My herb garden

I just wanted to share some pictures of the various herbs I'm growing right now.  Hope you enjoy.

First up are my chives.  I planted these last September, and they are hitting their stride now.  I got worried for a couple of months in winter, and I thought they were going to just die, but I kept watering them as needed, and now they are thriving.  I love chopping them up and adding them to my salads, soups, and mashed potatoes. 

Here is one of my several mint patches.  I started this patch by transplanting some mint that I thought would die when we added several feet of soil to level our backyard.  Now this transplanted patch AND the original are growing nice and tall, with leaves as long as my fingers.  I'm eating some leaves chopped up in my ramen noodles as I write.   

Next is my oregano.  This guy is a fighter. He got too hot and all but died at the end of last summer.  Here he is now, bouncing back nicely.  I picked off a couple of leaves so Heather and I could sample the powerful flavor of the fresh leaves.  I don't recommend this.  It burns and numbs the tongue and lips a little.  Oregano is great in sauces, and also has antifungal and antimicrobial effects.  

Below is a mother/daughter picture of my thyme.  The plant on the right was transplanted using shoots from the plant on the left. I placed it among my lavender because they have similar watering requirements (not terribly often).  The transplanted thyme is only German thyme, but the pot on the left contains a mixture of Lemon and German thyme.    

Herbs are fun to grow, and most aide in digestion and have lots of antioxidants.  They require full sun for 6-8 hours a day, and some (not all) lose the flavor in their leaves once they begin to flower, so choose accordingly.    Happy harvesting!  Cheers!

How to propagate mint

Mint is a very popular, useful, and tenacious herb. Its leaves can be used in teas and in cooking to add a bright flavor and aid in digestion.

Mint is an aggressive plant, so it doesn't take much effort to spread it around. In fact, many people grow mint in containers so it won't take over the entire garden.

I wanted to grow mint in the bed near the front of my house, and in the bed bordering my back wall, both of which are north-facing. Mint grows well in the shade, so I transplanted some shoots and placed them where other plants might have a harder time thriving die to minimal sunlight.

The picture below shows three different mint patches all grown from transplanting shoots from a mother plant. As you can see, the leaves are almost as big as my finger, so location and method were successful.

Here are the steps I followed.

1. Remove a healthy mint shoot along with part of the shoot that is underground.

2. Plant the shoot in loose, fertile soil (I use Kellogg Garden Soil), either in a pot or the ground (I've had better results in the ground).

3. Water to keep the ground moist, but not too wet. You might even mix in some sand to help the soil drain.

Remember, mint is invasive, so give it a plot of its own, or try it in a pot.

Let me know how it goes. Cheers!