Since moving to our new home we have been working hard to get our plants established. We were quite blessed at our last home and had accomplished a lot. So in some ways it depressed me to have to start over. However, we learned a lot during that time. We learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. We are able to apply what we have learned as we establish our plants at our new home. Our herb garden must be near the kitchen and easily accessible. We decided to start our herb garden around the well house which is to the side of the house close to the back door at the kitchen.

The snowball bush was a gift from Jon last year. We transplanted it to the right corner. It really isn’t a part of the “herb” garden, but they are so pretty.  After initially planting everything, I placed newspaper down around the plants to keep the weeds out and covered with pine needles.  It looked lovely and then the free-ranging chickens found it and scratched it to death! I was picking up tiny pieces of newspaper for weeks! Since the “newness” wore off the chickens do not seem to bother it any more. So, I covered it good with fresh pine needles again. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. It probably isn’t looking too impressive from afar. All of the plants are still quite small. But when you take a closer look, they are looking pretty good. That empty space is where the cilantro was planted. It died off before it was big enough to be useful. I’m sure the chickens traumatized it too much.

The sweet basil in this picture was just recently replaced with a new plant as the first plant disappeared over night. It was bit off to just a little nub. I had hoped it would grow back, but it didn’t so I bought a new one.

I love marigold flowers. My Mama gave me a large bag of marigold seed pods several years ago that are yellow, orange, and red. I just spread them around wherever I can. I always deadhead the flower seed pods after they dry and sow them again each year. Thus, I never know what color is where and it is always a lovely surprise once they begin to bloom. Marigolds are amazing! They are edible, medicinal, and repel animals, insects, and nematodes! If you haven’t planted marigolds before, you should start.

On the opposite corner of the well house we transplanted our rosemary bush from the old house. It is about 3 years old and pretty good size. It looked great for about a month after it was transplanted, but now it is looking a little dry and sparse. I hope it makes it.

We have planted several other things. I hope to have time to share with you soon.