Gardening - Herbs, Roots, Veggies, Flowers & More

[Bela]

This is a thread for what grows in our gardens. A favorite herb or flower? Fragrance?
Tips?

[Bela]

We've been talking about lemon verbena on another thread . . . so thought perhaps that could be a springboard for a more general discussion-on-gardening thread.

[Bupster]

Never too late to start growing things! If you get a patch dug quickly, you can bung some garlic in. It needs frost to separate out into cloves, so bad weather and winter suits it. Also shallots are planted around now. Best advice from anyone about growing veg is grow what you eat. If you end up with 43 cabbages and nobody likes cabbage you'll lose heart (boom boom).

Have you got windowsill space? You could start things indoors if so. It's a bit early to do most things now, but in a month or so you could start on chillies and aubergines in pots, followed by tomatoes. They like a bit of heat, so you might want to stick them in the airing cupboard.

I've got an allotment, so am weird and obsessive about stuff like this...

[WaitingList]

Oh yes, Lemon Verbena - grow it!

(I apologise if I am coming across like the press officer for the British Lemon Verbena Growers' Association, but, goshdarnit it's good stuff and very easy to grow.)

Me and Mrs WaitingList have a garden in which we didn't do too much last year but we do quite a lot of sprouting, which is an ace way to get bean sprouts and stuff for salads and stir fries - extremely cheap, a child of three could do it and I gather they're very healthy. You can get a kit with seeds in any garden centre. Oh, and they grow quickly, so if you do have a child of three I reckon it might be something they would be interested in - I remember doing mustard and cress at school so why not?!

All the best.

[Bupster]

You don't even need a kit - just some seeds, a jar and some water. I don't do enough of that, and they are wonderful in salads. Alfalfa is my favourite.

[Bela]

Ground is frozen solid as a rock hereabouts, but I am dreaming and would order seeds except I have a sizeable lot unusued. Lemon verbena is on my list. It is a tender perennial, best treated as an annual here I have read, so I'll add it to my early spring shopping at the local greenhouse. Meanwhile I'll check out my local food coop for teas with lemon verbena.

[Bela]

mygirl, I would loved raised beds, and hubby could build the frames very well thank-you, but has not. So I make do with the ground. I guess I could build my self (empowerment?) or hire out. Maybe hiring out would work as reverse psychology.

[mumof3]

As a professional gardener, any help I can give just ask!! (I won't charge much )

[Bela]

What a generous offer, mum!

colin, I purchased some lemon verbena at my food coop yesterday.
how do I prepare it? just let it steep in hot water like tea?
what's a good measure?

[WaitingList]

Hello Bella...

Lemon verbena

1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves (not the stems, they're bitter), rinsed, lightly packed (about 20 leaves)
1/2 cup of fresh lemon verbena leaves, rinsed, lightly packed (about 10-15 leaves)
2 cups of water

Method
Bring a pot of fresh water almost, but not quite to a boil. Put the mint and verbena leaves in a teapot. Pour the hot water over the leaves. Let sit for 3-5 minutes. Strain into tea cups.

Makes 2 cups.

That's for Lemon Verbena and Mint, but I hope it gives you an idea of the amounts... Unless of course the leaves are dried, in which case I'd use about what you do for normal tea - I get mine in bags and they're the same size as normal tea bags. . .

And look what it does!

17th century Spanish explorers brought lemon verbena back from Argentina & Chile, and the delightful, intensely lemon-scented leaves were an instant hit with Europeans! Leaves are strongest in scent & flavor while the plant is in bloom, but can be harvested at any time. Lemon verbena tea is a destressing herbal tea which has many health benefits, some of which are as a nerve tonic, use as an antidepressant, expectorant, antispasmodic, digestive aid, and to treat colic. You can use Lemon Verbena by itself to make a tea, but it is also delicious mixed with other herbs to make your own herbal tea blends. You can add some leaves to to store-bought pekoes to add some extra lemon flavor.

Let us know how you get on Bela.

[Bela]

Oh great, now back to the coop for mint leaves.
Mint does grow in profusion in my garden, but nothing's growing outside now.
I suppose I could just unbag some mint tea, eh?
No matter, I am looking forward to trying it, something new and hot to drink.
Thanks, Colin.

[WaitingList]

No need Bela - that's just me being too lazy to go beyond the first couple of google results and lemon verbena on its own is lovely (to my tastebuds anyway). I have made it from fresh myself, and all I can say is I chucked in a fair bit... Dried, use less...

For the summer try freezing leaves in ice cube trays and put 'em in water or soft-drinks. If you're a moderation person rather than an abstainer and for your friends they are absolutely stunning in Gin and Tonic. . . .

Sorry if that's innappropriate.

Specially in this weather. Cardiff on Ice here.

Waaaah.

Colin.

[Bela]

I am abstaining, but no problem, gin was never my tipple.
And right now, nothing on ice sounds appealing.

[WaitingList]

But you're a penguin!

[Bela]

that's why I'm abstraining, not abstaining

[qwerty]

I'm going for raised beds this time. We have a problem with rabbits. I remember planting out 4 x12 foot rows of sprouts years ago, and by next morning...they were gone...eaten by the little vermin's! It really is good to feel that 'normal' interests are coming back. I am going to hold onto this gardening thing now and by summer I will be eating my own organic salads, drinking my own organic tea and using my own organic herbs in cooking! Tall order I know, but at least it's better at it's worse, than drinking at it's best! xx

[Bela]

Dreams of gardening seem so distant right now, but it does help to talk about it.
Deer are the problem here , , , I feel sorry for the little buggers, though.

[sue]

Anyone know how easy it is to grow corriander in pots indoors. I use so much of the stuff (I'm a curryholic) and it goes off so quickly in those little packets you buy at the supermarket. I know you can buy the pots but it would be lovely to grow my own.
Sue x

[sue]

Thanks Darcy, I'll give it a go. I used to grow all sorts of things years ago, nothing like fresh veggies straight from the garden. It'll be good to have the lovely fresh smell of herbs filling the room as well.
Sue x

[Kitty]

Hi Sue,
I've had luck with some herbs, sage, rosemary and tyme but never managed to keep the less hardy ones like corriannder, basil and flat leaf parsley alive for long. I had lots os success with basil when I grew it on an enclosed balcony in my old flat years ago but none since. My biggest battle in the garden though is keeping the snails from devouring them.
Bupster seems to know a bit about growing stuff so she may have some more usefull advice.

Kitty XX