March 16, 2007
Growing hope
My garden is getting unruly. I’ve neglected it shamefully lately. Something has been chewing up the parsley. I’ve seen a few grasshoppers near there, so maybe they like parsley. Despite my occupation, I hate the idea of using pesticides in my herb garden. I’ve gotten by this long without wiping out the small critters, but might have to do something soon if the ravaging continues. The parsley was a big, bushy looking thing a few weeks ago. Now it’s a tough stem, about as big around as my thumb, with some leggy stems and mottled leaves. Not very impressive at all. I won’t be garnishing any plates with home-grown green frills any time soon. The nearby garlic chives are doing well, though beaten down by recent heavy rains.
The rosemary bush continues to grow with wild abandon. I need to prune it severely and pass on the trimmings to the neighbors once again. I have one of those wonderful pork loins from Costco in the freezer. I’ll cook it buried in rosemary and it will be savory and sweet and wonderful. Picking little broken stems off before serving is a pain, but totally worth it.
My lavender bushes are hiding in weeds. I think they’re healthy, but I can’t see them very well, so there could be problems I’m missing. I saw several wild tomato plants growing among them. Those always seem to attract a lot of bugs. I don’t know if the insects that feed on tomato plants will feed on lavender. I should look that up. I’d like to grow my own lavender and make little sachets for Christmas gifts. I bought the buds last time. There would be a special pride in really making the whole thing myself next time out.
Over in the corner, I have a little hope growing. I’ve been trying to grow mint ever since I moved into this house ten years ago. The tropical sun burns it up before it gets big enough to survive. I bought two little plants a couple of months ago, one peppermint and one spearmint. I planted them between the rosemary and the fence, thinking that the rosemary would filter the sun. The peppermint didn’t make it. The spearmint is holding its own, but not growing very fast compared to my other plants. My mother had spearmint growing in our back yard when I was growing up. She used to pull out handsful of it because it would grow so quickly that it smothered the other nearby plants. If it can grow that wildly in New Orleans, why am I having such a difficult time with it in Hawaii? When Mom would thin her mint crop I would make a mint tea by boiling the leaves, straining the resulting liquid and pouring it over ice with lots of sugar. It needed the sugar because it had a bitter aftertaste. When I was older I developed a more sophisticated taste. I would crush a leaf or two and stir them into my sweet iced tea. Now that’s tea at it’s finest! I’d like to enjoy that again soon, and not with a few sprigs of mint purchased at the market.
We’ve had heavy rains the last few days and my garden likes that. I think I’ll weed tomorrow. I’ll haul the pork loin out of the freezer and let it thaw. While it waits, I’ll pour myself a tall, icy tumbler of tea and carry it outside. There will be many applications of the cool, wet surface against my forehead, and multiple trips back inside to refill my glass with ice and tea. I’ll pull the weeds from around the mint, maybe give it just a little shot of Miracle Gro. I’m looking forward to a walk down memory lane sometime soon, with a sprig of mint tickling my nose as I sip that sweetest of all elixirs.
Technorati Tags: gardening, herbs
Posted by skeet @ 6:26 pm • Home & Family
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March 17th, 2007 at 2:28 am, Denise Says:
I love this post. I love your garden. I love you! heh
March 17th, 2007 at 4:34 am, Leigh Says:
We plan to plant a herb garden after we move. Don’t want to put the effort in just to move it all.
We do need to chat! I live in Alabama, but at work I handle paperwork for our NorthWest offices including HAWAII!!!
Aloha!
March 17th, 2007 at 8:49 am, Whim Says:
How lush and beautiful! That’s some green thumb you have.
I however am the Ted Bundy of plant care. If plants had a top ten most wanted list I’d be on it.
March 17th, 2007 at 5:34 pm, DirkStar Says:
Awesome pics! My plants are trying to come up but it is still a little chilly here. I hope my Irises bloom this year.
I’m conducting an important readers poll, can you spare a minute?
March 18th, 2007 at 1:41 am, Wizened Wizard Says:
Oh, Skeet, I have garden envy.
Rosemary is an annual here (and since we received about eight inches of new snow last night, it’s too early to even think about planting it).
Mint, on the other hand, does very well. It likes a little shade and lots of water, but even neglected it spreads. Lavender also grows quite dependably as a perennial.
Your pictures and comments brighten my gray, snowy morning and I try to imagine life on a Pacific island…
By the way, I was so glad you dropped in at my place (hope it wasn’t too cold). Real life has kept my blog visits to a minimum lately and I’ve missed keeping up with all that’s happening in Bloggerville.
Have a great day and enjoy that pork loin!
