Cycles of life in the garden

About 90% of that which we over-wintered made it through the storms, ice, and snow. This year, we had temperatures well below freezing and did lose a few of our plants. In November, we put the plants under the stairs and covered the side with poly, leaving the stair risers open for ventilation, and in the little greenhouse.

It was so good to see everybody when we took them all out at the beginning of May. Over the last month there has been an explosion of green and colour in our yard.

Laughing Buddha Gardens 2009, featuring 60 varieties of plants:

Culinary and Medicinal: Arugula, Basil, Chives, Parsley, Rosemary, Garden Sage, Spinach, and Thyme

Flowers and Medicinal*: Day Lily, English Daisy*, Hydrangea, Jasmine sambac*, New Zealand Tea Rose*, Pansy, Petunias, Stocks, and Tiger Lily

Medicinal: Ashwagandha, Bergamot, Wood Betony, Bitter Melon, Calendula, California Poppy, Catnip, German Chamomile, Chocolate Mint, Elderberry, English Mint, Eucalyptus, Fennel Seed, Feverfew, Gotu Kola, Heartsease, Herb Robert, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Licorice, Marshmallow, Meadowsweet, Motherwort, Nasturtium, Passionflower, Peppermint, Sacred White Sage, Saint John’s Wort, Schisandra berry, Skullcap, Soapwort, Spearmint, Speedwell, Stevia, Sweet Violet, Sweet Woodruff, Uva Ursi, Verbena, Lemon, Blue Vervain, Wild Indigo, Yarrow, Zhi Mu, and Zuta Levana

All the seed is organic and so is the soil; it is all GWP - grow without pesticides. I just allow nature to take her course. We also have a composter that takes care of kitchen and garden waste and that is added to the soil each year. Every year we are able to collect the seed to grow next year. This is the cycle of life in the garden.

So, we have some seeds, small live plants, dried plant materials to make herbal remedies and pot pourri, teas, tinctures, ointments, oils, and creams for sale at our place. We follow the safe practices act when creating our products.

The herbs are harvested at the right time and at their peak. They look, smell, and taste just like the fresh herbs do so this shows they have not lost any of their potency.

Today at lunch, we enjoyed a lovely salad of spinach, arugula, parsley, basil, and chives. Our tea was a fresh combination of the four mints: Chocolate, English, Peppermint, and Spearmint. Yum. I love my job.

In August, I start my Herbal Training with Rosemary Gladstar. I'm looking forward to delving into yet another wonderful course on herbs by another amazing Herbalist.

I am also giving a course on herbs in August in our Laughing Buddha Gardens. Hope you can join us for some scrumptious food and a real-life learning experinece. See you then.

Love Lyn