It’s summer again (at least here in CA)! And I have lots of household and garden projects to keep me busy. I mean I have a lot of them in my head, but I think I will actually implement only a few. The biggest one I want to focus on is an herb garden!
I recently bought an interesting book on the subject, and I was surprised how many herbs and medicinal plants I already have in my yard!
For instance, blackberry and raspberry! I didn’t know their leaves can be used for making herbal teas.
I also have nasturtium, which seeds by itself year after year. Fresh flowers and leaves can be added to salads.
Another self-seeding plant that I never take care of is calendula. I always had known it’s a medicinal plant, but I didn’t really know what to use it for. I now found out that dried petals can be used as saffron substitute in rice and soups. And petals from fresh flowers can be used for making teas.
Some of the other herbs and medicinal plants that grow in my yard are rosemary, lavender, mint, chives, and sage.
From my last trip to a local nursery, I brought home chamomile, tarragon, thyme, lemon balm, fennel, purple sage, and chocolate mint.
Blackberry blooming
Nasturtiums
Garden Sage. I love making butter sage sauce
Lemon Balm
Chocolate Mint. I haven’t had a chance to try it in a tea yet. But it smells like chocolate, so I hope it will taste like cocoa ;-)
Chives. They are so pretty when blooming
I dream of a beautiful and luscious herb garden. I even cut off some pictures from magazines for inspiration. But with all the summer heat here in California, it won’t be an easy task. So all the advice and gardening tips will be greatly appreciated!
I'm linking to Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage.
I recently bought an interesting book on the subject, and I was surprised how many herbs and medicinal plants I already have in my yard!
For instance, blackberry and raspberry! I didn’t know their leaves can be used for making herbal teas.
I also have nasturtium, which seeds by itself year after year. Fresh flowers and leaves can be added to salads.
Another self-seeding plant that I never take care of is calendula. I always had known it’s a medicinal plant, but I didn’t really know what to use it for. I now found out that dried petals can be used as saffron substitute in rice and soups. And petals from fresh flowers can be used for making teas.
Some of the other herbs and medicinal plants that grow in my yard are rosemary, lavender, mint, chives, and sage.
From my last trip to a local nursery, I brought home chamomile, tarragon, thyme, lemon balm, fennel, purple sage, and chocolate mint.
Blackberry blooming
Nasturtiums
Garden Sage. I love making butter sage sauce
Lemon Balm
Chocolate Mint. I haven’t had a chance to try it in a tea yet. But it smells like chocolate, so I hope it will taste like cocoa ;-)
Chives. They are so pretty when blooming
I dream of a beautiful and luscious herb garden. I even cut off some pictures from magazines for inspiration. But with all the summer heat here in California, it won’t be an easy task. So all the advice and gardening tips will be greatly appreciated!
I'm linking to Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage.
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15 comments:
I didn't know blackberry leaves could be used for tea either. We added a new one to our garden this year. I have most of the other herbs you mentioned except the Nasturtiums. I am unfamiliar with what one would do with them. Your season certainly is ahead of mine. Lovely photos, Olga! :)
Hi Olga! Very informative. As practical as herbs are to grow, I love the look of them growing all together too. Good luck. I hope they all do well for you!
Hello Olga
Good luck with your herb garden, they're always nice to have fresh for tea or savoury dishes.
Chocolate mint is my favourite to grow in a pot and I add it water and ice cubes in the summer. I've had lemon balm but it can be aggressive so I have switched to lemon verbena - both a nice addition to iced tea.
Judith
Helo Olga your herbs look great...my sage is in the ground last year..it's finally growing bigger...and I just bought some chocolate mint ...doesn't it smell wonderful...and I haven't used it yet either..I also just bought me some Lemon Verbena, which I have never used but it smells so nice as well...Good luck with them..thank you for sharing...with Love Janice
Hi Olga,
I love your herbal / tea garden plans, it sounds delicious :-) I grow herbs too, but am lazy about using them, except for my favorites like basil. So I am looking forward to seeing your progress and ideas! The swags of blackberries on your fence look lovely!
Hugs,
Bella
Great pictures Olga. You folks down south are ahead of us in the weather department - I'm anxiously awaiting the sun here in Portland!
Hello, Olga
I have some sage in my garden and will have to look up how to make butter sage sauce. It does sound delicious!
-Karen
Hi Olga,
It sounds like you're going to have a wonderful garden. Chocolate mint-I haven't heard of that- let us know what it's like. We're just prepping here in NY and hope to be planting soon too! Although, my mint has already popped up. Happy gardening!
-Lynn
Happy May Day Olga,
How pretty your garden looks. I know how much you love to cook so I'm sure all the herbs will be well used. I do love the photo of the chives.
Hope the weather stays kind to your garden.
~Shirley
You are lucky to have warm weather in your part of the country--still cool here, but there have been a few warm days to encourage we gardeners! This was an informative post. I have chocolate mint in my garden--it smells like chocolate, but tastes like regular mint, at least has been my experience. It is nice to put a sprig of it in a drink, because you can smell the chocolate aroma a bit.
LOVELY PICS:) I really like your blog and I want to follow, do you have twitter or FB???
If you want some swedish decor inspiration, you can check out my blog:)
Have a great week.
LOVE Maria at inredningsvis.se
(Sweden)
I love using herbs in my cooking. Yours are so pretty. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Great post:) I thank you for sweet words on my blog and come back and visit soon:) In my new post I have some bathroom beauties:)check it out.
Have a awesome weekend.
LOVE Maria at inredningsvis
You have a beautiful garden....being up north well it's starting to warm up here. Some blooms and buds are out but still too cool to plant because at night we have had some freezing temperatures and lots of rain. :-( Can't wait to see your garden as the summer goes by. Irka
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