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Does anybody know which varieties of lavender to plant when I want to use them to distill essential oils? Which are the most aromatic varieties? Since I already have a steam distillery setup and the essential oils online are so very expensive, I think I'll plant some and try making my own. I...

There in lies the problem. I do not have loamy garden soil. I am currently filling beds with my manure pile because the "soil" here is nonexistent. It is clay with a pH of 4.2 to 4.5. A 1' hole filled with water takes a couple of days to drain. I've tried gardening in it and adding compost...

Hey! This is a nifty idea! We have heavy clay and even sweet potatoes didn't make it for me. Hmmm. One thing I've got is lots of empty 5 gal buckets (we just repainted the barn!) and this would be a great use for them. Can I use something besides straw? No source of that here, at least not...

The sun is shining. The temp is hovering in the 60s. The birds are singing up a storm. Baby, Spring is finally HERE! I think I feel this way every Spring--like I am launching a great new adventure. I'm all excited and eager to start. Everything looks fresh and enticing on paper and THIS...

I LOVE crepe myrtles! In fact I have 2 in my yard already. I planted them 2 years ago as very small bare root "sticks". They are now about 3-4' tall, but last year I still had no blooms. I'm not sure if I'm not treating them right or if they are still too young to bloom. If (when?) they do...

As a diabetic who controls his disease via diet, I can tell you that eating too many carbs is pure poison for me. I NEVER eat a carb without combining it with a protein and I always limit the carbs massively. For me, breakfast is cold cereal with milk and NO SUGAR. Dinner is meat and a huge...

Clemantis....hmmm...that's one I'd never thought of! Are they hard to grow? See? I knew folks would think of stuff I never do! Gee, I love this site! :rose

It pains me to admit it, but I was getting tired of the battle with the black spot. So, no more roses. At least not right there. I'm thinking of some kind of perennial bush that really likes sun. The front of the house faces south so the Alabama summer sun is pretty harsh. But I am drawing...

Breaks my heart but my 2 climbing Peace roses do not appear to have survived this rotten winter we've had. Too much cold and too much rain, I'm thinking. They anchored the 2 ends of the bed across the front of my house, where there is going to be a very pronounced vacancy once I take them out...

Can anyone point me to a reliable source of instruction on how to do this? I've tried a couple of times but each time my seed was moldy by the next spring. I am planning an herb garden and think it would be neat to be able to save my seed from year to year. That way I could expand my...

Great thread with lots of good links! Thanks! :watering

This is a great thread! Hattie, thanks for pointing me to it. Of course my own herb garden plans are nothing so fanciful--just a few rectangular beds out by the grapes! Great ideas and links, tho! :thumbsup Rusty

This is all really good information. Thank you! I really like the idea of raspberry or even raspberry/chocolate tea, so I will be VERY careful that I get the leaves dry enough. Rusty

Chocolate mint? Ummm. That sounds GOOD! Gotta try that! In a bag hung upside down. I can do that. I've also got a dehydrator I use for jerky. Can I use that, or does it get too hot? The lowest setting is 100 degrees. Rusty, who is smacking his lips at the notion of chocolate mint tea!!!

I've ordered 2 books--Making Plant Medicine and The Complete Book of Herbs--from amazon.com. Thank you for the suggestions. I would never have found that first one if I hadn't known to go look for it. It sounds perfect. And the second one seems like a good general guide to all herbs, just...

TOTALLY dumb question here: I've never had any tea except the commercial/bought-in-the-store kind BUT I just ordered Park's herbal tea collection to grow this year. How do I get it off the bush/plant and into the cup? Does it need to be dried first? Grind it up or use it whole? And anything...

For 5 years now I have not been able to use the TONS of horse manure we generate around here for my garden, where it really belongs. That is because of bermuda grass seeds from the hay we feed being passed into the manure. No matter how well I composted it, the seeds still sprouted. Well, I...

Other than using garlic to lower blood pressure, I confess I know nothing about medicinal herbs. But I'd like to learn! Can anyone recommend a good book that will tell me about medicinal herbs I can grow in my own garden--how to grow them, dry them, prepare them for use, and what to use them...

Well, I placed my order! Since the deck is only 10 x 10 I didn't want to overwhelm it with too many pots or we wouldn't be able to get in the front door. It was really hard to pick and choose. Here is what I finally went with: For the window boxes I chose the apricot profusion zinnia For...

When in Florida I used to "mow" the sides and tops of the citrus within a week or so after cleaning off the fruit. (This is a technique the commercial groves use instead of pruning.) There I was usually done picking in March. Not sure when that would be in SF, though. HTH