Herbs & Jars ♥

It has just been a fun, mad dash to harvest and dry herbs around here before they begin to go to seed. I've been researching in the middle of projects and cluttering my bedroom floor with crispy leaves and scrapbook paper. Kind of a rushed way to learn things about each herb, but there will be time. For now, I have simply been looking for the right methods for each plant to be dried. They all take different lengths of time and some need special attention before they're ready... 

About a week ago, I rigged up this little line from the rung of a ladder to the spindle of a chair in one corner. Pinned in experimental clumps were lemon balm, cinnamon basil, globe basil, sage, chives, parsley, catnip, and oregano- respectively. I knew those mini clothes pins I picked up at Hobby Lobby would come in handy. 

My room is the coldest in the winter, and the hottest in the summer. It's ideal for hanging herbs, and with the window open or the fan going, the air-flow is great. 

Lemon balm has been decidedly the fastest drying of all. It has been ready within three days, followed closely by catnip, actually. The slowest is definitely parsley along with oregano. 

Time to prepare some containers for these herbs once they are dried! This is the fun part. :D

Before

After

Yesterday, while the milk tank washed, I ran up to the weedy side-hill by the barn and collected wild yarrow flowers to add to this mix of drying vegetation. Just in time, too. We got quite a rain storm! I intend to do a lot of looking into of its use as a fever reducer.

And the day before, I picked a swathe of spearmint. It's been growing wild along the creek banks both at the barn and by the pond ever since I can remember. I sort of associate the scent with frogs now, due to my childhood romps through the mud with siblings on amphibian-catching adventures. 

The spearmint was dry within two days. 

At present, I've moved dill, sage, lemon balm, catnip, spearmint, and some basil to their individual jars. 

The aroma in my room was really strange. Plants that were half way between living and dead, strong odors and sweet scents all blended together (plus remember the frog-related smell)... it was a different atmosphere. XD

Sage came out so nicely. It's a different look from most of the other leaves...

Globe basil can probably be allowed to grow a bit bigger before I pick more. Its size certainly doesn't lessen its strong smell, though! 

I had an eager little helper. ;)

While processing the catnip, I had my cat Emily mosey on over. She inhaled my fingers with deep interest and affection. :P

And lastly, cinnamon basil. Very pretty purple flowers... the odd thing about it is that it tastes like anise. I've been calling it my licorice basil.

 Ahhh... everything is coming together.
On the subject of gardening, the snapdragons in the barn garden are so glorious, and new color shades and combinations develop each year. My favorite summer-autumn flower. ^_^

I asked God to bless the garden as the dirt was worked, the seeds panted, and the weeds pulled. Throughout the obstacles of torrential rain storms that should have washed the seeds away, thieving bunnies, and swarming slugs, it truly has survived all odds. Everything prospers and I am so happy.
And look! I attempted rosemary twice, both times with failure. And now a tiny sprig has appeared nowhere near where I planted it. Mysterious ways. ;)

 Thank You, Father. 

Siding A House

Since Spring, Emma and I have been helping Grandpa re-side his house in Whitestown. Goodness, we've learned a lot! The job took quite a while because near the end he decided to extended the roof, delaying the project a few weeks. On Thursday, we finally finished the two peeks. And the job is done. It looks great!

It went from a light green to this mist color. First the old siding came off, then the cardboard insulation, followed by prying off all the old shingles. Then the new insulation went up, the windows got fixed, and the siding was replaced. Em and I have officially "graduated nailing school." 

And I've certainly gotten a few hours of driving in, all added up.

In the Garden

I've heard it said that a clean desk is the sign of a messy career. 

Well, I think that a perfect garden is the sign of a frazzled mind. You constantly go outside to tend to something you do have control over, you pick and toss weeds like you wish you could pick and throw problems, and you arrange things in perfect order the way you would if life were so easily disciplined. 

