Monday, September 9, 2013

T stands for AugusT and SepTember in the garden



Do you remember way back on July 29, when we were celebrating T #3?  I promised to update you when the harvest was ready.  After an internet search, I realized the Chamomile has to get little white flowers before it can be cut.  And, the flowers are the ONLY thing you use for tea.

Not too long after that, I took another look at the herb garden in hopes of seeing those little white flowers materialize.

You can see the Chamomile on the far right has still not produced any flowers.  This photo was taken mid-August right after the rains we had for more than four straight weeks subsided.

That very day I managed a decent crop of Mexican sage, basil, cilantro, and dill.

This would definitely be enough herbs for my August needs.

One final view before I dried them, or used them fresh in eggs, pastas, and such.

Last year I had tomato plants much taller than I.  But they were planted in the ground, not in pots.  Unfortunately, I got NO tomatoes because of the extreme heat and drought.  Imagine my surprise at the volunteers that came up in this pot.

Another volunteer that came up from who knows where is this plant.

I had no idea where this came from or what it was that grew out of the pot my dill was in.

Fast forward to last Saturday, and this is the state of my current herb garden.

Once more there are still no little Chamomile flowers for me to harvest.  The pot is in the lower right of the photo being hidden by tomato vines.

However, there are now a few tomatoes.  Note also the rosemary is dead.  I was really unhappy with the herbs I got at Herb Day this year. 

Of the eight plants I purchased, only the lemon grass (those tall thin leaves in the very back), the Mexican sage, and the blackberry plant lived. Not a good average.

Also note the cilantro has turned to seed, which we in the US now call coriander.  The dill (in the pot behind the basil) has been stripped by those little green and yellow caterpillars that turn into black swallowtail butterflies once they have consumed the dill.

However, I've also gotten more volunteers over the past few weeks, since the rains stopped.  The one in the back had little lavender flowers on it a few days ago.  Wish I'd thought to take a photo.  The one in front has leaves so chewed up, I wouldn't even guess what it is.  Looking at my legend, I see the fennel has also been eaten by those "adorable" caterpillars, too.

When I looked at my diagram I made when I planted the spring garden, the legend shows these should be cumin in front and anise behind it.  Obviously, that is not the case.


If you have any idea what this plant is, please let me know.  And the blackberry vine has really taken off this summer.  The experts say three years before I get fruit, so I may need to figure a way to string them up.

Now that this plant is a bit more developed, from photos I found on the internet, I have theorized it is either pokeberry or elderberry.  I couldn't decide which. 

Here's another view that might help in case you know what this is.  Again, please ignore the dill that is still growing in this pot.

What's on your mind for T today?  Obviously, you don't have to take the photos on Tuesday, but you do need to link below if you want to join us, which I would love.  And, obviously again, you don't have to drink anything, as long as you can tie the post to something drink related.

Edit: My dear friend Kathy called a few minutes before midnight (CDT) and told me she was coming to Wichita tomorrow morning (well, this morning, now).  So if I don't get to YOUR T post early tomorrow morning, I'll be by late in the day after she goes home.  Knowing Kathy the way I do, she's got some serious shopping planned.    



24 thoughtful remarks:

Cazzy said...

I should be in bed, I am going in a minute!

Lots of lovely plants Elizabeth, are Volunteers a type of plant or ones that just grow when you weren't expecting them?

I don't know Mexican sage, I have sage though.

Cazzy x

dawn said...

I love waking thru your garden, so nice to see all the pots like this! Sorry that some didn't turn out as planned, each year is a surprise I say, just like us this year. We got lucky on the Sunflowers, not so on the watermelon. Our corn was good but not the best it's been in past.
Fruit does take longer, we thought our apples would come in but they didn't.
I'm not sure what that plant is either, sorry.
Thanks so much for walking us thru and updating us on how your plants turned out.
Happy almost Tuesday, see you with my post tomorrow. It was a good day here for photos and stories. HUGS!

Bridget Larsen said...

You have a lot of herbs there, I have had no luck growing herbs, will try again this spring
Bridget #2

voodoo vixen said...

It seems so weird that your garden is winding down and mine is just getting going! Now spring is here I am finding all this new stuff and seeing things come into flower, which is always fun with a new garden.
I think the weather has been against you for growing this year, the rain that never ended and then the heat... poor stuff didn't stand a chance!

Krisha said...

Thanks for the tour of your herb garden. I only got basil, rosemary and mint planted this year, but next spring I am going to try a few more, and I think I'll keep them all in pots as you have.

Julia Dunnit said...

