Herbs in the Home and Garden

SPRRRRRRRRING!!!

Do you know how much I've been waiting for Spring? It has been a very cold Winter in Virginia for this Florida girl. While I've loved the snow, I've hated the gray. Gray. Gray. Gray. My, that word even looks ugly the more you write it.

But the grey is on its way out, giving way to the beauty that is Virginia Spring. Oh my! The trees are all blooming and the daffodils are popping up everywhere. I can't get enough of them. My phone has about 50 pictures of roadside blooms. All this beauty has inspired me to do something I've always wanted to do, grow an herb and vegetable garden. Thanks to a very talented friend, the vegetable garden is well on its way.

For now, let me show you my new beautiful herbs. These babies sit on the sill of our bay window by our kitchen table.

From left to right, we have Peppermint, Pineapple Sage, Lavender Hidcote, and Curled Parsley. We're very excited to brew our own herbal tea with the Peppermint. Plus it just smells so nice. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Pineapple Sage, for now I just love to smell it. It has the most sweet pineapple scent. The lavender will get used in potpourris and the curled parsley will get used in just about everything.

My kitchen window makes me smile every time I walk up to the sink. The little herbs are just so cheery to me, and their scent is wonderful. From the left, I have Italian Oregano, Lemon Thyme, standard Thyme, and Spice Island Rosemary.

This is Lemon Thyme. I bought this in Colonial Williamsburg at their old garden (what a treat!). The leaves are slightly variegated and the plant has the cleanest lemon scent. I love how it looks in this yellow pot.

This is Spice Island Rosemary. It's supposed to have a bolder flavor and scent than standard rosemary, but I don't know about that yet, I just bought it because it was pretty. It's also one of my favorites.

There are also herbs outside. From the left I have Garlic Chives, "Hillary's Sweet Lemon" Mint, Tuscan Blue Rosemary, Sage Berggarten, and standard Chives.

Growing herbs is about as easy as growing any kind of garden weed (I'm sure we've all grown plenty of those). These need soil, sun, and water. If you want to really treat them nice, give them a little fertilizer. I've chosen to plant the majority of mine is containers so that I can move them in and out at my pleasing. I'll be planting Sweet Basil and Chamomile in the garden.

Having these herbs around has really been a joy. I hope you give it a try. You can find tons of varieties at your local nursery (the big home centers will have your basics) and will have so much fun collecting your favorites.

Happy Spring!!