And it pays off. And gives you problem-solving practice. And offers you the solace of quiet to fume, sing, or pray. 

"I come to the garden alone..."

Praise God, my garden is prospering. Yesterday was another rainy day, and this morning when I went out to inspect, weeds were not the only tiny newcomers popping out of the soil. Now I can say that absolutely everything I have planted has sprouted and is growing. 

Even the phlox I transplanted from the side of the corn field have hit their prime. The mullein is growing taller as I pick off the under-leaves that have grown brown and shriveled, and the self-seeding dill continues to outgrow its box.

Today Mama and I went to Pine View Greenhouse in Richfield, an extension of an Amish farm, and bought flowers. I love snapdragons. So much. Phlox are my favorite Spring flower. I'll say snapdragons are my favorite Summer-Fall flowers. This is the third year that the ones we planted one year in the barn flower garden have re-seeded themselves to come back in copious amounts. I'm always picking grass sprouts out of their midst, and there will be a bounty of them again this Summer. But I got some that were already flowered for my backyard garden. The softest pink, pretty peach, and bright yellow. Also, alyssum. In honor of my little goat (whom I will be seeing in less than a week!) I've chosen Alyssum as her name, after the soft white color of her coat and her green-yellow eyes. 

Already, this "giant lily-of-the-valley," as Laurel and I refer to is as, is going to seed. But it has been so pretty! Especially after being rained upon or watered, with all the tiny droplets glittering on the leaves and dripping from the little globes.  (I just discovered that it's really called Solomon's Seal.)

I've marked every row with a titled tongue depressor. :P

And my Pablo and Mantilia lettuces are sewn in alternating rows, striping their whole pallet in green and red.

I have Scarlet Nantes and Danvers carrots planted in the main soil of my garden. They're the carrots I've always had success with in the past. Carrots, I must say, are my favorite thing to grow. Harvesting them is loads of fun: discovering the ones that have decided to twist around their neighbors, or finding the biggest and fattest of all. 

Along with them, I have my New Zealand spinach. I grew this last year, and loved it. While it is sporadic in how it sprouts- what with having many seeds that seem to not plan on coming up, but then appearing a week or two later- it tasted much better than any lettuce I've ever tried. Last year I would go out to the garden each morning to pick some for my sandwich to take to lunch at work. 

The lettuces I mentioned I am trying for the first time, having carefully read their descriptions in the Seed Savers catalog. Usually, lettuce turns out bitter and/or gritty around here... hopefully that changes this time. These are supposed to be "sweet", with one crisp and the other soft. 

Also among the rows in the pallets are my herbs:

Chives, cinnamon basil, globe basil, oregano, parsley, catnip, lemon balm, thyme, and culinary sage. I'm excited! I'll be doing a lot of research on drying herbs and saving seeds this time around.  

The marigolds guard the garden faithfully, placed all around the circumference of the stone border. I've noticed something has been turning a few of their leaves dark and nibbling them away. Either it's bugs, or a rabbit. But nothing has entered the garden and bothered its contents. I'm looking into protecting the marigolds, but at least they are doing their job in keeping pests out of the greens. 

The bee balm is coming back from last year, much bigger. It will have pretty dark red blossoms come mid-Summer. Here you can see it accompanied by pink morning glories Mama planted. The stone path is a project of Emma's we've both been working on: turning up the dirt between and around the playhouse and the apple tree, mulching, and planting flowers along the path. 

Emma's been extremely creative with her apple tree garden. The signs she's painted are so colorful, and she even painted rocks different colors with the titles of vegetables written on them for Mama to mark her own garden rows. 

Yes, the gardening is abundant... and very fulfilling. 

It feels wonderful to have the dirt under my feet and staining my hands. Seeing life erupt from the soil and grow with an eager will of its own. Let it continue to prosper!!

And I couldn't resist the other day: buying seeds for rosemary and broccoli... so those have to get plated tomorrow, too. :3