Herbs, Growing and Collecting

Herb pots on my patio.

I really love the smell of herds growing. When you pass by they whisper wonderful scents in the breeze and if you brush by them their scents often linger with you on the place that they directly came into contact with. I love the looks of herbs growing, some lacy and others woody and straight. And far from least I love to be able to cook or use in sachets herbs I have actually grown and enjoyed.

Herbs enjoying a sunny morning.

There have been times they were in my garden proper and I have had them in large pots by my front door. Loved them there! They have enjoyed a place in the sun by the brick wall at he drive too.......but best of all I have loved them in big pots on my patio. 

I love red begonias and our fish pond too.  The pump was from my parents home.

They do well on the patio here because they want to burn up in the hot sun here in southern Indiana, but on the shaded patio I can move them about easily to sun or shade and still enjoy them as companions as we sit or eat or just nap. 

Some of these herbs wintered over last year and came up again in the spring along with lettuce that shared the pot. We had the lettuce this week in a luscious salad with homemade dressing using the herbs from these very pots too!!

The varieties i have in the largest pot are chives, French thyme, two varieties of basil, and dill. The short pot contains French tarragon, chamomile, and German thyme. The middle size pot has two varieties of rosemary. I wish I had some parsley and will buy some if I see any that looks decent.

The Aloe plants came from my parents home in Florida.

I also have quite an aloe collection which I use for all sorts of things. Topically on skin abrasions and I have been known to put stalks through the juice extractor when I felt I needed it's help!!

The last thoughts I have on this subject is what to do with herbs when winter rolls around. I have in the past dried them by gently tieing their stems and letting them hang upside down. I think a dehydrator is not a gentle way to go about it. I have also left them out and some do winter over. There have also been years that I have just brought them inside and left them by the patio door and they lasted through the winter and I had use of they but they did get a bit spindly.

This year I invested in a new grow light and installed it by the patio door so I am planning to bring them in again and hope they will flourish.