Apologies...

I just posted the blog about the herbs, and when I checked it online there are no spaces between paragraphs and just one big blob of words. So, if anyone is actually reading this, I am sorry. I really didn't write it as a stream of consciousness. Haven't quite figured out all the bugs yet....  Ok never mind! I fixed it, I hope it works this time  :)

Herbs for 2010

I went through my herb seed packages and through my notes from last year to figure out what herbs I needed to get for this season. Last year was my first year growing herbs, other than some basil and oregano, which are absolutely essential.

I had most of our little four 4x4' squares filled with herbs--one entire 4x4 of basil and another of lettuces, another with oregano, thyme, parsely and dill, and the fourth with borage, hyssop, lavender, and lemon balm. I also had lavender, dill, hyssop and chamomile down at the farm.

I had visions of myself gathering fragrant herbs into a woven basket and drying them under the summer sun. Storing them in beautiful containers with perfect labels, all visible on shelves. Or else a rack of pungent, dried herbs all bound by the feet and hung up overhead, just waiting to be clipped off and used in soups, stews and brews. I envisioned experimenting with poultices, tinctures, vinegars, teas and syrups. A regular witch-doctor is what I had in mind. I planned on trying recipes for upset stomach, headache, sore throat and make notes of what worked and what didn't.

In reality, the herbs grow slowly, then come on fast and furious--just the same time as everything else in the garden came on. We spent all our weekends at the farm, so the herbs at home had to be gathered during the weekdays--in between work, laundry, dinner, walking dogs etc. I learned quickly what I needed to salvage and what I should let go. Borage did not store well. The books I read don't recommend drying it. It is basically for fresh use or for vinegars. Also it is not very useful. Apparently it is good for milk flow (not too helpful to me) but other than that, it may be good for spicing wines. Not too handy. Also it becomes weedy if you do not cut it before it sets seeds. I will have borage out back for many years to come whether I want to or not. Borage took over my bed so forcefully, it crowded out the lemon balm, hyssop and lavender that was there.

Basil is a keeper. I planted Genovese basil from Johnny's last year and it was magnificent. Gorgeous color, delicious taste and it just kept on coming. It was all I could do to keep up with it. In the end, some did get wasted, and I didn't dry it like I should have. I made a ton of pesto though. Love it! I will keep the same 4x4 plan too. Also a keeper--Italian flat-leaf parsely. Big, robust plants with big leaves. Dries great, survives frosts and even was good up to November--with the stems frozen!

I am doing dill again this year. I am trying a dwarf variety called Fern Leaf Dill which is supposed to come on slower and last longer. Last year it was all ready at once and it got wasted before I coudl dry it all. We didn't even get to use it in potato salad as much as we had planned. My chamomile at the farm did super! What is nice about it is it takes NO tender loving care. The worse the soil, the better it likes it. It produced almost too much really. I cut those tiny little flower heads till I thought I would go cross-eyed. And dried, and dried, adn dried. But this winter as I enjoy a cup of tea before bed about every night, I am glad. I still have seed left from last year, but I think it will reseed itself anyway. Another one that could become invasive if you let it I think.

The lavender at the farm survived too. I may need to transplant it someplace safer. My thyme over-wintered, so I don't need to buy any seed for that either. Pat put some in the little cold-frame and it is nice and green. I have some outside the cold frame which has survived too. I am trying some new ones this year--Thai basil, Topas St. John's wort, and the Fern Leaf Dill. Along with that I'm getting more Genovese basil, Italian Dark Green Parsley, and Greek Oregano. We're getting all our seeds from Fedco. (Well, most of them.) Someday I would like to be a real herbalist, as in my vision, but for now I'll try to pare it down to things I can actually use and store. And I'll try to be better about cutting and drying it. I'll let you know how it goes!

Seed list

We are thinking ahead to spring and to what we are going to plant. We came up with a game plan: Spring--Early (March-April) 50' double row snow peas, 50' double row snap peas, 25' carrots, 10' radish, 10'spring onion, 20' red cabbage, 10' Nappa cabbage, 40' Pac choi, 40 kohlrabi, 100' potato (dark red Norland); Spring Late (May-June) 20' Brussels sprouts, 25' parsnip, 25' endive, 10' fennel, 50' onion, 100' potato (kennebek), 25' Leek, 25' sweet potato; Mid (June) 60' bean (snap), 30x100 corn, 3 plants summer squash, 3 plants zucchini, 3 plants patty pan, 10 plants pepper, 10 plants eggplant, 35 tomato plants, 10 cantaloupe, 10 hill watermelon, 25' cucumber, 25' carrot. Late (July, Aug, Sept) 15 Hill winter squash 20 broccoli 20 cauliflower 25' rutabega 25' turnip 25' carrot 40' beet 25' kale 20 plants cabbage 60' shell beans pumpkin We haven't ordered anything yet, most of the stuff we already have. But we were going to give Fedco a try this year. Last year we ordered most of our seeds from Johnny's or Seed Savers, which both were very good (I tended to like Johnny's a little better). We got a plethera of catalogs this year, so Pat did a lot of comparison shopping, and decided that, price-wise, Fedco was the best bargain. Fedco seems like a very small company, kind of the underdog. I normally root for the underdog. So we are going to try them out this year and see how it goes.

Raw materials for cabin

This is a photo series showing my grandfather's old garage that my husband, my father and I tore down in two days in October of 2008. We salvaged all the usable lumber to make our little cabin. Thanks to my parents for storing the lumber for a while!

Garage Pat & Dad tearing off the roof.

Roof and walls are gone What garage?

Working on the cabin

Yesterday we put another window in the cabin. We're building a cabin /gardening outbuilding not far from our farm and bees. It is all built, but we are doing the finishing touches such as windows, woodstove, flooring, siding, insulation etc. It is based on a plan from the Jamaica Cottage Shop. They have lots of great plans there. We have built it by hand, using mainly reclaimed materials from an old garage belonging to my grandfather that we tore down in October of 2008. The old farm house (not my grandfather's original residence, but a house he had lived in and owned) was falling down and the family decided to have it burned down by the local fire department. I have some good photos of this I'll put up when I get home. But the garage had to come down since it was too close to the fire. There was nothing wrong with the garage which was sturdily-built by Amish workers. So we took it apart piece by piece and stored it at my parents' until we were able to use it. Last year we started working on the cabin and it has been great fun and hard work. It will be just a place for us to store our gear and stay out of the way sometimes when we're down at the farm. Yesterday we installed a double-window made of two six-paned windows. All the windows came from Craigslist. Pat built the frame for it last weekend. This weekend we plan to install two of these double windows and one small window for one of the gables. That one will be tough since it is pretty high off the ground. The last gable window was easier since the loft was there and Pat could access it from inside. The wind is really blowing today and it is 30 degrees, so it will be a chilly day for outside work. But the cabin stays pretty comfortable with a kerosene heater, so it isn't too bad. And I wear lots of layers!