This is a start on one of my new herb gardens. In a small area I managed to sqeeze in White Sage, Speedwell, Bee Balm, Lemon Balm and Lavendar. I added a few Gerbera Daisys for color. How is it going with you guys?

Ohh, it looks so wonderful! I live in a Townhouse with a smaller garden than I would like (actually, I think unless I had acres of land, anything would be small). But I have still managed to squeeze in 15 herbs, with some on the way.

Please let us know how the bee balm is. I have thought of getting it, but read somewhere that it can be not so go to grow (not for medicinal reasons, but as a plant itself).

I only have my usual rosemary and white sage going right now, but they're doing very well. I'm not sure if I'm going to plant any other herbs this season as I've been concentrating most of my energy in our yard working on and expanding our current underground drainage system to prevent flooding from all the rain we've been having.

While Marjoram or monarda or Bee Balm is an invasive plant it is considered one of a witche's magickal plants every herbalist should have. Monarda comes in a few colors, bright pink, purple and white flower starbursts. Also you can now get red monarda.

Herbalists use the leaves for magick.
It relieves grief, protects the home and repels evil from your home and gardens. Hang sprigs over your entryway to repel evil. Sprinkle dried leaves around your grounds to protect home. Use in bathwater to relieve grief.

Marjoram is a kitchen witch favorite. Cut the stalk half-way down in the late summer to harvest. Place in paper bags and let dry in a dark, hot place. After it is dried thoroughly crunch up the bags and then pour out to separate the leaves from the stalks and seeds. Dried leaves can be then placed in jars and last about a year.

Culinary ways to use Bee Balm is to put in various soups and stews. It has the pleasant taste of a mix of oregano and basil. It compliments strong game meats if you roast the meat with a bunch of monarda stuffed inside the meat. I also like to make a vinegar as this herb has a lot of resinous products and imparts a lot of flavor. To make a vinegar use apple cider vinegar with dried plant material. Stuff the bottle about 1/2 full of plant material and then pour in vinegar to the top. Cap and store for three to six weeks. The flavor of marjoram vinegar is great for salads and marinades.

Marjoram is a perrenial and will come back each year. It creates large patches that will crowd out weaker root strength plants. Sage, marjoram, chamomile are good combinations to plant with because these have similar root structures. You can easily transplant in spring by pulling up large swatches and transplanting in sunny locations.

namaste,
JB

Greetings All - I'm getting ready to plant my very first herb garden does anyone have any pictures of theirs they can share with me? and advice for what herbs do well besides...what herbs? i was thinking of making it elemental...any ideas? thanks for any help blessings!

Hey, guys! No pics for me - don't even have my own digital camera, and I am so living under a rock that I have never uploaded images from a camera anyway- but figured I could tell you about our herb garden. My mom has been growing potted herbs for years, but last year I helped my father build an above-ground bed for the herbs on the southern side of the house. They absolutely loved growing there!

We grew a variety, but had all the basics; sage (though not in the herb box, they were planted over by the oak tree in our front lawn), chamomile, basil (a few kinds. The purple was getting the hot air from the house's cooling system nonstop, and literally exploded. It was almost as tall as I am, with only like a foot advantage because of the herb box, and I'm fifteen this Thursday. It was huge!), oregano, lemon balm, parsley, marjoram (a few kinds), and thyme (lots of different varieties). We also had some others that are less common, like parcel (a cousin of parsley that looks like it, but tastes like celery - gee, where do you think they got the name?^^), tarragon (tastes kinda like anise. You know, in licorice?), fever few (it got huge), dill, *St. Johns Wort, and horehound (no, nothing naughty, though it sounds like it, right? It has a bitter flavor, and is good for sore throats - yay! helped me a lot in teas!).

*Our St. Johns Wort got huge, for one thing. It also sprouted babies, that this year are taking over. We have endless pots filled with the baby plants, just so the other perennials have a chance to grow this year! Please, if you are going to plant any St. Johns Wort in any place it will grow successfully, either keep it in a pot, or plan for it to invade! We could not find the tag, though it had been placed right next to the plant, and suspect that it was swallowed by the endless leaves of the mother plant, but we decided that beneath all the description, it must say somewhere in fine print, '.....with plans to take over the world.'

Hope all your gardens do as well as ours (herb bed and other beds) are doing!

Blessed Be!

~DoveSong13

hi all - i'm planting my herb garden and i have herbs for :
water = catnip, valerian, thyme
air = lavender and sage
fire = rosemary and basil
earth = i can't find any with an earth correspondance....any ideas?

ok, i've been researching herbs online all day...looks like sage can also be associated with earth? depends on who you read....? any ideas?

hey gypsyraven thanks for the inspiration! (and uaine for starting the thread)

there's loads of books out there (and in front of me) for ideas, and the internet of course,
personally - i prefer to think of the elements or planes and then make natural correspondences with what i know from experience -than i am delightfully surprised when i research later and compare...

so.. if you don't mind while i collect my own thoughts -- i'll share while i 'wing it'...


FIRE: firethorn (ouch!), stinging nettle, poson ivy (you get the picture), scarlet runner bean, sunflower,
heliotropes, nasturtium, peppers - especially hot(chilli) peppers, tiger lilly, roses, rosemary, calendula
marigold, corn, dragon fruit, orange - citrus fruits,
AIR: mistletoe (good luck finding that), 'air' fern, flowering vines - passion flower, jasmine, honey-suckle,
fennel, bay laurel, sage, borage, wisteria, scented-geraniums, clematis

WATER: watermelon, watercress, marshmallow, willow-pussywillow, iris, sweet-flag, horsetail, ferns, rice,
sweetgrass, water lilly, grapes, licorice, tarragon, mints, catnip, dill, chives, parsley, bamboo, anise

EARTH: potato ('pomme de terre'), peanuts, tubers, turnip, parsnip, ginger, mandrake, ginseng, truffles
(yeah right - like that's gonna happen), bulbs - tulips, daffodils, crocuses, primrose, nutmeg,
belgian endive, sage, hollyhock, gourds, thyme, asparagus, amaryllis, sweet woodruff, violets, pansies

-- k - glad i got that out of my system - (not all 'herbs' - sorry)

wyrdric

wow!! great ideas thanks!