Time to Plant SEEDS!

It's time to plant your Tomato, Pepper and Eggplant seeds for Spring growing. Especially if you're in the Houston area, take advantage of the great seed selection on-line at theherbcottage.com and at the Industrial Country Market. Or visit with me at the Katy Farmers' Market in La Centerra. I'll be there this week, 12/31 and throughout the winter.

Count back from your last average frost date. Find your Gardening Zone.  Find your  average last frost date

Allow 6-8 weeks for seedlings to gain size and vigor. Start your seeds indoors with plenty of light and warmth. These seeds like at least 70ºF soil temp for good germination. Then, they can stay cooler to grow out into sturdy and healthy seedlings.

 Lots of heirlooms, open-pollinated, NON-GMO SEEDS! Stay tuned for links to a series of videos to help you with Spring growing. The first one will be on sowing seeds! 

 Until later- Happy New Year to You!! 

 

Brrr.... it's cold in Texas!

We had our first hard freeze of the season the other night. It got down to about 27ºF for at least 8 hours. Since I always watch the weather forecast, I knew it was coming and had propane ready for my heaters, frost blanket to cover hardy vegetables in the greenhouse so I didn't have to heat both houses and most the tender plants were already in the greenhouse.

Here are some pictures of the herb beds after the freeze. 

The Mullein - on the left - laughs at the freeze, while the stringy dead looking stems to the right are from the lovely Nasturtiums I had growing. I thought about covering them, but they're so tender and it's only going to get colder. I have lots in the greenhouse, some even with flower buds on them, so I'll enjoy them in there and plant more out in the Spring!

As a contrast, here's a strawberry jar I planted with various varieties of Thyme and a Lemon Verbena in the top. Behind you can see the rosette of a Salad Burnet and in the upper right is a Curry Plant- Helichrysum italicum- all unaffected by the cold.

Another Mullein with the remains of a big Basil plant- inside the circle. I think this one was Cardinal Basil - a Thai type with red stems and nice big green leaves. Ah, well....

Inside this circle, another Basil - an African type - froze, too.

On the other hand, here's a beautiful, healthy Fennel plant that's been growing here about 3 years - also unaffected by the freeze. I have lots of little Fennel plants coming up near it and in the adjacent bed. The red arrow is pointing to a stalk of Licorice- Glycyrrhiza glabra. I have Licorice coming up all over the place. It spreads by underground runners like Mint or Passion Vine. I don't really mind. I kind of like it. And, I can easily dig up a piece to chew on if I like.

Of course, Rosemary is another tough as nails plant unaffected by the freeze, heat, drought, hail, snow, humidity, dogs, deer, and perhaps even tornadoes... although I don't need to find that out for myself! Anyway, yes, Rosemary is hardy summer and winter - in the southern half of the state.

This little grouping has a native white Yarrow in the front. To the upper right of the Yarrow is Hyssop which will bush out by Spring and have lovely dark blue flowers which attract butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. Then, there's a big Garlic Chive cluster in the middle which also seems impervious to the freeze. 

So, there you have a little peek at the Herb Beds at The Herb Cottage after the first major freeze of the season. I've decided to plant Calendula where the Nasturtiums are now. They're cold hardy and will bloom cheery yellow and orange flowers. I'd like to distill some into a hydrosol when I have enough flowers. 

Until Next Time... Good Growing to you and stay warm!

I have posted my November Newsletter on the website. It's all about books for herbies and gardeners.

And.... IT'S RAINING!! YAY!! YIPPEE!! My plants are being watered while I'm sitting inside at the computer. What a deal!

Here are some of the titles I've reviewed:

And there are more! I hope you enjoy the Newsletter...

I'd love to hear about your favorite books for herbs and herb gardening.

Until Next time.... Good Growing to you,

Autumn in Texas

A norther- that's a cold front... - blew in this morning around 4 a.m. The wind is strong and the temperatures dipped into the 50's. It's quite chilly outside. It's not cold enough for the plants to suffer, and I believe they're enjoying the cool temperatures. 

We've had a little rain in the last several weeks, and the place has really greened up. Compare the photos in this issue with the ones from a month ago. What a difference!

