by Kenan White | Oct 1, 2012 | A Year in the Life.., Exploring, Gardening, Growing, Herbs, Miscellaneous, Wildlife |
Chamomile a weed? One person’s weed is another person’s herb!
While on a trip to Prairie Canada, I was surprised to find find common chamomile blooming among the prairie plants. After first spotting this familiar herb, I began seeing it along the road shoulder, in fields of peas and beans, and even in the lawn where I was staying. From my host, I learned that on the prairie farmers consider chamomile a noxious weed and work hard trying to eliminate it from their crops fields. This is a good example for comparing a desirable herb plant from a weed. And as the description for weeds explains; it all depends on where a plant is growing! So even though chamomile is a weed is some places, it is a welcome herb in my garden. I have plenty of other plants on my own weed list!
by Kenan White | Sep 28, 2012 | Basics, Gardening, Growing, Herbs, Life on the Farm, Seeds |
There is nothing easy about growing white sage; beginning with its seeds. White sage seeds are tested to a germination rate of twenty percent. Seed with this low of a germination rate are considered too old to use! Being a desert plant, white sage seeds will germinate in a few weeks or 80% will wait for six months to a year, maybe many years. This adaptation insures some white sage seeds will be ready for the next rain, even if ten years away!
This survival strategy is great for the desert, but makes germination uncertain in a greenhouse. Our cell trays are not a help, because we end up with dead cells or ones with too many seedlings. To insure a strong crop of white sage for the spring 2013 season, we resorted to an old fashion method of sowing seed. This means each and every seedling must be carefully transplanted to a cell. Being a species plant, there is wide variation in seedling size.
We carefully plant like sizes together. Watering is always the issue with white sage, well drained potting soil or garden soil with sand added are necessary. Wet soil can cause root rot quickly, never let white sage stay in wet soil!
by Kenan White | Sep 19, 2012 | Basics, Gardening, Growing, Herbs, Life on the Farm, Seeds |
Growing herb plants presents many challenges. Almost all are species plants and have their own requirements for germination, growth, and peaceful establishment in someone’s garden. When The Growers Exchange decided to grow only herb plants, we quickly found ourselves pretty much all alone in our commercial greenhouse community. When growing more common plants, we could always call around and find extra plants when needed.
Not so with many herb plants! Finding fresh seed for basil, cilantro, parsley, and all the popular culinary herbs is easy. But if we run out of plants, our neighboring greenhouses will be full with geraniums and other flowering plants. If we run out, then we are out! But this inconvenience is small compared to consistently finding seeds for the less known herbs such as White Sage and Holy Basil. Only a few seed companies sell rare herb seeds. Once certain seeds have been located, they must also be viable. Meaning they must be fresh enough to germinate.
Finding fresh seed for rare herbs is always chancy, and we watch closely to see that we can try again if a batch fails to germinate. To even the odds that we sow fresh viable seed, we have grown our own herb plants in a garden next to the farm office. Seeds are harvested and dried in an old smokehouse. We still must buy seeds, but we also have the seeds we grew, which are very fresh. This doesn’t solve all the problems, but helps plenty and gives us a proactive way to keep a fresh supply of seeds.
by Kenan White | Sep 12, 2012 | Basics, Gardening, Herbs |
We are having a few end of the month visitors to our test gardens and set about cleaning them up about 2 weeks ago. Cleaning out debris, cutting back all of our herb plants, and actually taking in a good harvest. We have pesto to get us through the winter, and a lot of dried herbs to make sure that our stews and savories are outstanding. We even renovated our smoke house and we are doing a lot of drying flowering herbs. Hot work in the middle of a muggy summer but oh, my, it was worth it.
Just strolling through this weekend and was delighted by the amount of blooms that we have – another chance before fall and winter settle in. So, if you are a Zone 7 or above, don’t forget that you might have a chance. This test bed is astounding and reminds us all that herbs in a landscape are invaluable. What started as an after thought has really taken on a life of its own. We keep adding to the beds and right now, they are a butterfly and bee magnet.
Bottom line: the garden is never finished so neither is the gardener. Use a good pair of clippers and make a plan ahead of time, or you will end up tossing some very valuable harvest. For whatever reason (think if I back up 9 months to New Year’s Eve if have it figured out) a lot of my friends and family have September birthdays and I have been making a lot of herb bouquets. Ball jars make very lovely and inexpensive vases.
Pictured below, left to right: Joe Pye Weed, Datura, Evening Fragrance, Feverfew, Dill, Costmary.
by Kenan White | Sep 11, 2012 | Miscellaneous |
As summer fades into fall, we begin to notice the little signs warning that winter is approaching; even if still weeks away. Some signs are easier to read than others. Are the tree leaves turning early or are they just exhausted from a hot dry summer? Does that wooly bear caterpillar have a wide stripe or not? One sure sign that leaves no room for doubt is the Joe Pye Weed. The story says that Joe Pye was a Native American healer who saved a community of settlers from a sickness using the plant that now carries his name as the cure.
Even though Joe Pye Weed is rarely used for medicinal purposes these days, the plant can still perform an important function for those that notice it. For me, Joe Pye blooming is the grand finale to summer. Joe Pye always waits to the end, so when you see it’s purple blooms, summer is just about over! Though there may be a few warm days ahead, it is time to start preparing for the coming winter. Joe Pye says so, and he never lies!
Joe Pye Weed
