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Sue
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 Posted -
31/03/2007
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17:34
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I have just spent the last 3 full days digging out a formal herb garden, laid out in a French style symmetry.( hence the bad wrist). Now I need to plant things quickly before all those weeds come back
I already have rosemary, thyme, chives, mint, lemon balm, marjoram, and lavender(multiple plants of each). Has any one any ideas about othe perenial herbs that can with stand long periods with very little attention. The soil is well drained and very fertile. I have 8 symmetrical patches in all. Two are already filled. This year I am putting potatoes in another two of them , but I need some ideas for a long term permanent herb plot. I did think I would do one patch with annuals and biennials like parsley and basil.
Sue
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 12/07/2010 : 04:46
First time anyone has accused me of being a yuppy. Don't knock it, try it, you never know, you might like it.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk  |
moh
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Posted - 12/07/2010 : 09:18
Sounds a bit too sweet for my taste, but will try it.
Say only a little but say it well |
tripps
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Posted - 12/07/2010 : 13:03
"Don't knock it, try it"
Sorry I don' t do honey. Just don't like the taste. Also never quite sure which end of the bee it comes from.
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 12/07/2010 : 17:43
Moh, you can adjust the sweetness by varying the proportion of honey to vinegar. If you aren't too keen on sweetness use twice as much vinegar as honey. It's the vinegar that keeps the mint.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Tizer
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Posted - 12/07/2010 : 19:44
Tripps, the honey is regurgitated, therefore it's from the front end. Did you know that Osama Bin Laden has a big honey company? So watch out where you get your honey from, it might be booby-trapped.
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Sue
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Posted - 13/07/2010 : 17:38
We are in France at the moment . Quite a drought here, with a brown lawn that has hardly grown since we cut it 3 weeks ago . Would you believe EVEN the mint has hardly grown either. Fennel, chicory, and curry plants are thriving however.
As for my veggies and fruit we have an abundance of butter beans, ( french name but not like our butter beans) raspberries, ( strawberries now over). gooseberries potatoes, spinach and courgettes or should I say mini marrows. these are self seeded from courgettes that rotted on the plant at the beginning of winter . Our neighbours eat the produce whilst we are not here , and say they have had loads of courgettes and red fruits. Oh yes even my tomatoes , unattended and outdoors are covered in fruit the size of golf balls.
I think you call this organic gardening ! Plant it and leave it
The fruit trees are heavy with fruit but the birds have manged to strip two trees of cherries completely whilst we were back home.
I have just picked our first ever fig
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 14/07/2010 : 04:44
We had rain last night Sue, everything growing well.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
moh
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Posted - 14/07/2010 : 08:43
Sounds great Sue - doe you pickle some of your veg, or fruit for winter?
Say only a little but say it well |
Sue
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Posted - 14/07/2010 : 08:53
I pickle red cabbage when i grow it , and convert all our surplus fruit to jam. I think I am going to look up how to preserve in other ways, especially plums and peaches. We can't freeze as the electricity supply often goes off when we are away , usually due to thunderstorms. Afterwards ours doesn't come back on . Thus we have to leave the freezer empty. We have a cold store for root vegetables , marrows and apples. The rest we give away to the neighbours, invite then to pick when we aren't here. That way we get the house monitored frequently, and we get a lot of goodwill. My pleasure is growing stuff that we can eat and we tend to be self sufficient on our stocks up until about February
Sue
If you keep searching you'll find it |
wendyf
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Posted - 14/07/2010 : 09:04
Your garden sounds wonderful Sue, but I'm sure it doesn't happen without a lot of hard work.
Potatoes & onions & leeks do well up here in my tiny sheltered veggie patch (ooh and strawberries this year) but anything else seems to be a battle against the elements!
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 14/07/2010 : 17:02
The reason I like me herbs is because all I have to do is weeding and cat muck collecting. (I hate it....)
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Sue
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Posted - 14/07/2010 : 17:25
I only plant what I can leave to grow and produce by itself as we only come about once every 7 weeks. The beans , chard and the tomatoes I plant in holes in weed resistant permeable fabric . The rhubarb has been planted the same way but with ,lots of compost beneath and grass cuttings on top to help keep in the mpoisture. The carrots beetroot and turnips I plant in rows slit in the fabric...thus NO WEEDING!
The potatoes are planted densely , I bank them up but don't weed until I dig them out . The onions are the same , but it has been so dry no weeds have grown since our last visit. The asparagus is in a bed I prepared last year, I grew the plants from seed, and planted them out in heaped rows separated by permable bedding fabric
Only the spinach is in a prepared bed. This is doing well and I hope to crop some spears next spring
Each year after harvesting I pull up the permeble stuff, which has mainly rotted by then . Dig over the soil , add compost and recover straight away so no weeds manage to get a hold. I may not plant out again until further visits. I then plant similar crops but in different places. I may try some corn next year. I have done nothing on the veggie plot this time except EAT!
I put the leeks in in late August , they are growing in pots at home at the moment.
The strawberry patch is below thje grapevine on a south facing side of the barn
We have a formal orchard which was neglected for some years before we came. The trees really need severe pruning, as they are too big. Branches interefere with each other and I can't reach the fruit very easily . I think we will pollard the trees and forfeit some fruoit for a couple of years.
If you keep searching you'll find it |
moh
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Posted - 15/07/2010 : 09:19
You can buy things for keeping cats out of gardens.
Say only a little but say it well |
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart
36804 Posts
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Posted - 15/07/2010 : 17:44
Funny you should mention that Moh. I was thinking of doing what I did a long time ago. Sink a bottle up to its neck in the soil and put some ammonia in it. It worked for me before, cats hate it. In Australia they use clear bottles full of water to keep cats and dogs off gardens. Can't think how it works but lots of people do it.
Stanley Challenger Graham
Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk |
Sue
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Posted - 15/07/2010 : 18:26
Of course we have a cat , but we do try and control where she goes. We find zoflora disinfectant is a good deterrent, we just dilute it and spray the places we don't want her to'go' if you know what I mean!!!
If you keep searching you'll find it |
Herb garden, any ideas the gardeners amongst you
