Summer herb harvesting

I took the first cuttings of herbs from the little container garden I planted back in June. They had simply exploded since planting - with just a little supplemental watering here and there. I've been checking the soil moisture daily, and to my amazement, it seems that the self-watering planter is actually working as it should! Even in dry periods, the soil has been consistently cool and moist, even the top inch. I've only had to water the planter maybe 3 times since it was planted.

I pinched a small handful of basil and thyme for myself this evening, in the hopes of making an herb bread, and a batch of purple basil pesto. There wasn't much to harvest, but since the herbs will get bushier with every vigorous pruning, I'm hoping to get quite a bit more in a few weeks.

I still have sage and oregano left untouched in the container. I'm a little apprehensive about pruning the sage, since I've read it needs to be harvested sparingly during the first year. And the oregano hasn't really grown large enough yet for me to feel comfortable taking any sprigs for myself.

Meanwhile, in two homemade planters on the kennel, I planted a variety of mints and lemon balm (which were purchased from a friendly group of authentic hippies living about an hour south - definitely an adventure, that). They are growing amazingly well, and have such a nice variety of aromas. Being the mint grower that I now am, I'm now spotting mint everywhere - I found a very healthy patch of wild mint growing along the edge of our gravel driveway near the woods this evening. Of course, I just had to break off a snippet to compare the fragrance. Well, as wild plants often do, it made the cultivated mint pale in comparison. The fragrance was incredibly aromatic and spicy, with a sharpness that the container mint lacked. I imagine the cultivated mint is probably much sweeter and better for cooking, but the wild variety would likely be incredible in candles or steeped for tea. I'm going to snip a few cuttings off tomorrow and get them to root in some water, and replant them in one of my deck containers.

There is much more to talk about other than herbs, but that will have to wait for another day. A girl can only write so much!