Growing rosemary from cuttings

When I had the open day a while back one of the things I spoke about was how to make more plants from what you already have. I mentioned seed saving - although I am not a big seed saver as I find it too fiddly for my time constraints. But one of the easiest ways to propagate new plants is by taking hard wood cuttings.

Being the kind of person I am I don't overthink it too much and follow exact instructions but apply the general principle of hardwood cuttings to gain more herbs like rosemary, lavender and sage. Below follows how to do it using Rosemary as an example.

This is mother rosemary. It is a huge plant that stands under my bathroom window and has been growing for about 7 years in this spot. In summer it has delicate purple-blue flowers that attract the bees. While we use rosemary in cooking a few times a week, and don't really need another plant, I have wanted to have a bank of rosemary buses at the pond garden for bees and beauty so have been making baby plants from this one.

Every time I use rosemary, I simply cut the length I need from the plant and strip off the lower leaves to use in my recipes. The remaining stalk gets added to a glass of water with others and stands on the kitchen windowsill. I refresh the water when needed - a couple times a week, generally.

After a few weeks these new roots begin to appear. I wait until the majority of the stem is covered with them before planting them into a smallish pot containing a rich compost potting soil mixture with some added coco-peat.

This baby rosemary bush was planted in November and has set itself nicely to the job of growing up. I will transplant it, and its siblings, in a few weeks around the pond.

As we often need sage for soap, cooking (it's superb with pork) and for the chicken liver pate that my daughter makes and sells, I have started propagating that delicious herb too. Lavender is also useful for attracting bees, making soap and for the sublime honey and lavender ice-cream I have made before. Lavender is also just for aroma therapy when walking through the garden.

Do you propagate herbs and plants from cuttings? Tell me about it! I love to learn from your comments.

Garden walkabout - join me?

It's been a while since I have taken you around the homestead...so come walk with me?

The indoor kitchen garden

The barley, wheat and sunflower kitchen garden which I started at the end of November is growing well. We have been harvesting the grass and sprouts for juicing and green smoothies.

It became a little obessive that each of us would peer at these growing shoots and run our hand over the new blades of grass in anticipation.

It all looks so pretty and neat in it's little stand.

Compost

Out back at the garage the compost is doing it's thing. Yesterday I asked Des to give it a good turn and sifting.

We let the chickens into the area and they had a great time eating the cut worm and mielie bugs.By Autum this should be ready to use in the garden.

The backyard which is paved has pots around the egdes and some small beds under the windows.

This is my favourite pot! It is an overgrowing cucumber plant. There are so many flowers on the plant and I planted it here as an after thought.

There are wire trelisses in the tub to support the growth and the flowers have attracted the well needed bees to the back garden.

Last year our cucumber crop was a failure, the year before we had so many that I didn't know what to do with them.

This year I hope we have struck a happy balance.

 
Rosemary and Sage grow in abundance, 2 asparagus plants in tubs, a variety of lettuce, strawberries and other herbs like basil, majoram, celery, oreganum, thyme, lavender and tea tree.

 Our sage is doing particularly well and we use it for pork dishes and then I dry what I can for soap making.

I have also stuck a trailing squash seed into the bigger pots and will feed these pots heavily with worm tea through summer.

You can see the squash growing out the pot below.

 Also in the backyard we have planted our fig tree. This was in the general vegetable garden but I transplanted it in Winter as I had realised that it would eventuallycast shade and rob nutrition from the plants near it.

It has handled the transplant and is full of fruit.

At its base I have planted tomatoes and aubergines. These are doing really well in the full sun position.

Fig tree full of promise

 Heading through the kitchen door the herb tower is growing madly with all sorts of herbs which we use almost daily.

In this area I also have the chilli bushes, strawberry baskets, lemon grass and grapevine.

I hope to put a little table and chair out here for still summer mornings to have my quiet time and coffee.

The original garden has potatoes, corn, courgette, bush beans and tomatoes growing. Strawberries are in baskets here as well along the wall.

Looking from the front gate with the pond to the left we have....

Tomatoes, beans, leeks, spinach, potatoes, courgettes and of course the big ferny asparagus plants which you can't see in this picture. The empty bed at the front isn't empty :) it has baby tomato plants.

Peek-a-boo!

 Looking back towards the gate is the rambling area which needs a good weeding but over here we have tomatoes, cucumber, corn, courgettes and some self seeded sunflowers.

The bugs are delighting in the big open faces that also delight us when we look across the garden.

Then we are back to the back gate where the cars are parked and the compost is cooking.

I hope you enjoyed the walkabout!

Enjoy the weekend!

A Kitty Garden

Our kitties are growing daily and are getting along better with Precious Baby Lamb. As they will soon be big enough to wander alone outside I decided to plant them a little patch to enjoy.

I pulled out the nasturtiums and calendula that were growing around the pond and had gone over, added some compost and planted two each of catnip and cat grass.

Hopefully by the time that the little ones are big ones these will be established for them to enjoy.

I also sowed some variegated sunflowers as the first seeds that I sowed never came up.

The pond is a real delight to me and my youngest as it is visited by so much wildlife each day. There are dragonflies, birds, frogs and other smaller critters there for him to study.

We do seem to have a leak though as within a day of being filled the water level sinks quite drastically.

I also heard today that we can use barley straw to control the algae growth in our pond so will be doing some research into where I can get this from.

The kitties went outside today for the first time and enjoyed the sunshine, the sand and the odd flying insect that buzzed around them.

I so enjoy having felines in the home again after all these years.....

