Make Your Garden Yours
MAKE YOUR GARDEN YOURS
It's the middle of winter now and our garden, those wonderful tomatoes, tender lettuce and sweet corn are just fond memories. But just wait until next summer. They'll be bigger and better than ever. Right?
Even though it's raining and stormy, it's not too early to plan next years garden.
I want to plant a pine tree with all the pine nuts for the birds and needles for tea. I want an apple tree, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, corn, potatoes, watermelons and all the herbs I can find. Fennel, garlic, chives, rosemary, parsley, onion and mint. And mushrooms. My son and I go mushroom picking every summer and fall. Why not grow some in a shady part of my yard?
And now reality sets in. I don't have room for all of this. It's time to get serious and practical.
Step 1. Order your catalogs in December and January.
Step 2. Make a list of everything you want. Don't skimp. You can always cross some of them off later if you change your mind. Remember, It's your garden. Make sure it reflects you.
Step 3. Check your yard. See how much room you actually have.
Step 4. Plan where you will put things. Draw a diagram on paper showing where everything will go. At this point you may need to mark some things off your list and add others.
Step 5. Order your plants in early spring.
Step 6. As soon as the danger of frost is past, start planting. Use your diagram as a guide. Remember, this is your garden so you can change your mind if you want.
You can mix herbs with your flowers or flowers with your vegetables. You can have tomatoes in the flower garden. Use lettuce as a border. Use your imagination.
Flowers can be edible, too. Maybe you could mix the edible ones with your vegetables.
For instance:
A. Calendula, named this year's herb of the year by The International Herb Association, has bright yellow and orange flowers that make a bright spot in any setting. The petals have a light, peppery taste and add great taste and color to any salad.
B. Violets have dainty blue-violet flowers and grow well under trees. They have a very delicate flavor and can be used in salads and deserts. Decorate a dish of ice cream or bread pudding.
C. Roses. Plant the old fashioned variety. They have fabulous fragrance and color. Make sure they haven't been treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers that go right up the stalk and into the roses. Use them in salads, desserts, teas and jellies.
Try this rose-cucumber sandwich. You will need:
Fresh white bread
Fresh, very fragrant rose petals from 2 or 3 roses
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
3 or 4 leaves of red leaf lettuce
Juice from 1 lemon
Soft butter
In a small bowl, pour the lemon juice over the sliced cucumber and set aside for a few minutes while you butter the bread.
Put a layer of cucumbers on the buttered bread, then a layer of rose petals. Top with lettuce and another slice of buttered bread.
For an elegant touch, cut the crusts from the bread. Cut the completed sandwich into tiny triangles and serve on a pretty tray.
Don't forget to decorate your garden and make it yours. Do you like birds? Hang some birdhouses or feeders. An old lady I know drizzles honey over pine cones. Then, she presses seeds into the honey and hangs the finished pine cone in a tree. The birds love it.
Do you like bells, music, things that tinkle? Hang some wind chimes.
Try some strategically placed stepping stones to help you get around in the garden.
However you do it, make your garden yours, reflecting your tastes and personality. It should be your special place, showing people who you are and what you're all about.
Visit our Online Store at www.healthyherbalplants.com/onlinestore.php to view birdhouses and feeders and other garden decorations.
It's the middle of winter now and our garden, those wonderful tomatoes, tender lettuce and sweet corn are just fond memories. But just wait until next summer. They'll be bigger and better than ever. Right?
Even though it's raining and stormy, it's not too early to plan next years garden.
I want to plant a pine tree with all the pine nuts for the birds and needles for tea. I want an apple tree, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, corn, potatoes, watermelons and all the herbs I can find. Fennel, garlic, chives, rosemary, parsley, onion and mint. And mushrooms. My son and I go mushroom picking every summer and fall. Why not grow some in a shady part of my yard?
And now reality sets in. I don't have room for all of this. It's time to get serious and practical.
Step 1. Order your catalogs in December and January.
Step 2. Make a list of everything you want. Don't skimp. You can always cross some of them off later if you change your mind. Remember, It's your garden. Make sure it reflects you.
Step 3. Check your yard. See how much room you actually have.
Step 4. Plan where you will put things. Draw a diagram on paper showing where everything will go. At this point you may need to mark some things off your list and add others.
Step 5. Order your plants in early spring.
Step 6. As soon as the danger of frost is past, start planting. Use your diagram as a guide. Remember, this is your garden so you can change your mind if you want.
You can mix herbs with your flowers or flowers with your vegetables. You can have tomatoes in the flower garden. Use lettuce as a border. Use your imagination.
Flowers can be edible, too. Maybe you could mix the edible ones with your vegetables.
For instance:
A. Calendula, named this year's herb of the year by The International Herb Association, has bright yellow and orange flowers that make a bright spot in any setting. The petals have a light, peppery taste and add great taste and color to any salad.
B. Violets have dainty blue-violet flowers and grow well under trees. They have a very delicate flavor and can be used in salads and deserts. Decorate a dish of ice cream or bread pudding.
C. Roses. Plant the old fashioned variety. They have fabulous fragrance and color. Make sure they haven't been treated with pesticides or chemical fertilizers that go right up the stalk and into the roses. Use them in salads, desserts, teas and jellies.
Try this rose-cucumber sandwich. You will need:
Fresh white bread
Fresh, very fragrant rose petals from 2 or 3 roses
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
3 or 4 leaves of red leaf lettuce
Juice from 1 lemon
Soft butter
In a small bowl, pour the lemon juice over the sliced cucumber and set aside for a few minutes while you butter the bread.
Put a layer of cucumbers on the buttered bread, then a layer of rose petals. Top with lettuce and another slice of buttered bread.
For an elegant touch, cut the crusts from the bread. Cut the completed sandwich into tiny triangles and serve on a pretty tray.
Don't forget to decorate your garden and make it yours. Do you like birds? Hang some birdhouses or feeders. An old lady I know drizzles honey over pine cones. Then, she presses seeds into the honey and hangs the finished pine cone in a tree. The birds love it.
Do you like bells, music, things that tinkle? Hang some wind chimes.
Try some strategically placed stepping stones to help you get around in the garden.
However you do it, make your garden yours, reflecting your tastes and personality. It should be your special place, showing people who you are and what you're all about.
Visit our Online Store at www.healthyherbalplants.com/onlinestore.php to view birdhouses and feeders and other garden decorations.
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