January 1, 1998 ... January 2, 1998 ...
January 3, 1998 ...
Thought I'd get in some practice.
Invariably I'm writing last year's date well into the new year ... NEW YEAR?
Where did 97 go? It was at this exact time last year that I was setting up
my first PC. That's right! I had never touched a computer before
January 1997.
WOW! What a year this has been!
We incorporated our purely botanical business with the purely nonbotanical
world of cyperspace. It all began when I met Cathe Gordon (webgeekstress
extraordinaire) through the Web Diner on AOL. By April 16th she had our
web site up and running. And, the rest is history.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
Lose 20 pounds. Exercise more.
Make lots of money. Yeah! Yeah! Let's pull up last year's resolutions
and see if they were accomplished. Oh, never mind. I can't even find
them. Here's what we've decided to do ... be happy in the moment,
look ahead with optimism, and make the most of it all. Lemons will
be our lemonade, cherries will be our jubilee, and herbs will be
our medicine. It's going to be another fantastic year!
WE DO HAVE SOME GOALS
Abby's Herbs will be adding
bulk herbs, essential oils, carrier oils, seed packets, and many more
items to our product line. Thus far we have only offered our handmade
products ... by the way, we will be adding more of them, too. If you
have a need for a product that is not listed in our line, we might be
able to formulate it just for you. We want to be your personal herbal
connection in cyberspace.
SPEAKING OF SEED PACKETS
Now's the time to start planning your
spring garden. It sure makes these cold winter days more cheerful thinking
about tender seedlings sprouting and purple coneflowers (echinacea) blowing
in the breeze. For many of us the last frost date is just around the corner.
In the meantime, there are many things that can be done ahead of time.
I get as much pleasure just looking through the seed catalogs as my grandson
does looking through the Sears Christmas catalog :-)
GROW HERBS
Many herbs can be started from seed
right now. Almost any container can be used for planting seeds or cuttings.
One good tip is to put about a half inch of moistened sphagnum moss in the
bottom of a 3" deep container, add about an inch of potting soil, and top
it off with about a half inch of vermiculite. Plant the seeds in the
vermiculite layer and soak the container in warm water allowing moisture
to seep in from the bottom. I like to cover these containers with plastic
or enclose them in a plastic bag until the seeds germinate. At the first
sign of sprouting, I remove the plastic and bring the tender seedlings
into a well lit location. There are some excellent gardening books and
herbal books that we will be recommending through Amazon.com
(more about that later).
CHAMOMILE
German chamomile (Chamomilla
recutita syn. Matricaria recutita) seeds can be sown indoors two to
three months before your last frost date and seedlings set out in the
garden two to three weeks before that final frost. Start Roman chamomile
(Chamaemelum nobile syn. Anthemis nobilis) seeds two to four weeks later
and set them out at or before the last frost.
CHIVES & GARLIC
January is the best time to plant
chive seeds indoors, or propagate them by root division. Is your garlic
sprouting little green shoots in your refrigerator? Wonderful! Stick it
in some dirt right now and transplant it outdoors on or about your last
frost date. Planting garlic throughout your garden, even in the flower
beds, will discourage some of those persistent destructive pesky
insects.
LEMON BALM
Melissa officinalis seeds can be
sown indoors about eight weeks before your last frost date. They need
light to germinate so plant them uncovered and just press them into
the soil or vermiculite. This is a perennial that self-sows freely and
may get out of hand if not contained, but in my opinion, having lots
of lemon balm is no problem.
PARSLEY
On the other hand, parsley seeds
don't germinate well in light. They need to be well covered with soil,
but not too deeply. These seeds seem to take forever to germinate and
just when you've given up on them, up they sprout. To help them along,
soak parsley seeds in water for 48 hours, changing the water twice,
before planting them. Another trick that speeds them up is to pour very
hot water over the planted seeds. After that, keep them at temperatures
below 85°F.
BE KIND TO THE EARTH
Please avoid pesticides and chemicals
when gardening. There are so many organic ways to produce healthy plants
that there really is no need to use toxic *killer* pollutants. And remember
to always give back more to the earth than you take from it. Mother nature
will thank you and bless you.
GO FOR IT
Just get into the dirt and do your
thing. If one attempt fails, try again. What have you got to lose. You
may even get hooked and find you have a knack for growing something of
valuable in the commercial herb industry. If you do, let me know! We
may very well be interested in your crop.
ENOUGH FOR NOW
We'll stop here and pick up where
we left off next week ... I mean next year :-) Cathe has been very
successful growing lavender this year. Maybe she will fill us in on
some of her secrets. We will also spend some more time talking about
the mint family.
Please be responsible during this
holiday and return safely to us. We wish you a VERY HAPPY & PROSPEROUS
NEW YEAR! SHALOM!
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