The Purslane Society

Gibbnonymous, if I can get that rosemary to a decent size in a few years, and if it blooms, it should look very nice. I'm going to play what I have and then decide if I need more. Yes, yes, I know the rule: You can never have too much Rosemary. But as I move back along the driveway, it really does get less sun. Still...right across the driveway there is some wild oregano and it seems to be doing fine set as it is in quite a bit of shade. So who knows? I guess one can always use a little more Rosemary.

I'm still waiting for the purslane seeds that Gibbnonymous gave me to hatch.

Dear customer,

In these trying times, the family of The Purslane Society wishes you the best. [Insert happy video of family barbecuing in their back yard.] We’re all going to make it through this together if we all . . .



Wow. Aren’t you tired of those guys?

Here at the Purslane Society we grow herbs, not nuts like the one above. And this year I have the same crop as last year in terms of herbs: rosemary, thyme (about 4 varieties), sage (about 4 varieties), no parsley (which would have completed the Simon & Garfunkel song), mint, dill (self-planted from last year…you know what they say, You can’t keep a good dill down), lavender (that seems to be considered an herb), and lots and lots of oregano which is spreading like a weed but which, of course, is still considered of a higher stature.

On the wish list is chives, bay leaves (client gave me some clippings last year…they didn’t take), and basil (not too late, of course).

The dill, I must say, is growing strongly and splendidly. I’ve since heard from Monty Don regarding my thyme that I ought to cut it back (especially the woodier parts) and let it come back which will apparently look better and be better for the plant. The rosemary flowered very strongly and there are still plenty of small blooms on the plant.

The veggies I have going this year are cucumbers and zucchini. What does your backyard look like this year in terms of herbs and whatnot, Mr. Flu?

According to Elizabeth, in the original version of "Scarborough Fair" the herbs were "savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme".  She suspects that Paul Simon was unaware that savory is an actual herb (no doubt one that really is savory) and thus probably thought it was "savory sage" (which would be either false or redundant, I would think).  So he substituted parsley, even though it's usually a garnish rather than an herb.  Hmm, basil would have worked just fine.  Perhaps he should have checked Brad's garden.

Savory herb. The Pete Best of herbs. Oh, what could have been.



I'll have to find some now...just because.

As a now semi-professional avid gardener (I haven’t sold anything, but one’s ego must be stoked occasionally), I can pass on some vital information for the rookie gardeners out there: If you present a bed of rich, watered soil things will grow in it that you did not intend.

Many are “weeds” and are just as soon plucked out. But then didn’t Shakespeare (or was it Monty Don) who said “A weed by any other name….”). So I’ve learned via accident and laziness (at pulling weeds) to just let some things grow and see what they are.

Here’s what appears to be the early stage of a small tree growing out of the hole in one of my bricks.



GrowingOutOfBrickCam

Regarding those holes, it might be first surmised that they are good places for slugs to hide. I’m sure that’s true and would be considered a gardening “mistake” except for the fact that a neighbor gave me a few hundred of those several years ago to use as I wanted. I have now come to learn that they can also be good places for bees and other insects to nest. And “natural” gardening is all the rage these days—as opposed to “unnatural” gardening which I think includes having 39 genders of carrots or something like that.

It looks vaguely like a sumac tree. But I’m not sure. Here’s another thing-from-outer-space that showed up in my garden and I just let it grow to see what it would become. I don’t believe it flowered last year so it indeed could be from another time, if not another planet:



AlienPlantCam

It may be alien in only having jumped a garden wall or something like that. And oregano keeps popping up all over and I just let it grow. The bees just love it. And we’re going to need all the allies we can get if the killer hornets ever get here.

I've heard of chives (theoretically we have them occasionally here, or at least there are menu items that say so, such as chive mashed potatoes), but didn't know there were different types.

Mr. Flu, have you ever heard of the herb, Bee Balm? It’s listed at this site as “minty and slightly spicy . . . makes a great substitute for Oregano.” Sounds interesting. It was a medicinal plant used especially by the Blackfeet Indians:



I’ll add that to my “to plant” list.