Garden Journal Entry #3: May Progress
Mid-Month Update
I cannot believe we are halfway through the month of May. This month has brought the kind of heat that always reminds us of how short Spring and Fall are in North Carolina. I probably need to be a bit better about watering but otherwise, things are cooking right along. Here's a quick recap of the month so far.
May 1: gave every container a healthy sprinkle of Miracle Grow. You're welcome little plants, and happy May Day.
May 5: after a little more research I decided to plant herbs for tea. Added sweet mint, peppermint, and lemon balm. Through in some lavender for fun. I've read that this one grows like a weed when put in the ground and forgotten about, so it will likely be transplanted in the new yard to somewhere more permanent.
May 6: found my old rosemary plant still surviving in the worst soil and with very minimal sunlight. I'm going to figure out how to get some of this to my new place. It looks like transplanting rosemary is pretty easy. It also looks like like it is pretty easy to re-grow from healthy cuttings.
May 7: the previous owners of this house obviously planted a small raspberry bush. We never do anything with it and the birds get to the fruit before us anyway, so I've always just ignored it. Today I read that raspberry leaf tea is actually like a super drink for females and hormone balance (and particularly good for pregnancy and lactation). I'm now interested in keeping this plant alive for it's leaves and plan to start making raspberry leaf tea as soon as I can.
May 8: discovered something is eating my strawberries. Am bringing them on to the porch at night and putting them up a little higher during the day. I hope it isn't birds, but it probably is. I've never seen a squirrel or a rabbit in this neighborhood, ever.
May 12: harvested some cilantro for cilantro lime pork chops and rice. They were delicious and it seems that cutting the plant back by about a 3rd encourages it to grow wider instead of taller.
May 15: it rained all night and all day.
May 16: good growth from all the rain, as documented in pictures below.
Plans and Ideas
Obviously right now our main focus is on getting moved into our new house and not killing my plants in the process. Otherwise, I have just a couple new hippy ideas brewing:
- Raspberry leaf tea.
- Plant some sprouting garlic (from the store that got left in the pantry too long) and see what happens.
- Still need to make better labels for my plants.
- Need to start tying up some of my tomatoes to their poles.
- Prune basil, cilantro, spinach - should actually encourage better growth.
- Figure out what the heck to do about the strawberries.
