Herbal Pleasures

I had decided that it was time to once again harvest some of my herbs. As fall is rapidly approaching, I need to get to work on laying aside a supply for the winter months. And do remember that it is best to harvest the herbs on a dry morning so that the essential oils are at their strongest. It is also important that the herbs be dry to prevent the growth of mold. Cut herbs should be dried in an airy place that does not receive direct sunlight.

Here are a couple of my herb pots. On the left is the remains of my flat-leaf (Italian) parsley. The plant is already started to recover from the visit of the black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. See, I told you they would be gone soon. Do you like the petunia that self-seeded there?

On the right is a pot of thyme, chives and oregano. This is the third season for the thyme and the chives. Hopefully, the oregano will overwinter also.

My rosemary plant is beginning to flower. This pot will come inside this winter as rosemary does not overwinter well in our area.

The pot on the left holds a Roma tomato plant and two basil plants. Tomato and basil plants are good planting partners as they can keep some diseases and pests away from their partners. The pot on the right holds a bell pepper plant, a serrano chili plant and a 'Bush Goliath' tomato plant.

Not shown are a pot containing sage and a bay plant and a pot containing basil, flat-leaf parsley and a serrano chili.

As you might have guessed from the pictures, all of these pots are on my back deck. The deck faces south and has easy access to my kitchen. Now, I don't garden in pots due to a lack of space given that we live on an acre of land. Rather, I chose to garden this way because I can easily water and harvest the plants. Since we live on a southern slope, with thin soil over limestone, water is a major issue with gardening here. Let's just put it this way: Southern Indiana is not known for farming.

You might also recall that I had earlier promised myself that I was going to make or buy a rack for my herbs. This is much nicer than my former system. While this rack is still in my laundry room, it is up and out of the way and out of any direct sunlight. For less than $20 I was able to purchase this coat rack and the "S" hooks. And I must say that it works wonderfully.

Do you like the herbs that I harvested today? If you are interested, from the left we have sweet basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage.