Wednesday, July 23, 2008

A Call for Help

I finally made it out to my garden - I start harvesting my herbs....

and the little tags I put in the garden are no more.

I think this is cilantro:


I think this is some sort of basil:


And I have no clue what this is:

Edited to add (10:00 p.m.) - the bottom one is a weed. I had it all picked to put in the dehydrator after the cilantro and basil, and Todd came home - why in the heck are you drying a weed?!?!?!? LOL - like I said, the weeds are growing good!!!

Anyone think I am wrong??? If so, please speak up!!

Some of my herbs were flowering (the oregano I think) and if I am remembering correctly, they aren't the best harvested when flowering, so I just cut them off below the flowering parts - is this true? Or can I dry them in the dehydrator while flowering and use them???

Like I said....HELP!

And it's amazing how quickly the weeds take over after being away from the garden for a week!! Oh well - I know where I will be for an hour or so each evening for the next week....


Kris

6 comments:

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

Sorry but I can't help with the bottom pic. The first one is definitely cilantro (we call it coriander over here). I have never tried to dry my own herbs but that could be the answer (due to our strong sea breezes, herbs don't do well in the summer months). Must look our for a dehydrator.

Dawn said...

Oh, I wish I could help identify your herbs---but as a newbie gardener I can basically only recognize what grows best in our garden....and that would be thistles.

jacquie said...

Looks to me you're right on the first two. Is the second one lemon basil...you could definitely tell from the scent, but it looks like mine.

Philigry said...

love, love your new header! the bails of hay make a great picture.
I do the same thing with the weeds. i am always afraid to pull anything up!

sugarcreekfarm said...

I think you're right about the cilantro (lucky - wish I had some!). I can't tell about the other 2, sorry! The weeds are growing as fast as the rest of our garden, but at the moment I just shove them aside and pick the green beans ;)

Anonymous said...

I think you're right about the basil and cilantro, although I'm having a bit of difficulty with pics #2 and 3. Basil grows it's leaves in little star like clusters and the flower appears in the middle of the leaf cluster. It's a tall, thicker stemmed plant. Oregano is lower to the ground, and it's leaves grow much like your third picture with tall stems that reach upward when fowering, with lots of interdispersed little white flowers. I agree with jacque, smell is key. Rub a leaf and have smell. Oregano's leaves are thick and the smell remind me of italian cooking. Spaghetti, pizza, lasagna. You'll know it when you smell it. Cilantro always smells like soap to me, and it's strong, you don't even need to rub a leaf for it's scent, just walk by the patch! If you need more help, let me know, and I'll take some pics for you! ;)