Green Grass!!

Even the pasture greened up!

Since the weather has cooled off, I've been refurbishing and replanting my herb beds. So far I've added Salad Burnet, Winter Savory, Lavender, Nasturtiums, Bronze Fennel, Mexican Mint Marigold, Cilantro, Parsley, Sorrel, Butterfly Weed and White Yarrow... I think that's it. Oh, and I seeded some Dill.

Newly planted herb bed.

A new-to-me herb I planted is Moujean Tea, Nashia inaguensis, a lovely, fragrant shrubby herb with tiny shiny green leaves that is native to the east Caribbean islands, in particular the island of Inagua in the Bahamas, after which the species is named. The fragrance has been described as a mix of pineapple, citrus and vanilla. It is hardy to Zone 9a, so I'll have to protect the one I planted in the ground when temps dip into the 20's. The plant, also does not like to dry out, so I've been keeping it nicely watered. It's not very big yet, but it's supposed to grow to at least 3 feet or more.

Nashia inaguensis- tiny, but strong!

To make tea from this herb, since the leaves are rather tough, the fresh leaves need to be steeped longer than most herbs- about 15 minutes. It dried well and is best then pulverized or ground for tea.

Fall is a great time to plant herbs if you're in an area with moderate Winter temps. Even with the lack of rain in our area, everything I planted the last several weeks is looking good. Of course, I am watering almost daily until the small plants are established. The, during the Winter, once or twice a week should do it. These plants are in the ground, of course, so any containerized herbs need to be watered more often and given more protection on very cold nights since the roots in a container are not as well protected as ones in the ground.

Until Next Time,

Good Growing to you...

Now, I know it's Fall. Not only are the mornings cool, days shorter (I have to put the chickens up earlier in the evening...), the cat is sleeping on the bed instead of outdoors all night, and.... the Schoolhouse Lilies are blooming!! These lilies are found all over Texas, not only in gardens, but in abandoned homesteads, school houses and cemeteries.

In the Fall, they shoot up "naked" stalks and open up their dark red, "ox-blood" color flowers. Another name for these is Ox-blood Lilies. They are so hardy and reliable. In beds that have had no supplemental water in my landscape, they have come up and started blooming in the last couple of days. Of course, we did have 0.8" of rain the other day, which, I suspect, sparked them to bloom.

Here's hoping for more rain this fall. I've been seeding lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower for fall/winter crops. Ever the optimist!!

Till next time... 

Urban Landscaping Guide

For those of us in Texas living with drought, here's an excellent guide from Texas A&M on Urban Landscaping solutions. There is a section for Home Gardening, Landscapers and Nursery Professionals. All the information is free and easy to comprehend. 

Urban Landscape Guide

For the record... we had a brief, and I mean brief, shower yesterday. Then, rain all around us later in the evening with not one drop here on the farm. Very disappointing.

Here are a couple of pics from our front porch--

Facing East. You can see the little rosemary bush in the planter... and the lump in the center of the photo is cat, Amity. She's almost the same color as the dry grass now.

Facing South... just so desolate looking.

In the almost 25 years we've lived on this farm, we've never seen it this dry. This, too, shall pass... the question is, when?

Some Rain

IT RAINED! I can hardly believe it! Yes... only about 0.18 inches so far, but it's cloudy, dark and very humid this morning, so I believe we will get more rain today.

Even though it's been dry, the days are shorter and a little cooler than August. The plants can tell the Autumnal Equinox is near. Plants that have refused to bloom during the searing summer temps are putting on buds. 

Clerodendron 'Musical Notes'

Clerodendron 'Musical Notes'- This plant usually blooms off and on all Summer with bright white flowers which resemble musical notes... hence the name.

New leaves are showing up on stressed basil plants 

Basil, showing new growth

Stressed out Comfrey with new growth showing in the leaf litter

and even my comfrey which is a mere shadow of its Spring Time self is perking up.

With a little more rain, who knows, maybe the Passion Vine and Queen's Wreath on my fence line will perk up. It's been a very long and hot summer here in Texas, but as with all things, this, too, will change.

Until Next Time,