Archive for the ‘plant it’ Category

I use fresh herbs in recipes all year long.  I have even gone out in the middle of Winter to dig through the snow for thyme or parsley.  I have a small herb garden right near my kitchen, where I grow all the herbs I love to cook with.

This year for Mother’s Day, we gave my Mom herbs for a pot to put on her patio.  Her yard is smaller than mine, and her space is limited.  But luckily, it is so easy to grow most herbs in a pot.  My Mom loves to cook with fresh basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, and Italian parsley.

Since herbs need good drainage, I place pieces of old broken terracotta pots (I never throw the broken pieces away) at the bottom of the pot.  Then I fill the pot with good potting soil to a few inches below the brim of the pot.  I gently pull the roots of the plants apart a bit before planting them.  Arrange the herbs in the pot and fill the rest in with potting soil.  Because they are herbs and not flowers, I don’t overload the pot.  Water them in well.  The herb plants cost $2.50 each.  But buying fresh herbs at the store is very expensive.  This pot of herbs will really help my Mom to “Make it Do.”

One of my favorite ways to preserve herbs for the Winter months is to freeze them in ice cube trays.  I gather my fresh herbs in the morning.  Wash them and then chop them up.  Place one teaspoon into each cup of an ice cube tray.  Fill the cup with water (leaving a bit of room for expansion) and freeze.  When they are frozen solid, place the herb ice cubes in a labeled freezer bag.  Whenever you need fresh herbs, take out the amount needed.  Let it thaw in a bowl and then drain the water.  If it is going into a sauce or soup, I just throw the frozen cubes right in.  I also dry some of my herbs, another great way to Make it Do.

I love berries of all kinds.  A bowl of berries tastes better than chocolate… almost.  Now I’m thinking of berries covered in chocolate…. mmmm.

Strawberries are the easiest berries to grow in your garden.  They aren’t mean and invasive like raspberries or blackberries.  And strawberries are my kid’s favorite.  Most of the berries I grow don’t even make it out of the garden.  The kids sit outside and eat them all.  I tell the kids that eating strawberries will make them even sweeter. (Is that wishful thinking?)

Now is the time to plant strawberries if you haven’t already.  They are a great ground cover for a sunny corner of your yard.  Choose a spot where the strawberries will get at least 6 hours of sun a day.

I planted strawberry plants last week and here is how:

I bought a small bundle of plants at the nursery.  They come as you see above, with the roots bare.  I planted June bearers… all the fruit comes on at once in June and they have the largest fruit.  You can also choose everbearing varieties that have ripe fruit intermittently all season.

1.  Prepare the soil by adding compost.  I added well-rotted manure.  Your plants should last about three years, so this a your chance to amend the soil well.  Remove all the weeds, spread the compost out evenly and mix it in the soil with a shovel.  Rake the the bed smooth.

2.  Soak the strawberry roots in water for an hour before planting.

3.  Dig a hole for each plant large enough to spread the roots out.

4.  Place the plants in the holes and back fill.  Plant them high, with the soil at the bottom of the bud union, just above the roots.  (The bud union is the darker brown part in the middle of the plant.)

5.  Water them well.

6.  Fertilize at the time of planting, then right after they bear fruit in June.  If you buy everbearing plants, check with your nursery to find out when to fertilize.

6.  Spread mulch around the plants to keep them moist and cool.

7.  Make sure your strawberries get about 1 inch of water a week.

8.  Remember the birds like to eat the strawberries… if they are a problem you can cover your plants with netting.  I usually don’t cover mine, and they do get a few strawberries… but my kids are usually faster than the birds.

Happy eating!