Hey my Sweet Lifers! There’s something pretty awesome about studying plants in your garden and I hope over this past year you have learned a bit more than you already knew about the history, uses and benefits of growing herbs, and vegetables in your home gardens. I have always been struck...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! One of the easiest to grow and certainly a lovely addition to any garden is chives. They are, with reference to taste, the lightest of the onion family. They are also one of the oldest herbs as they have been cultivated for 5,000 years. Culinarily speaking there’s nothing better on...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! I must say for anyone who tried to keep a garden growing during this heat wave we have had…CONGRATS! I admit I cleared the beds and prepped them for fall and perhaps even this spring. With the critters nibbling whatever they can to stay sustained in this heat I left...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! Hope ya’ll are digging in and prepping those beds for some fall harvesting. I have prepped and added nutrients to all my beds and will start sprinkling some seeds over the next few weeks for radishes, beets, carrots and collards. One of my favorites to grow and use in the...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! Boy do I love cilantro…like I use it in all meals starting with on my eggs for breakfast and in my pasta dishes and with every meat! I tried growing it over the past several years and every time I tried to it would look real nice for about two...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! I hope all of ya’ll are having a wonderful start to summer. I have been enjoying mine most thoroughly. I’ve been learning a lot about what seeds to sow and when to do so in the flower garden and watching things sprout up and grow has been quite satisfying. The...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! There’s one herb in my garden that is appreciated more than any other by my sweet life cats and it is of course, catnip. I planted a small amount of it at the edge of the steps a few years back and now it is a huge plant that brings...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! About ten years ago a neighbor asked me if I would like some aloe vera for my garden. I was barely wet under the ears with my gardening skills and I planted the tiny little things under a tree out in what is now the Sweet Life Garden. Over the...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! Recently, I saw a post from a dear friend regarding a perished bee having fallen prey to the hand of an unscrupulous person who thought it swell to put pesticides on their dandelions. Dandelions are not weeds! In the spring, they are some of the first flowers to feed the...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! I don’t think there’s anyone except my great Aunt Melda Lee that doesn’t like garlic. I shared a recipe with her years ago for my collards and I had barely gotten garlic out of my mouth as one of the ingredients when she twisted up her face and grimaced! I...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! There are many things I love about having a garden. One is the ability to walk outside and pick fresh daily items to use for my recipes. I suppose if I did not love to cook this would not be as pleasurable. What I love perhaps the most is when...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! Hope ya’ll had a marvelous and merry holiday! There are many flowers that serve as both a beauty and as a handy helper to plant in your garden. One of these is calendula, also known as Pot -Marigold and Poor Man’s Saffron. It is, in my opinion one of the...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! If you’re feeling like you want to up your game in home cooking then might I suggest growing some tarragon. This herb has the ability to “elevate” dishes to the next level. Considered one of the four fine herbs in French cooking, it plays well with fish, chicken and pork. ...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! Of all the herbs I grow parsley is the one that I can never get enough of. I grow it everywhere and as soon as the root forms I move it to the main garden so it can flower and spread it’s seeds for even more! Parsely is a member...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! This summer has really poured a lot of hurting on the garden. We have set records by having the hottest one since 1913. As you can imagine some herbs survive and even thrive in that kind of temperatures; while others said “adios!” Because I do so much cooking, preserving and...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! Peppermint is one of the oldest herbs we have. It has been found in the pyramids in Egypt and apparently deemed useful not only for the living but for the dead as well. Mint was also used as a trading commodity. The word “mint” traces back to the actual minting...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! I just got clocked by a hornet in my armpit in the sweet life garden! I know, what a way to intro my column this month, but keep reading and it will make sense and perhaps even make you smile. I am constantly being reminded of the fact that at...
Het my Sweet Lifers! One of the most versatile herbs to have in your garden is thyme. There are more than 400 different species used from culinary to medicinal to just fabulously decorative. The tiny petite flowers are a pretty addition to plates and the scent is lovely when making floral arrangements from your...
The Sweet Life Gardener Basil June 2022 Hey my Sweet Lifers! Of all the herbs for...
Hey my Sweet Lifers! By now all of you should have gotten beds prepped and made some decisions about what you’d like to grow in your own gardens. I have been busy as well getting seedlings hardened off and ready to go into the main beds they were planned for. I have in the...
