It is spring, and even the best of us get a little bit of
that spring fever. We can’t help but look at the daffodils and lilys that have
mysteriously sprouted, fully grown, in
our grocery stores, hardware stores, and as we get closer to Mother’s day,
right on the edge of busy intersections in the backs of trucks!
It’s easy to look at them, previously tended carefully by a
experienced and qualified gardener and think to yourself “Pshaw! I could so do
that!”
Then you buy it up, put it in your window that you think gets enough sunlight, water it ever week or so, and proceed on with your life
as normal.
Now if you are anything like me, after some time passes *cough days
*cough. You look over at your plant and are startled to find it
dead…as a doornail.
Reason # 23 I like herbs… they are hard to kill.
First, you must understand that I was not blessed with a
green thumb.
Ironic, since I love plants. But plants I try to grow don’t so much
live with me as they remain in a state of shock and semi neglect
until they can get into the ground, or the hands of someone who actually knows
when watering, fertilizing, and other care should happen.
Some people would say this is common sense, I say this is high maintenance.
I mean, come on, certain plants need acidic soil, and other plants
need alkaline soil!
Some starlet wilting flowers can’t possibly survive in
anything less than full sun!
Yet other dowdy wall flowers are scorched even by partial
sun!
These demands seem too much for my skills and
patience. If I don’t require that much effort
to keep myself alive, I am not inclined to work that hard for a plant.
So, instead of banging my head against a brick wall trying
to grow tomatoes (which I can’t) corn (which I can’t) and peppers (which I
don’t like). Why not try something I can actually grow?
Something that’s hardy, and tough to kill. I am the Lilo of
planting and I need my sturdy Stitch! Something that can get run over by a semi
trailer and still be able to squeeze out of a rocket, shoot out of a volcano, and save me from a giant blur alien.…something like herbs!
Herbs are different from most plants. They are like the neglected
red-headed stepchildren of the productive plant world. They are scrappy and
survive almost anywhere, including cracks in sidewalks, front yards, and not to
mention that big gangly dandelion in the middle of your neighbor’s award
winning rose bushes.
Indeed, many herbs are so hardy that even mowing doesn’t
stop them. I’ve identified plantain, yarrow, horsetail (who can date its lineage back to
when Dinosaurs roamed the earth, and who we have to thank for our current
supply of coal), as well as everyone’s favorite, dandelions, and
others growing in front lawns.
These are herbs that can kick a cough or cold in the teeth before it
gets a foothold in you (yarrow tea). Herbs that can get rid of that annoying
itchiness from mosquito ‘kisses’ (mashed plantain leaves), and even herbs that
can put important minerals back into your crooked old bones (horsetail).
This unyielding hardiness was how I decided on first trying out an herb garden. I
bought a pot with three kinds on herbs. Stuck it into my Father’s
backyard, and voila! I had my very own herb garden!
I learned a lot with that humble beginning. One of the
biggest things was if you want to grow mint, you must keep it in a container, otherwise the roots spread until your garden is no longer an herb garden than a whole backyard of mint. I told you these guys were scrappy!
Another one of my early attractions to herbs was just how
good they smelled. Even now, I can’t help but rub my hands over rosemary,
thyme, lemon balm, mint, or any other aromatic plant. If I could roll around in
them like my dog, or little cousin used to, I’d do that too.
So if I may humbly suggest an herb, or two (or seven) to add
to your garden, or put in a pot by your kitchen window, I would humbly suggest;
To have a garden.
Chives- which I personally tried to kill over the course
of about three years and was unsuccessful.
Why- To give you that onion-y taste in your foods like baked potatoes, not to mention to
experience the scandal of picking a spear right off the plant and immediately crunching it
between your teeth. Do it! It’s an exhilarating feeling after being brainwashed
into believing all food comes from a refrigerator or a store.
The purple flowering heads of chives are also good in salads
(or flower arrangements!)
Sage- if for no other reason than to run you hands
through it and smell that full savory almost regal scent. Also use them fresh in cooking steaks, stews, or other dishes that you want to taste
like that smell. Native Americans burned a form of sage as a spiritual purifier for self and home.
To make a tea when you feel a sore throat
coming on. Or take it to fend off those menopause ups and downs.
Or better yet, explain to your wife/girlfriend/woman-in-your-life-that-is-trying-to-get-you-to-eat-rabbit-food, that Sage is a tonic and
liver stimulant, and the steak (that you are eating) is just a transferring
device to get it to your mouth.
Just like a french fry is a transfer device for catsup for many young
children (and college students).
Lemon Balm- to uplift the spirits, sending away depression,
nervous exhaustion, indigestion, nausea, and early colds. Best consumed as a tea of fresh leaves.
Who doesn’t perk up to a happy lemony smell?
Strawberries- to give you a reason to go down on your hands
and knees. Smell the rich sun warmed earth, and hunt for little red treasures,
before the bunny rabbits get them. See the world from a different point of view.
Also, so we can see how tiny natural
strawberries are meant to be. How packed with flavor they actually are. And maybe make you
wonder what they did to the gargantuan red monsters that are for sale in
grocery stores. (Pesticides, and growth chemicals- yum, yum, ugh!)
Chamomile- For the tiny little daisies that smile so
sweetly. For the apple-like scent, for their calming nature that can sooth a baby's colic, a hard day, or help you drift off to sleep. For their simple, happy, unobtrusive way that they
give peace and a sense of contentment.
Marigolds- to dry them, take a thick needle
and string them up like giant beads. They will look like a Mexican fiesta
hanging on your walls! Not to mention as a salve they help old scars to
heal.
Garlic- because it might some day be what doctors prescribe
instead of antibiotics. And just in case there may happen to be any vampires
about! You can never be too careful!
And Yarrow- because the ancient Celts believed that this plant was so powerful the stems were used as magic wands. Because they amplify
the effect of any other herb they are paired with, and as a tea they can give
the common cold a run for its money... And
the crushed leaves smell great.
I hope some time this spring you get your hands dirty, smell
the richness of the dirt, feel the warmth of the sun on your back, and marvel
that somehow, miraculously, between sun, dirt, and rain we get lettuce, roses,
apricots, pumpkins, berries, wheat, and all that we eat.
Yes, carnivores you heard me. I say this because even that meat
that you are eating once ate something that came from a plant, which in turn
came from that loamy dark earth currently
underneath your feet as well as that bright sun that miraculously rises
each morning, whether we choose to appreciate it or not.
Isn’t it amazing how we are all interconnected?
-Thank you Google images for the plant pictures.
-No red-headed stepchildren were injured in the making of this blog.
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