Buds and Blooms

This morning started with a tummy ache and thankfully it was solved by crushing some of my dried basil. Its smells filled the air so beautifully and wonderful that I was solved of my stomach ache and went outside to tend my plants between the football plays. Upon going out there, I did two things! First checked for my mantis, and to see if she's chosen her place to make an egg case (she's very good at hiding mind you), and then checked the plants for buds. I was pleased to find!

Emma's marigolds have produced buds and are ready to make flowers. These flowers started in a Vacation Bible School in Sycamore, where they were teaching the kids what plants grow in. If they could plant in sand, dirt, or rocks. Very interesting. Anyway they planted several plants inside paper cups, marigolds, basil, and carrots, as well as pole bean in a plastic bottle. The bean didn't come up, but everything else did and the marigolds are ready to sprout after 2 and a half months. Exciting!

Also after some thinking about it, I let one of my basil plants make its flowers so that I can harvest it again next year and make a bushier plant by only harvesting from the plants that are bushy. They look very nice and smells better. I have a full jar of dry basil now. I am flattening a branch it as well between the pages of my heaviest book. I would love to make some shampoo however. That would be really nice. I just really love basil. I used the microwave to make them as crispy as I could. First time using that method!

On top of that! Our strawberry plants are getting much heartier and I'm glad to say their stems are very strong now! They look extremely good. I'm very proud of them.

MANTIS!

Oh my gosh!!

Its been such an exciting week! Mom is on vacation leaving me more time to do what it is I lurves! First, I harvested one of the bigger basil plants because it was in desperate condition. Not enough space for all those roots. So I clipped those down and hung them along with the boxwood because it was starting to dampen off.

The strawberry has grown leaps and bounds and I can't wait for it to start its own little flowers and berries for Emma's delight. So I'm watering and moving them from the indoors to the out because of the chronic storms that have been happening and placed them outside when I discovered something completely shocking!

A MANTIS ON THE MINT PLANT!!!!



Just awesome! I guess he was sheltering from the storms on my mint plant which is awesome. Such a great opportunity.

of pests and men!

SO! The herbs are loving the out of doors. I sent them out there and check them every hour with a cold water spray bottle and try to scare away the mites. It seems... that along with the mites having left, the plants have taken over. No one seems to mind them. In fact, there is a local stray/housecat I have dubbed 'Hector' who likes to wipe his face all over the lavender. Its cute so long as he doesn't... you know, do his business on my plant!

Anyway sicne these 4 have done so amazing outside I took the next pot out to get the buggies off of that one too. Even so mom thinks I should leave the cured ones outside because they've gotten so strong in the rich sunlight. Its true ^^

SO! I was reading more about my lavender plant since its been saved from the pestilence, and it seems I'm not going to have flowers this year. They flower only on the 2nd or 3rd year. ALSO! I'm suppose to have been pruning them! Because if you don't prune them in the summer than the next year the plant will grow... 'unruly?' Now I still don't know what the 'woody' part of the plant is, but I think I did well when I took my scissors out there this afternoon. These dried leaves will be an attempt at lavender basil tea. I hear the mix is quite nice. I know the smell is!

*dies of heavenly scents*

Anyway lets hope that the plants enjoy some more outdoorsy time and I get to enjoy the nice smells! Guess the shampoos will wait til next year!

Basil Oil

So guess what!

I found that last vile of attempted basil oil from oh.... last year? Lol. Pretty horribly spoiled. That's what happens when you try to hide the bottle away and then don't tell anyone where you put it. Anyway I am making some basil oil now again the way I made the lilac oil because its the best idea I could think of to help harvest some of the basil. This way I can get to work on candles sooner or later. Not that I can afford wax right now. Hopefully sometime soon I'll get some.

Busy with the Buggies

Sooo I failed. I thought that the uggy buggies had only taken over a few of the plants. Well upon getting them off those plants they returned... from the other plants. So NOW! I'm going to eave them out of doors. Well the first bunch I am going to leave out of doors. I have 4 outside now. The Lavender, the second boxwood basil, the mint, and the sweet basil. They are going to be getting the 'cold shoulder' of bug techniques. First they go outside, then! I spray them with chilly water every few hours and sprinkle it all over them until the bugs decide its the worst place EVER to live.

THEN! I move them indoors after washing down the plant area and take the next batch outdoors. I've decided the soap thing is evil because it killed most my plants. Well it ate away at the leaves and its sort of miffing me off so that tech is gone. But this way I'm hoping that I'll get everything all cleaned up and such. Anyway I hope that my wonderful neighbors don't think of this as an opportunity to put their cigarettes out in them. They seem decent enough people. Anyway. Here's hoping.

Poor jail babies!

Cooking with Tine!

That's right peeps! Yesterday I mad the most delicious stuffed peppers known to man! Meaning if I rarely eat them and I was shocked by how awesome it truly was. Anyway the really cool part was that I used mine own herbs to make it! It was really amazing. Sure it was pretty much midnight when we finally got to eat them but it was soooo worth it!

See that basil leaf in the middle? That's only one of my MEDIUM sized leaves! They are so hugely awesome! It was the sweet basil I used this time though because I didn't want overpowering.





EPIC!