Well, whilst you're out collecting Kathy and shopping, I'm admiring your herb garden for sure. I think the volunteers probably arrive the same way that I get beautiful flowers growing in the cracks of my patio - courtesy of birdie's bottoms!! The very chewed and large leaed herb - could that be basil? I have no idea why I'M asking YOU...I have no clue!!

dawn said...

Happy Tuesday!! I'm finally linked up this morning, running way behind, my blog post kept giving me a hard time. Hoping the rest of my day goes better, ha!

How awesome that you have a friend coming in to visit!! Enjoy your day out with her and we will catch up later.

It will take me a few days to go thru the blog hop, we have one each day for my WITL project so have to balance my time between them.

Thanks again for this fun place to share and come together each Tuesday!! HUGS!

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Love how you called those surprises growing in your pots, "volunteers"! I always seems to have loads of those and always wondered if the seed packets were "contaminated" or if it was the soil. Squirrels also seem to like to dig in the pots so that could be a factor.

Congrats on winning washi tape from ink stains! Not sure if you saw my note to drop me an email...I scored BIG on some wood cigar boxes and want to share with you. Have a great day with Kathy.

Spyder said...

Some lovely herb gardening going on there! Hubby wants and small herb garden... so we have two bays in pots outside one door and a trough that I've only just put mint and parsley in outside another door, but with any luck, that'll soon fill up with some thing else! Happy T day!!

(Lyn))

Darla said...

You have a good harvest of herbs even if everything didn't grow as planned.
Have a good day out with your friend.

Darla

Divers and Sundry said...

your herbs look sweet. will you winter any over, or do you start fresh every spring?

have fun shopping! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh the life of a gardener. Full of ups and downs. The only time I have had success with Chamomile is when we lived in North Dakota of all places on this earth!! I had the biggest healthiest chamomile plants you can imagine! it was heaven. Since then, bubkis. Nada. Zippo. O well. Some things you just have to buy from those that "can" ya know.
Happy T today!!
~Dawn

Denise Price said...

Thanks for the herb garden tour! Sorry to hear you never got any chamomile flowers. It's been a very strange growing season this year. I'm hoping for a better one next year.

Patti Edmon Artist said...

They may not all be thriving but you have such a green thumb!! That's a talent I did not inherit and wish I had. We all have our gifts though, right? :)
xoxo

Patti Edmon Artist said...

OK, me again... I'm in North Carolina and won't be able to post about drinking, unless you count soaking in friendship. So, can you remove me from your T list? Sorry to be a bother my sweet friend!

Dianne said...

I'd say your herbs look pretty good if you've been having less than ideal conditions. Lovely shot of your harvested herbs in the basket! I love that sage...

Rita said...

I'm useless with mystery plants because most of them are a mystery to me in the first place--LOL! Your garden looks like it produced a lot of herbs for you, though. Especially considering the drought when it looked like they might all have died! :)
Happy T-day!

Ariel said...

Hope you are having a great time with your friend now. Your herb garden is lovely.
Susan

~*~Patty S said...

Your herb pots look pretty amazing to me...
I find it challenging to keep pots watered correctly as different plants have different moisture needs etc...
That mystery plant definitely looks like Pokeberry to me...the berries make great dye for fabric, paper even potters use it in Raku firing (a friend did some)
I also think I see an Eggplant if those large oak like leaves are furry/hairy?
Happy T Day I slept late today
oxo

~*~Patty S said...

also wanted to mention...
as far as I know Mexican sage is not a culinary herb
wasn't sure what you're using it for exactly...
all of your herbs looks beautiful in the basket too!
oxo

dawn said...

Hello again, saw your comment and came back to tell you.... yes you found the two things in the photo. That tea cup in the picture was almost my cup for today but then along came the cute stamp. It's so dang cute and perfect size so it jumped into my card, YAY!
The calendar is colored and tried for a fall look. Needs more fun added to it but will do for now.
Thanks so much for visiting and your sweet comment. My days are pretty boring and same routine but I love it and my family when they are here so much. Thankfully tomorrow is a babysitting day so the pictures will be of cute little ones!
I also snuck and made a mandala at my sister's and if it's on my blog tomorrow just skip over it or act surprised next week, haha!

Anonymous said...

Your volunteer is a pokeberry. Not something you want to keep since it will start showing up everywhere...Nice herbs for your pasta and egg dishes....too bad about the chamomile....xox

Caterina Giglio said...

love the stroll thru your herb garden, mine was small this year and next year I will be using a couple of pots! but I did find a house with a sun room, so maybe I can grow inside too! x

Halle said...

I've heard that dried bundles of sage thrown in a fire repel mosquitoes. I hope to grow more sage next year for that purpose! I have tons of volunteers of the floral variety in the front landscaping. I've left them as they add more color.