Buying herbs

 Have you looked at the prices of herbs these days? They are out of sight. A couple of years ago, I could buy a pot of herbs to plant in my garden for around $2 and the going price at Lowes and Home Depot is now around $4, if you include tax. I guess herbs have become a very popular item but that price is so high.

When my daughter went by a Farmer's Market in another state last weekend, she called to say they have some really great-looking herbs for sale. The price was around $3 per pot and they were lovely plants so we decided to buy. The beautiful mint above was one of her purchases.

I needed some mint. Everyone says that you have to be careful because mint will take over. I have not found that to be true in my herb beds. The mint just doesn't growing like crazy for me, so she found me some great spearmint and lemon mint. Guaranteed, I hope, to spread like wildfire. I may not like having that problem next year, but for now, I would love some fresh mint for my iced tea. I just love mint in my iced tea. It is so refreshing.

We still need dill for our garden. We planted some cilantro and I have planted some cilantro seeds as well. I am not always certain my seeds will do as well as I would wish. We'll see.

 She also brought back some basil and Italian parsley. Basil is something you have to plant fresh each year and I have read it is hard to grow from seed. It is my favorite Italian spice. I also like the Italian parsley.

Parsley can also be a bit hard to grow from year to year. I do have a little in my herb beds, I have noticed, but this will be very nice because I never have enough parsley. It is so good added to almost anything and high in Vitamin C, I am told.

Perhaps the nicest surprise was the lemon thyme she bought. It has varigated leaves. Isn't it beautiful? She bought some regular thyme, too. I do already have a nice stand of it, but this varigated variety is my favorite. It smells wonderful.

I have heard that people plant creeping thyme, a low-growing variety, between stepping stones because when people step on it, the fragrance that is released is lovely. I can see this is probably true because just touching this herb is nice because of the fragrance.

Isn't is beautiful? I just love it. I hope I have plenty to share. I would love to pot cuttings to give away next year. I hope it is a success.

My grandson says, "What about me?" He is helping to take care of the plants. What a sweet helper.