun, but we did not get much sun yesterday and certainly have not seen it today, so they are in the shed for now. I do have dehydrators somewhere still packed in the fiasco move from the aftermath of the flood at the bed and breakfast. This year they are not available in time.
I use dried parsley in soup and stews a lot when I have it. Oregano is a must on Greek salads and thyme is lovely with pork. The mint is for tea in winter and for soap and lotions infused in oils. It makes a good headache salve, but I never get headaches, thank goodness.
I also harvested a few potatoes. I was distressed to see heavy scab on the purple potato grown on the berm garden, but the ones from the straw bale area were perfect. I gave them to the man working here, along with some baby carrots and a few runner beans. The beans are producing nicely, however, exactly on this day last year the first killing frost came and the entire garden was wiped out, or that is everything above ground was. The tomatoes are lovely though very green still. I picked them green last year and they ripened perfectly in the house.
The garden is grown organically without the use of any chemical inputs whatsoever. What a delicious treat to harvest something from my own land and enjoy it for the cold season to come with great anticipation of planting again next year. I have always loved to garden. Now I have much land and can play to my heart's content.
Wouldn't you love some fresh zucchini? There is a ton of it and I cannot give it away! It is a good thing the animals love it too. They get the greens that are discarded and the birds will be allowed to forage in the garden once the harvest is done. The guinea hens do go there now and glean the bugs for me, keeping the pests to a minimum, plus the design of the garden is permaculture style, so pests do not decimate any one crop.
Isn't nature so grand? I am grateful for my land and the food grown thereupon. I am deeply thankful for the abundance in my life. And today of all days, I am grateful for being alive 62 years!
This is a small laundry basket half full!
Look at this lovely parsley!
This purple potato suffered from a severe attack of potato scab. Fortunately the potatoes in the straw bale area are not affected.
The lovely flesh of the purple potato.
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