in which we plant an herb garden

I’ve long wanted a little herb garden—the fantasy of cooking something and stepping outside to pick a handful of fresh herbs to toss in is so appealing, kind of earthy and witchy and delicious.  Last fall I thought the time had come, but my delightful gardener friend, Cathy, warned that spring would be better.  “Instead,” she said, “how about I grow you a bunch of baby plants in my greenhouse all winter and by next spring they’ll be ready to plant?”

Um…Okay!

And wow!  How cool is that?

I took a “Before” picture, I did.  But I have just wasted almost an hour trying to find it, only to conclude that it is AWOL.  If it shows up, I’ll put in here, because really, this is a great example of taking an eyesore and turning it into something pretty.  You see, the proposed herb garden location was on top of the septic tank, which is to say, it was just this pile of red clay (that’s what we’ve got for dirt around here), dumped there by the septic guy and his machinery five years ago.  There was a sharp incline, and weeds, and unfortunately, it was all right in the middle of everything, between the yurt, and the playground, and the goats.  After a couple years, the spot had acquired a variety of volunteers, baby oak trees, thistles, violets, clover, assorted whathaveyou.  It was…in need of some serious attention.

Now, like many couples, Paul and I have this unofficial division of labor thing going, where he does the heavy lifting and I do the daily maintenance.  For example, he builds the goat barn and delivers hay, while I do the daily milking, feeding, and general goatie care.  So, when Cathy made her offer, I asked Paul if he would do a little work on the dirt there, kind of make a bed for the plants, and then I would actually plant them and tend the herbs.  He bought it agreed!  So he moved out the baby oaks, replanting them elsewhere, brought in some actual dirt to mix with our clay, and set to work mixing it.  Go Paul!

The kids, of course, were thrilled. Playing in dirt!  With parental approval!  Whoopee!

Here they are, mixing the dirt in.  You can see the playground in the background.  They love that they have their own kid-sized shovels and even a kid-sized wheelbarrow.

Paul found it at a yard sale.  The kids both get out there and do real work with Paul, for as long as they like, and then they run off and do other things. We don’t have enforced labor chores, and maybe because they are free to come and go, they offer their labor to our projects pretty much every time.  Thanks kids!

Anyway, as the project went on, in typical Paul fashion, he decided to up the scale.  The current ‘bed’ situation was a joke, and he was going to have to add his favorite landscaping solution, a rock retaining wall.  I ask for a towel rack, I get a full-wall, cedar, wainscotting installation.  I ask for a board to be cut in half, I get a built-in desk.  I ask for a pile of dirt, I get a rock retaining wall.  It is Paul’s way.

Here he is, somehow managing to build a rock wall while the kids crawl all over him and it.  But he’s right, a taller wall on one side and a low ‘wall’ on the other side evens out the slope and makes a pretty centerpiece to the yard, where there had been a weedy mass of clay.

Finally, after six months of thinking about it, it was time to plant.  We swung by Cathy’s and picked up our new baby herbs. And…Ta-Da!  Looky!

Oregano, thyme, sage, basil, chives, rosemary, hyssop, lavender, and dill.  I hope I don’t kill them!  Weeding and watering, right?  That’s basically it.  I can do that.  I think.  But isn’t it sweet?  Thank you so much Paul and Cathy!  I can’t wait to see the plants fill out the bed.  And I totally can’t wait to be making some tasty, Greek salad dressing and wander out for a handful of fresh oregano….