Year Round Herb Gardening

Looking at nature, autumn is a time of relaxing from the hustle of summer, of drawing inward and reflecting, of reaching into what you have stored away over the growing season.

A blog post by Guido Mase on Mountain Rose Herb’s blog called In Gratitude for Plants focuses on the blessings of pulling inward and reflecting during this season. He says,

” It is an opportunity to reaffirm connection, gather the alignments and alliances that have grown richer over the summer months, and renew my faith in the plant connection that drives me. So much happened over the summer, but fall gives us a chance to acknowledge, internalize, and express gratitude for it all. This is a time when power is in the air, a richness and abundance we can harness if we stop to do it mindfully. “

I love the idea of this, of settling down to my indoor projects, pulling from my herb collection built up over the summer, reflecting and setting goals for the next growing season. Really, I need to start working towards finding a balance with this.

The only problem is, that so isn’t me.

I LOVE autumn; I love it getting cooler, I love love love the colors and the crunchy leaves and the musty smell of the woods. But I don’t love having to stop.

I like pushing the boundaries, keeping things growing.

Perhaps some of this feeling comes from jumping on the herbal bandwagon literally late in the season. Perhaps it comes from my natural tendency to be contrary. Most likely some of these feelings are inspired by expecting a new baby in spring and knowing I am going to be busy and exhausted and less able to get outside in the garden.

At any rate, as it gets colder & browner outside, my mind has been wandering to how I could possibly maintain an indoor herb garden. If you read my post, Growing Herbs: Trial by Error, you’ll quickly see that I have not had the best of luck with this thus far. Between a destructively curious toddler and a sad neglect of watering, my house plants don’t do well normally.

I’m looking to change that! In the next few weeks, I’ll be posting what I learn about starting herb seeds, growing herbs indoors, starting herbs & plants from scraps, and my successes & failures. Check back for some fun & crazy ideas to keep your garden growing in the winter!