Growing herbs in my garden

There’s something comforting in growing herbs. I just planted 60 garlic cloves last week and they’re already sprouting. I plan to plant again in spring so I have enough to last me all year.

Just planted spicy pepper seeds using a kit. Normally I buy plants in 4” pots, but I got this for my birthday so I’m trying it out for the first time. I’ve planted jalapeno, cayenne, habernero, and anaheim peppers. By growing them in my kitchen, theoretically I can grow them year round. Hope to have so many peppers that I can dry and store them.

My most interesting “herb” is my shiitake mushroom project. It’s actually a fungus but I’m keeping it in my herb garden. I cut 2 large oak limbs during my fire prevention clearing and let them sit for 2 weeks. Then I drilled holes in the logs and placed shiitake plugs in each of them. I poured hot wax over all of the plugs and the ends of the logs to seal them in. Now it’s a waiting game. I should start seeing mushrooms in 3-6 months, and they’ll continue to produce for 3-7 years.

My herb garden has rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and mint growing year round. I keep adding new herbs like lemon grass, chives, and onions. Not all take, but it’s fascinating to experiment, and even more fun to harvest!