Here's our main garden, just brimming with potential...and our 6 year old son's construction spot. He calls it his "soft dirt" & he plans construction stuff with it all summer. As you can see, he has already started on this year's work.
The spearmint that I planted last year under the propane tank is already growing. I dried some of it last fall & I've really enjoyed having some in my tea. I had heard that peppermint was harder to go, & sure enough, the peppermint that I planted last year in a pot didn't return. That's ok, I really do like the spearmint too.
And here is my herb garden. Now keep in mind that I haven't done anything to it yet. No weeding, no nothin'. Last year was my first year having an herb garden. I really enjoyed it, & I really enjoyed cooking with some of my own dried herbs over the winter. Everything is coming back up on it's own, except the basil, & I'm pretty sure that's the only annual I planted.
Here's the flat leaf parsley. Wow, it's really coming up in thick bunches. I wonder if I can seperate it at all, so I can spread it out better. I don't know if it would handle that or not. Well, I might try it.
And my oh my look at the cilantro! Not only is it coming up well in it's little square plot, it is also in the walkway, I spotted one in the parsley, & some where the camomile goes! Cilantro is the only one that I didn't dry last fall & I hated it that I missed my window of opportunity to do that. It went to seed (corriander) before I realized it was time to do it. I still have a large jar of corriander seed. I need to find some kind of recipe to use it. This year I will dry some cilantro so we can enjoy it all year.
Here's my big sage plant. Because I'm new at this, I didn't know what to do with it over the winter. I bet I was supposed to cut it back. I thought it dried out over the winter. But now that it is warmer weather, the leaves are green again & appear to be normal. 
You can see in this next picture that the stems are pretty "woody". Inside new leaves & stems are growing. I bet I'm supposed to cut this back so the new growth can grow. What do you think? My hand smelled like sage after taking this picture.
Here is the thyme & it has the same story as the sage. I didn't cut it back at the end of the year. I dried a ton of it, but still left so much to just stay in the garden over the winter. It seemed like the leaves all dried out in the winter, but like the sage, all the thyme is green again. This is the thyme left over from last year. Like the sage, there is new growth coming up under it, so I may need to trim these back too.Just look at all the thyme I have! ( I wish I had as much TIME as I have thyme. LOL)
Here is the camomile coming back too. I have enjoyed my camomile tea over the winter. I just had some the other night. I like it with some sugar & a bit of honey....it's soooo good. There's also some cilantro coming up in camomile. I hate to say this, but there will be quite a bit of cilantro that will be pulled like weeds! LOL
Of course the chives are up & growing too! I've already been snipping some & adding it to salads & to sour cream on baked potatoes.
You can't tell what this is yet, but it is the dill. One of my favorite things to use dill is the cucumber sauce. Love that. I also made a dill bread that had cottage cheese in it. I never got around to posting that recipe, maybe I'll do that soon. About the only thing recognizable in this picture is the dandilion, LOL, but I can vouch that there really is a lot of dill there.
Here is the cucumber fence my husband made last year. We are really looking forwad to seeing cucumbers vine their way up this fence!
I really liked everything I planted in the herb garden last year. The only thing that didn't come up was the lavender. I think this year I would like to add oregano, & maybe fennel. I've never used fresh fennel, but I do use fennel seeds on pizza & in meatballs. I'll have to see about that though.
Here is the camomile coming back too. I have enjoyed my camomile tea over the winter. I just had some the other night. I like it with some sugar & a bit of honey....it's soooo good. There's also some cilantro coming up in camomile. I hate to say this, but there will be quite a bit of cilantro that will be pulled like weeds! LOL
Of course the chives are up & growing too! I've already been snipping some & adding it to salads & to sour cream on baked potatoes.You can't tell what this is yet, but it is the dill. One of my favorite things to use dill is the cucumber sauce. Love that. I also made a dill bread that had cottage cheese in it. I never got around to posting that recipe, maybe I'll do that soon. About the only thing recognizable in this picture is the dandilion, LOL, but I can vouch that there really is a lot of dill there.Here is the cucumber fence my husband made last year. We are really looking forwad to seeing cucumbers vine their way up this fence!
I really liked everything I planted in the herb garden last year. The only thing that didn't come up was the lavender. I think this year I would like to add oregano, & maybe fennel. I've never used fresh fennel, but I do use fennel seeds on pizza & in meatballs. I'll have to see about that though. Well, there is my first garden post of the year.
Hopefully I can get back to the computer more often than I have lately.
Questions:
Do any of you know about the sage & thyme? Do you think I should cut it back so the fresh leaves can grow?
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