Thinking Spring

Spring weather is popping in and out at my house these days.  These warm, breezy days bring out the gardening bug in me quickly.  I am ready to plant a new herb garden; but first a garden spot has to be established and the soil prepared.  I prefer no-till or lasagna gardening, but since we are going from established yard to garden, tilling is the quickest and least expensive way to get started (at least that's my husband's perspective, I'm still not convinced ... we'll see who wins this one!).   Once we have the soil prepared and garden beds installed, I let things be and only cultivate with hand tools, letting nature's gardener's (worms and other soil dwellers) do the tilling and soil turning for me!  It is much healthier for the garden and the environment.

I have a few winter sown herbs popping up in raised beds and containers- dill, cilantro, and comfrey are all showing signs of life.  The scented geraniums are enjoying sunny days outside, as are the bay and lemon trees.

It is time to prune the sage that has gotten ugly and leggy over the winter, and cut back the lemon balm, rue, and mints in preparation for new spring growth.


I'm still perusing seed catalogs, plotting and planning what new things I want to grow this year.  Holy Basil is one new to me herb I plan to grow.  I recently tried a tea made with Tulsi or Holy Basil and it is very nice.  Now I want to grow my own Tulsi tea!  And since rose is the Herb of the Year, I plan to add roses to the garden- some will be container grown, some planted along the fence to climb and vine and do what roses do!

I'm thinking Spring, how about you?
What are you planning to grow this year?  Anything new?
How about starting a new garden?  Do you till or do raised beds, no-till, containers ... all of them?!  

Tell me what your plans are for the herb garden this year!