March 18th, 2007 at 6:34 am, Tony Says:
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Skeet. You garden sounds absolutely fabulous. I would encourage you to stay away from polluting it with pesticides and research natural alternatives on the net further. Sometimes its better to just pull up the severely damaged items and burn them and plant their replacements in new ground.
Your description of the pork loin buried in rosemary has my mouth watering!!!
March 18th, 2007 at 7:18 am, Deb Says:
We can’t garden out front too much, deer eat everything. Luckily, my husband is good with plants, as I don’t have the magic touch.
March 18th, 2007 at 11:30 pm, Imran Says:
Your herb garden looks great. Imaging when you tend to them
It will look like a prize-winning landscaped garden when you’re done with it, I bet.
Have a great weekend!
March 18th, 2007 at 11:38 pm, skeet Says:
Well, it’s been nasty out & I didn’t get to work in the garden yet, so I’m saving the pork loin for later too. I have a theatre date tomorrow afternoon with lunch before, so it might be next weekend, depending on how much work I have this week. I know the weeds are grateful!
March 19th, 2007 at 2:39 am, Frank Says:
Good luck with your garden. Looks like there is some nice potential out there.
Have a nice day.
March 19th, 2007 at 10:34 am, Adam Says:
Interesting post because I just started my garden and have planted a few herbs. I am not going to put any inorganic pesticides or fertilizers and go organic.
Have a lot more work to do before it looks like a real “garden”. However, it’s a far cry from the rubish dump it once was.
March 19th, 2007 at 11:32 am, Shadowscope Says:
Alexa Project…
Updated 3-18-07 Shadowscope has dropped to 163,690. Not a humongous drop but it’s still dropping. I’m going to have to work a bit harder and get it down under 100k which is where I want it. Preferably under 50k…….
March 19th, 2007 at 12:35 pm, Karen Says:
You are making me want spring even more! I think I have some lavendar in my flower garden. I love when stuff starts appearing. That means they survived the winter.
March 19th, 2007 at 7:17 pm, skeet Says:
Since the weeds can attract their own share of pests, I’m hoping that just getting them out will get the critters under control. Just got home from the theatre about half-an-hour ago and it’s dark out, so the weekend is over. Maybe tomorrow if I get to work a short day!
Mahalo to all for dropping by. Funny thing about blogging: you never know what post is going to have wide appeal. Guess I should blog more frequently about grilled cheese sandwiches and herb gardening, hm? The readers have spoken!
March 19th, 2007 at 10:06 pm, Tricia Says:
If you want vigorous mint I can send you some! I grow three types and it’s such a rowdy plant that I have it coralled in with a little plastic fence buried around it so it can’t spread. My neighbour grows mint too and her’s has spread into my garden. Grrr.
I also grow lavender, parsley and rosemary. It’s great to grow herbs in the garden that you can use with your cooking or to make your home smell nicer isn’t it?
Great post. I didn’t realize that you were a gardener too.
March 19th, 2007 at 10:16 pm, skeet Says:
You can’t send live plants to Hawaii unless you’re ag-deparment certified, but it was sure sweet of you to offer, lol! Oh, yes, I’ve been gardening since I was a wee one. Most of my yard is xeriscaped, but I have little green spots here & there. Need to blog some more about that in the future, don’t I? Lot’s more herbs, too. Yeah, I need more green posts!
March 20th, 2007 at 5:06 pm, Suncoast Scribe » Blog Archive » For the Love of Herbs Says:
[…] absolutely grooving on the memories while reading Skeet’s blog about her garden, complete with beautiful pictures of the herbs. She may find it neglected, but I’m blissing out […]
March 24th, 2007 at 9:57 am, Cass Knits! Sweaters and socks and wool, OH MY! Yarns about knitting and family Says:
[…] presents Growing Hope posted at Skeet’s […]
March 24th, 2007 at 10:29 am, suni Says:
mmm mint tea is the best
i love lavender, too. i wish i could grow it here.
March 24th, 2007 at 10:11 pm, skeet Says:
Do you garden at all, Suni? What about a sunny window ledge? I grew herbs on a narrow shelf above my kitchen counter in my apartment years before I had a yard with enough space to put them outside. :0D
April 20th, 2007 at 3:15 am, The Strange Blog Says:
The Mind of a Blogger…
In an effort to let you into my mind, I thought I’d post some of the blogs I happened across this morning. I am a blog junkie these days, and here’s a few that are notable. Check them out and you might just find something interesting, info…
April 25th, 2007 at 9:11 pm, Patrick Nottingham Says:
I’d take anything this green right now in my yard. Great post. Feel free to visit my blog at High Strangeness Altoona and my new blog at the Raven’s Barrow.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:50 am, skeet Says:
Hm! Tried to leave a comment on Raven’s Barrow & there’s no post of submit button showing after I get the comment form.