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Dill Blossoms
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Resolutions for 2017 – Homegrown Hospitatlity
When I was in Romania during the summer of 2002, we spent a week out in the country side of Șăulia, where I was so impressed that the homes grew fruit trees along the road side as a means of showing hospitality to travelers. Over the last few years of gardening, I’ve had a growing desire to make the garden more hospitable. I’ve moved a rosemary bush down to the curb, and grow a patch of sunflowers this summer to…
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Exploration of Dill and Dew
With its feathery leaves, dill is such a lovely herb, especially after a light rainfall or covered in morning dew. I’ve enjoyed watching the changes, the flowers opening and all the bugs that are attracted to it. I’ll continue to grow this collection of dill photographs and look forward to the seed formation that is just around the corner.
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Rogue Oregano – Orogueano?
This week I’ve been finding sprouts of oregano in places I didn’t plant oregano. This is just one more benefit of taking care of the bees. The pruning rule is that once a sprig of oregano is 6″ long, it should be cut back to the ground. This keeps the new growth coming. However, oregano left to grow makes lovely clusters of flowers that the bees seem to love. Last year, I let it grow out, blossom and seed, and…
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Winter Herb Care
It’s been a very warm week in Raleigh, but looking ahead on the weather forecast, there will be a big dip in the evening low at the beginning of next week, almost to freezing. For my garden, I know this means it won’t be long before I bid farewell to the huge, bushy basil plants and some of the more tender perennials in the garden. I will make a final harvest of basil for a batch of pesto and wait…
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Pesto! A simple recipe for the weekend.
I read on a friend’s post that her basil wasn’t quite big enough to make pesto yet. The secret to big basil plants is frequently prune the top leaves, just above the joints where new branches are forming. This opens up those baby leaves to more sunlight, and the plant will bush out before you know it. I used to prune the bottom leaves, which only leads to the plants growing tall and skinny and flowering before a good harvest…
