Herb Garden

Fresh herbs can be very pricey and they don’t last long even when refrigerated. Anybody can have fresh herbs all the time; you don’t have to have a garden to plant herbs. With some sunshine and water, herbs can be planted in pots.

If you have a garden, generally a kitchen garden where you can plant herbs can be an area 20 feet by 4 feet. You can grow some of the most common herbs used in the kitchen like sweet basil, rosemary and thyme. The best area for herb gardening is a spot with a lot of sunshine and with good drainage. Drainage is one of the most important factors in order to have a successful herb garden. Herbs don’t want to grow in a wet soil.

The soil does not have to be fertile. A highly fertile soil will produce excessive amounts of foliage but with very poor flavor. Adding some compost to the soil is enough to help improve the condition of the soil.

If a plot is not available, herbs can be grown in containers, pots and hanging baskets. Herbs planted in containers require more care specially watering. Herbs don’t grow well in wet soil but also don’t thrive in a dry soil.

I purchased a pot of Italian basil and rosemary from Armstrong garden last month and planted them on the ground the next day. It has been a few weeks and the basil is thriving very well. The rosemary though is not as growing as good as the basil.

                                                     Basil I harvested from the garden.

Grape Vine 1

The climate of Southern California has long been recognized as ideal for growing grapes for making wines and for the table. Mists in the mornings, lots of sunshine, cool summer nights, ocean breezes along the coasts produce very good grapes which is ideal for making wines.

Wine growing in Southern California is mostly located in the Temecula Valley, Cucamonga, Ventura and San Diego Counties.

I planted a vine spring of last year. This year it already bears fruit. It has several long and healthy vines with dark green leaves.I am not sure what kind of grape vine I planted and hope the fruit will be sweet and good for eating. The color of the fruit is currently green but I am not sure it changes color when it ripens.  

I hope this grape vine is suitable for eating and not for making wines.