(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
Thyme – unknown plants
About three years ago, while my son was in college for forestry he would bring me leftover plants from the horticulture department. The horticulture departments from the local schools around you are an untapped goldmine of inexpensive, quality grown plants of all types. I encourage you to explore the markets these departments put on each year. I have two different types of thyme. I do not know the history of the plants. They each have a different look and taste. The seeds from these plants are so small I just let them fall back into the pot. They are nice size small bushes and produce good quantities of dried thyme. I mix the two together; I have not yet explored having different types and quantities of each herb. I am more interested in replacing the herbs and spices we purchase from the store. I have yet to see any new volunteers from these plants; the bushes just keep growing after each yearly trim. No pests that I have noticed. Both plants were unprotected during the freeze and both plants made it through fine.
Oregano – purchased plants
The oregano plant is in a large pot north side of the house. It is in full shade, but does just fine. Every spring it puts out long shoots of leaves that I cut off and place in The Dryer. This is another plant that takes a long time to dry. Each fall it goes to seed and I loop the seed shoots to remain in the pot. As far as I can tell, this is the same plant I purchased and there have been no volunteers spring up. It dies off a little each year, but comes back strong. No pests that I have noticed. Unprotected during the freeze and died off, but came back stronger than ever. It will be a good year for oregano.
Tarragon – purchased plant
This plant, so far, acts the exact same way as the oregano plant. It is on the north side, it puts out long shoots of leaves that go into The Dryer. This plant makes very nice yellow flowers each fall which I direct back into the pot. There have been no volunteers, yet. This plant will die all the way back each winter, but new shoots come out of the root ball each spring. It is six years old. No pests that I have noticed. It was unprotected during the freeze and it completely died.
Sweet Marjoram – unknown and purchased plants
I do not know why they call it “sweet” as it is a very pungent herb. I have pots on the patio and on the north side of the house. I have purchased some plants and have some that were gifts from my son. I get plenty of dried produce from the plants. These work the same as the Thyme and Oregano. The seeds are very small and…