This is what I see outside my bedroom window when I get up in the morning. When I pull back the curtains, I’m greeted with this glorious site. And though you can’t see it just a few few beyond the creamy hollyhocks is my herb garden. I’ve been busy cultivating and altering my main flower bed to incorporate a small herbal/kitchen garden. I have been working on it for several years. I still do not have it the way I want it, but that’s what a I love. A challenge is right up my alley!
I have a bunch of dill that reseeds itself every year. So much so, that I thin out a bunch of it every year. I dry some of it, use some of it in salads, and some my kids just eat straight out of the garden as I’m thinning.
This winter when I was looking through my seed catalogues I came across this beautiful pole bean. I have never grown pole beans, but I knew this would be a great addition to my kitchen garden. Once I got started I even purchased filet beans to climb up my corn in my main garden. There’s just something fun about trying something new each year. It’s a game, an adventure, a joy to watch something new growing and then what a pleasure to get to eat it, too!
I also planted borage and chamomile in my herb garden this year. The borage is good for improving the growth of the plants around it, so of course I plopped it in several different place in among my herbs. Plus, it has beautiful, blue, star shaped flowers. The chamomile I am growing so that I can harvest the flowers for tea and tincture.
I have been busy studying up on natural remedies lately. Joel experienced a job change several months ago and that has spurred me on to find alternative means of keeping my family healthy. I was surprised to find that several of the plants that are widely used I have growing all around me.
One of them is yarrow. I have yarrow in my flower gardens and it grows wild in my dad’s fields that surround my house. A walk back the field, a week ago, brought me to one of my favorite spots. A small grassy field with a broken down barbed wire fence and an old apple tree. It sits behind what used to be my grandma’s house. To my complete joy it was full of yarrow. I clipped to my hearts content and I now have a pint jar full of dried leaves and blooms.
I’ve also been collecting red clover. About every other day I clip the abundant blooms. At first I was harvesting from a small patch on the edge of our yard, but when I was black raspberry picking last week along the fence row, I saw patches and patches of it. I have hit a boon! I have a quart and a half dried already and I am continuing on. I have found that a tea made from them blooms if alleviating my youngest sons allergies. He was having to take allergy medication daily, but now he drinks a chamomile/red clover tea and is getting relief. I’m thanking our wonderful Creator for giving us plants right out my front door that improve our health!
With all that I have been reading on natural remedies, I figured I needed a good place to keep all the information and knowledge. I began pinning them to pinterest, but there have been too many times when our internet has gone out. I wanted something right at my fingertips that didn’t require technology. So, I am in the process of making an herbal. An herbal is a “book”, or 3-ring binder in my case, that holds canning and freezing recipes, herbal remedies, natural cleaning tips, herb profiles, gardening information, and any other tip or information about the home that you find handy.
It’s been a busy, but very productive summer so far. My garden is beginning to produce more and more. The peas, lettuce and kale are almost done, but the beans, peppers, and cucumbers and starting to pick up. I’m looking forward to filling up my shelves and freezer!
