New Hobby :: Project Herb Garden

I'll go ahead and admit that I'm one of those people who go through hobbies like teenage girls these days go through hair colors.  There is a reason that I haven't been on the computer much lately...the pleasant weather sent me hearkening back to my childhood and days spent gardening with my mom. Putting my first failed attempt at growing things behind me--as evidenced by the bare planter in this picture--I planned out a small herb garden. I found that cedar fence boards were far cheaper than other options, so I bought them and set about designing and building a raised bed.

Robert is quite supportive of edible gardening, and I love working with fresh herbs, although cost usually prevents me from buying them in the produce aisle.

I liked how it called upon my other hobby of woodworking to accomplish.

Tiernan is a little suspicious of my power tools. I try to teach him their names, but so far they're all 'bbbrrrmm' to him.

And this is all that was leftover of my wood. Pretty efficient, eh?

The finished box. Since the boards are only 5/8th thick, I added support bars to keep them from bowing under the weight of the dirt.

Countryside Nursery was having a fall sale, so I bought several herbs there. 

I was especially excited to find this Bay Laurel. I use bay leaves all the time in my soups. I remember seeing huge bay hedges in Russia, but since they are sensitive to the cold, I'd never seen one stateside.

I also planted some seeds that Becca gave me for my birthday. I'm using a clear Tupperware tub as a miniature greenhouse. I planted cilantro, oregano, dill, and a flower mix.

Tiernan has loved the extra time playing outside. We've reversed roles on who wants to stay out the longest, though...where I used to be dragging him back in against his will, now I'm coaxing him to stay out a little longer.

I thought I'd be able to do it all in one weekend, but I ran into trouble with getting soil to fill the bed. It was way too expensive to buy bagged dirt from Lowe's, so I ended up waiting until this past Saturday to go to the Natural Gardener, a nursery out on Old Bee Caves Road. There, Robert was able to help me bag our own bulk soil, enabling us to fill the bed for half the cost.

I turned over the grass and covered it with black plastic to ensure it would not be growing up through my herbs. Then I filled the bed with the dirt and compost we got at the nursery.

Then it was just a matter of transplanting the herbs and adding a mulch border. The herb bed contains three varieties of oregano, sage, chives, three kinds of thyme, lavender, and peppermint.

I reclaimed my planter for the cilantro, basil, and bay. These are more tender than the others, so when it gets cold I'll be able to bring them inside.

The seeds have begun germinating! As of this morning, everything except the cilantro was up.

It was important to me that the garden be very visible and convenient to get to--I feel like my planter at the apartment failed because I could never see it to remember to water it. It just so happened that the sunniest spot in our yard was right outside the kitchen door, and in full view out the window of my seat at the dinner table, so I'm happy.

He loves the dirt. Don't worry; I replaced his play place with another planter I wasn't using. 

Yet to be planted is the Cuban oregano, parsley, and rosemary. The former two will be going in a window box I'm building to go on the kitchen window sill, and the rosemary will be going out front.