I placed my order for herbs on Saturday. I went with Richters, as I did last year. I love looking at their catalog and being able to pick from dozens of varieties for any herb I am interested in. Plus, their catalog tells you a little bit about how each herb is used medicinally. If I’m honest with myself, I know I’ll probably just cook with the darn things. But it’s nice to know there’s another purpose for some of the plants.

Two winters ago I made the decision to concentrate on herbs in the tiny plot of earth where I can garden. My yard is not very conducive to gardening for several reasons: the back yard is well-shaded and sloped, so I really can’t grow vegetables there without cutting down trees (which I refuse to do). The front yard is sunny and would make a fantastic garden, but it is the one flat area of yard where the kids can run around and kick a ball on. If my kids were grown, I’d turn the whole front into a big vegetable garden, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. So I turned the foundation area on one side of my house into an herb garden. Well, I’m working on it. Here’s the order for this year:

Plants:

Lady’s Mantle
Sage
Silver Thyme
English Lavender
French Tarragon
Variegated Marjoram

Seeds:

Magic Carpet Lemon Thyme
Italian Parsley
Santo Cilantro
Napoletano Basil
Special Select FT Basil
Fernleaf Dill

Perennials that I should still have from last year:

Chocolate Mint
Banana Mint
Arp Rosemary (yes, seemingly named after my husband!)
Chives
Kent Beauty Oregano(might have died…time will tell)

I also plan on planting some nasturtiums, zinnias and poppies from seed. I might also pick up a bee balm (monarda) plant to throw in the back of the garden for a backdrop.

Other tasks this year:

• Move the mints out of their buckets and into a different sunny area of the yard. We eat a lot of mint when we make mojitos in the summer, and I just don’t think it is neccessary to keep the mints burried in a bucket. If anything, I need more mint.
• Move the Rosemary to a different spot so that I can really showcase it as a wonderful bush.
• Figure out how to use marjoram and tarragon. Does anyone have any suggestions? (I don’t eat meat, so that is out).
• Figure out how to install an extra eye in my head so that I can keep an eye on J while still getting all the gardening done.