The sage plants are several years old and have grown too big for the planting trough. I am gradually cutting it back, plucking and drying the leaves. I’m not sure how I’ll get the roots out, by I can ask a real gardener that. As I dry the sage in the dehydrator my apartment smells wonderful I’m going to have WAY more than I need. I’ll have to figure out what to do with it all. Anyone want some sage, lol?
I’m just about ready to begin plucking leaves from the basil. I have a recipes for sundried tomatoo-basil bread I’ll use some in, and am looking for a good tomato sause for spaghetti that uses basil.
I used to have access to more fresh herbs, when the cafe I worked in, at the library, had space for an herb garden. We’d have rosemarry, oregano, thyme, tarragon, and many others, besides sage and basil/
I don’t know if there is a trick. Originally I got small plants and they grew well. Last year I let a couple go to seed and collected it. In the late fall I sewed the seeds and let them “hibernate”. I wanted to see if plants would come up on their own, and they did.
Basil loves full sun and hates wet feet. Water it regularly but sparingly and give it as much sun as you can. The plants will go crazy if you can keep the pests off them.
I grow lots of herbs. Love 'em. Several different varieties of sage, thyme and oregano are always at hand. I use them as decorative plantings in my flower beds. Dill self-sows in the garden as does cilantro and Italian parsley. I keep basil in several pots.
The only herb I can’t seem to get going despite many attempts is rosemary. I’m just at the line of elevation where rosemary flips me off every winter despite special care. Fortunately, I know every stray rosemary plant in town and poach with a light hand as needed. Same with bay leaves.
I kept chives for years but it finally died out and I haven’t bothered to replant. I really should.
Got one of those indoor hydroponic dealy bobs. plop some pods in and there’s a grow light. works great, too great, don’t know what do with some of it sometimes. there’s a variety of pods to buy.
Every year I grow a bunch of stuff. My current (outdoor) garden has:
(From last year):
Sage
Thyme
Lovage
Chinese Chives
Mint
Dill
From this year (annuals in my climate):
Rosemary
Basil (only Italian this year – I had a late start on my garden because of Covid; typically I have cinnamon and Thai basil varieties growing as my primary ones.)
I typically also have some tarragon, chervil, oregano, summer savory, and sometimes parsley and cilantro growing (though I don’t usually grow the last two, since they’re practically free at the grocery store). Last year I also had some hoja santa going as well.
I literally do nothing every year beyond planting them. Oh, I will snip the basil and sage when they bolt/flower to get more leaf production, and I try to use the basil regularly to encourage new growth, but I don’t fertilize, I don’t water, I just let nature take its course, and it works fine for me. I end up with way more herbs than I could possibly use every year. Most of this stuff is nigh impossible to kill.
A bunch this year–four or five varieties of basil. pineapple sage, Vietnamese coriander, dill, and this freaking adorable fuzzy Cuban oregano, looks like this:
Stuff clones like a dream, too, a bit broke off so I stuck it into a little bit of water with cloning solution in it and it boomed with roots in no time.
I always have sage and oregano growing all over the yard, one of my sage plants I started along with a tiny rosemary over 20 years and two houses ago from 2" pots. The rosemary is about 10 feet square now and the trunk is about six inches in diameter. Next time I move it’s gonna take a backhoe to move that sucker! I love it to pieces, it flowers really early and gives all the bees a wonderful buffet when nothing else is up. Gorgeous plant, love it. I trim it back with a chainsaw.
Yes, but for the pollinators, not myself. I let the swallowtail caterpillars munch the dill and parsley and let the strawberry mint and basil flower. Next year I’m going to try Thai basil, because it’s gorgeous in flower.
I don’t cook, so I just need a few mint leaves for my iced tea and I’m happy to let them have the rest.
Indoors, via AeroGarden: more basil, chives, sage (waaay more than we can use), dill. The small AeroGarden has slots for 6 different pods; it is very handy.
I only have indoor space this year, so all I’ve got going is Holy Basil, lemongrass and some feeble perilla.
Usually I have rosemary, thyme, assorted mints, chives, garlic chives and all sorts of things, but I had to leave 'em. I have one of those little hydroponic systems, but it’s currently swamped by a ‘dwarf’ tomato, which is hogging all the light.
I don’t know what happened to my mint this year. It always comes back, but not this year. I too used it mostly for tea, although I did use crushed leaves and vodka, to make a mint flavor liquid, with no color.
We’ve got some herbs in the side bed, but with our new fences, they don’t quite get the sunlight they need. We’ve got some relatively healthy dill, sage, thyme, and basil there, along with some wretched parsley. We also have a couple of potted mint plants (Spearmint & cuban mint), and a pretty good looking rosemary plant on the other side of the yard.
Since basil is in the mint family, we naturally assume it is a water lover. Turns out not really.
I let the swallowtail caterpillars munch the dill and parsley and let the strawberry mint and basil flower. Next year I’m going to try Thai basil, because it’s gorgeous in flower.