Summer Days in the Garden
We’ve arrived at the end of July and depending on who you ask, we’re creeping up on Fall. I try my best to hold off on pondering much on cooler days and earlier nights, as once it arrives I know I’ll be craving the sun again. But the cooler early mornings has me excited for when it does come. In the meantime, I am hands deep in the garden enjoying the bounty and planting more seeds.
Marigold, zinnias, and yarrow from our garden
This past Spring, we decided to up the old rows and put in some raised beds for easy access and better soil for growing food and not just herbs. We sacrificed some herb growing space but I’ve still harvested catnip, lemon balm, comfrey, oats, oregano, sage, thyme, yarrow, tulsi, and elecampane (a fall harvest). In terms of veggies, we were able to harvest kale, arugula, LOADS of zucchini, onions, carrots, now cherry and slicer tomatoes, eggplant, and hopefully soon watermelon, butternut squash, and beets! After the onion harvest, I seeded pole beans and once I have the space from the carrot harvest, I’ll try to seed some cucumbers and get a harvest before the frost comes. As you can see, lots of growing over here, eating fresh, and making simple meals to utilize all the homegrown food we can. I think basing meals around a protein, a grain, and a vegetable will always do the trick and helps cut down costs from going out, especially from frustration of not knowing what to make.
Nothing says summertime like an herbal iced tea. I usually take handfuls of tulsi basil and lemon balm in a quart jar and fill it with hot water and a healthy glop of honey (yes, glop is the correct measurement here), let it steep for a few hours, strain it and store it in the fridge. It’s cooling and refreshing, and if you add a little bit of salt, congratulations, you’ve made yourself a natural electrolyte drink!
Around the summer solstice, I was able to gather some St. John’s wort and steep it in extra virgin olive oil for a nerve and pain soothing topical oil. A small batch of that will be available in the coming weeks. Also, a (potentially) new item that I’ve been thinking about is creating a first aid spray with witch hazel infused with garden grown yarrow, calendula, mountain mint and plantain. This idea came about after my son got a second degree burn earlier this summer… I may have to share on that another time and how we cared for it with herbs. Other than that, we are dreaming up new ideas on expanding the garden, maybe selling cut flowers in front of our home come next summer and are finally getting eggs from our hens!
I hope you’re all enjoying the summer and getting to use some herbs in your every day, whether that’s in tea, tincture, salve or whatever other form :)
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”