In the garden today

Despite the damp and cold we spent a little while in the garden today...come take a look around...

Radishes are so huge, time to use them up

First peas turning up

My favourite flower around the pond

Onions..and leaves.

Loads of spinach for dinner

Oh, my other favourite flower making a show.

Purple broccoli

Argh..weeds, must have come through the manure we added in Autumn

Beautiful beets for supper.

Tomorrow has a wet wild stormy forecast, glad we managed some time in the garden today.

Attracting Wildlife To Your Garden

If you live on a small holding or farm wildlife like rabbits and hares, deer (in the USA), gerbils and moles can be a huge problem for veggie growers. If you are like me living in the city, then you will have to employ strategies to attract wildlife to your garden to create a thriving eco-system where each plant and animal do their thing to keep the balance.

One of the best ways to start attracting wildlife is by making a pond or setting up a water feature. Birds, frogs, dragon flies, lizards and even pond skaters are have a function in a vegetable garden and they all love a watering hole.

When we converted the last part of lawn into a veggie garden in Dec 2010 my son begged us to make a pond. We are so glad that we listened to him as we now have a thriving ecosystem for all the above mentioned critters.

Early pond

15 months later

Another way to attract wildlife is to have feeding stations. This one below my youngest made back when we started the pond. He simply nailed together 3 slats of wood then nailed it to a spare fence post. He hit 4 nails through from the underneath to spike fruit to hold it in place while the birds feed.

He also attached two cup hooks to the underneath to hand a traditional bird seed feeder and a homemade nectar feeder. The White Eyes and Sunbirds polish this off weekly.

At woodwork class he made this very professional bird feeder which we put fruit, seed and meal worms on which is visited daily by Bulbuls, Red Wing Starlings and Fiscal Shrikes. During winter he likes to make pine cone feeders for birds, but the squirrels generally get to them first.

Another tip to attract wildlife is allowing herbs to go to flower. Borage is my absolute favourite for this as the bees cannot get enough of their beautiful lilac and blue flowers. Below is yarrow that is also flower and gets its share of daily visitors.

It goes without saying that creatures will visit your garden if they know it is safe. A couple of years ago our neighbours sprayed their law with something toxic and our chameleons dissappeared for 2yrs. If you need to spray, then make sure you use something that is specific, non toxic and preferably homemade like chilli and garlic sprays etc.

A better way to deal with pests is to introduce it's predator. Ladybugs love aphids, frogs eat slugs and other flying pests, spiders pray on mosquitoes and ants, Praying Mantids are probably one of the most beneficial garden helpers. Companion planting is another great way to keep pests off vegetables and is really doable with a little planning.

A wonderful book to buy on this topic is Garden Guardians by South african author Johan Gerber.

I cannot tell you the joy I experience when I see our Leopard Toad, turn over the soil and see the loads of earthworms, lift leaves and see the woodlice or peep into the asparagus and see our lizards and praying mantis...I am so glad they feel safe here and have made our garden their home.

Socks and growth....

This morning I took my coffee out to the veggie garden and sat on an overturned bucket in the sun while the chickens were out. We can only let them out with supervision now as all the seedlings need a few more weeks of chicken free growing.

I took my new book to read...recommended by a reader of this blog...Twisted Sisters Sock Book.



My eyes delight in the socks that they knitted, but I must say I am just terribly nervous to start this new skill. Part of the issue is time and the other niggling thing is getting my sluggish brain to kick into gear. I see all those abbreviations and my heart sinks. I'll get there, I am sure, hopefully before winter hits!

While I was sitting out there I had the sprinkler running around the pond area and the lovely sound of our Clicking River Frogs kept me company.

I also noticed all the growth happening...while we are not eating much from the garden besides salads and herbs at the moment, there is a promise of lots to come.


Turnip leaves growing strong and green...

About 6 or 7 loofahs taking shape...

Broad Beans...can taste them already!

Asparagus...we can cut next spring for the first time! A long wait, but worth it!

The sound of clicking...

I am meant to be in bed, tucked under my warm blanket with a good book but here I am sharing something very exciting with you all. Yesterday morning this sight greeted me when I arrived for my walk on the nearby green belt. And then today the rain has steadily drizzled down all day. What a pleasure to not have to water the garden and God waters like no other - into all the places that the sprinkler misses! But here I sit with the sound of the rain and the most joyful, delightful, exciting sound of little frogs clicking away IN MY GARDEN. They have made their home here, yes we introduced them, but they have chosen to stay! Click away little ones....you are welcome here!

Things that go bump in the night!

This morning when I turned on my PC there was a Skype message waiting for me from a close friend saying that last night they were distrubed by a thumping in their passage.

It was a Western Cape Leopard Toad which occasionally visits them. Well, they had caught it for me....and "could I come collect it?"

Of course! I have been wanting one for our pond ecosystem, so before school began I popped down with my littlest one and fetched our new "pet".

He sat on the fold of the box and stared at the pond for a bit until I tipped him into the water and then he was gone, swimming laps around the pond.

We feel very honored to have him/her come and live with us.

A wildlife pond

Because it was my son's idea to have a wildlife pond to encourage birds back to our garden, he got the honors yesterday of adding the tadpoles my mom brought from her water feature.



Mom and I had fun today putting in some reeds and other water plants, decorating the edges and surrounds.
We have a pair of pigeons who have spent all day at the feeder and hanging around the rocks around the pond.


Oneday we hope for frogs, more tadpoles (obviously), a variety of birds, insects and any other critter who wants to make our garden their home.