I never thought this would happen. I thought I would be blogging forever. First and foremost I want to give my thanks and love to the amazing Herbal Husband. He instead of building a tennis court at our house almost 30 years ago, got me into gardening.  And by the way, he reminded me today that I was into needlework before the herb bug struck!  He has always been the hands on gardener. I just followed along, read a lot and became a master gardener. As the years have gone by, the herb garden has gotten further away from how I envisioned it. I seemed to be traveling when it need ..read more

Parsley Dill Soup! It is just freezing here in the 'Burgh!  Yes, I know it is January, but it is exceptionally cold at the moment.  We are about to get a break over the weekend and it will feel like the tropics at 30 degrees!  One of my resolutions this year is to make more homemade soup and not rely on canned ones.  Soo with that in mind, here is one of our favorites, Parsley Dill Soup recipe.  It is a bit darker than other recipes because I used vegetable broth rather than chicken.  The Herbal Husband likes the chicken broth in it better.  I did th ..read more

January--A Cold and Snowy Selfie! February--Sun and Snow! March--A Symposium with the Western Reserve Unit of The Herb Society of America! April--The Peppermint Scented Geranium Blooming in the Garage! May--The Apricot-Pink Digitalis! June--The Apothecary's Rose July--Must be Time for Bee Balm! August--Finally Got The Prairie Garden Finished! September--The Herb Garden at the Geffrye, London, England! October--Pineapple Sage in Full Bloom! November--Spearmint Survives it All Until Snow Comes ..read more

What An Herbal Mess! My work space is even more jammed than normal.  What you see on the table may or may not be used.  The Herbal Husband cut down even the brown bits and it remains to be smelled and decided about their fate!  I have no excuses for not getting this done.  Oh, maybe one.  I have been stitching! One of my faithful readers, Faith asked a few weeks ago how I dry my herbs and how do I use them.  Faith, depending on how much time I have, I either hang them or layer them in paper toweling.  You can dry them in a very slow oven or in the m ..read more

Mini Cross Stitch Ornaments on Our Tree! So here we are in the holiday season.  I haven't been very vocal.  Hopefully in 2018 you will hear more from me.  I have some questions to answer and trips to finish and a new Herb of the Year, hops!  And I didn't even discuss the 2017 Herb of the Year yet. So I am just going to pop up and blog when I get inspired.  We may have a white Christmas.  Hope so.  I will try to keep my blog header photo current.  So take care.  I will talk to you later ..read more

The Trusty Dusty Cheese Basket and The Herbal Husband! Yes, he is back in the northern hemisphere!  He had a great time with family and friends and now it's back to business, herbally speaking.  The old cheese basket is ready with the potential winning names.  I still don't have a list of items that will go into the box.  So you will get jam and jelly as pictured in my last post and whatever we can fit in that large flat rate box.  You will be happy!  Oh,  almost forgot, the winner's name is: LEE I have reached out to the winner.  And I heard ..read more

We are at that time of year already!  Didn't the year fly by?  Since I did not do a blogiversary giveaway in August, it was my ninth year, we will blow the doors off with this herbal holiday giveaway.  My herbal packer a/k/a The Herbal Husband is away at the moment, but on his return next week, I will have more specific contents.  It is a Large Flat Rate box.  You can put a lot in this box.  Here is what I know for sure. You will get one each of my raspberry jam and four other jellies to include, tarragon wine and rose geranium from last year and lemon verbena an ..read more

What a Surprise When I Was Watering Today! In all my years of growing this herb, I don't think I have ever had this herb bloom.  I love this herb, Cuban oregano (Plectranthus amboinicus) which is not actually an oregano at all.  It has a bunch of common names:  Mexican Mint, Indian Borage, Caribbean Oregano, Country Borage, French Thyme, Indian Mint, Soup Mint, Spanish Thyme and Cuban Oregano.  It is so important to know your botanical name.  Common names are different in different areas of the world as you can see above.     It is very easy to ..read more

A Tiny Bit of Green in A Lot of Brown! Wow!  Where has November gone?  I certainly didn't have a lot to say, did I?  And now The Herbal Husband has gone to visit family and friends in Peru!  I guess that is the good news and bad news.  I know I take for granted what he does for me around here each and every day!  I am exhausted chasing those darn squirrels away from the peanut caddy!! I was out on the street brooming the leaves from our neighbor's giant oak tree into the front beds.  It is a wild and crazy thing.  The spearmint is surviving in ..read more

The weather is getting cooler here finally.   Sunday when we were working in the garden, the smell of coconut was overwhelming.  So I was reminded how much I love coconut scented geranium (Pelargonium grossularioides).  In the Jim Becker & Faye Brawner book, Scented Geraniums, the description of 'Coconut' says "The leaves of this species are small, round, and deep green.  It forms a low-growing mound of foliage with long sprays of very small magenta flowers.  It has a pleasant scent, though not necessarily that of coconut, and self-seeds freely." Coconut does self ..read more