A Fairy Garden

I get anxious for spring this time of year so I made a visit to my local garden center. After seeing some of the adorable fairy gardens on display I decided making my own would be a great way to get through the rest of winter. I knew my fairy garden needed to be made from herbs alone. I choose Roman Chamomile, Gota kola, Thyme, Rose Geranium, and Rosemary, all have great aromas and textures. Some of these plants were pretty dense so I split them as I transplanted them into the wide clay pot I purchased. I'll save the part I split off to put in the garden in spring. As the herbs grow I will trim them so they will get denser. The rosemary and thyme will eventually hang over the side of the clay pot I hope. The rose geranium I trimmed quite a bit around the bottom so that it would look more like a tree and provide a shady place for the fairies to sit. The garden center had quite a few ceramic fairies and other 'paraphernalia' to choose from so if you decide to design a fairy garden be sure to get a pot big enough to fit all the fun options you'll want. But just looking at the miniature garden items; shovels, wheelbarrows, fences, chairs etc. was alot of fun in itself.

After filling the pot with soil I put a path down the middle made from crushed oyster shell. This was something we already had on hand for our chickens but you can find several bags of crushed stones at the garden center too. The fairies then went in right under the rose geranium tree where they seem to be comfortable. I found a frog outside that had broken off a globe in the garden and he wanted to be part of the garden too and talk with the fairies so he went in too; even though his size seems to be a bit out of proportion!
What do you do to help get through the last part of winter?

Scented Paper, a Valentine's Day Project

I was looking for a fun craft to do for Valentine’s Day this year and came up with scented paper. You can make your own paper to do this craft or purchase paper. Although it is fairly easy to make your own paper and I have done it many times with my kids and with their Cub Scout dens, for this project I bought a sheet of paper I liked from a craft store as well as used some parchment paper I had on hand.

I cut the paper into smaller pieces (note card size). Some of the sheets I decorated with ground herbs just as you would with glitter; I applied the glue to the paper in the design I wanted and sprinkled the ground herb on top of that. The herbs I used were ground linden leaf, ground vanilla, ground rose petals and ground rose hips all of which I had on hand.

Now for the actual scenting I decided on lavender, rose geranium and petitgrain essential oils. Three drops of each went on a cotton ball which I put in a ziplock plastic bag along with the paper. These will set until Valentine’s Day.

Petitgrain is not an essential oil that I have much experience with but I thought I’d try it. It is made from leaves of the orange tree rather than the fruit or blossoms. I find it pulls scents together and help them blend. It has calming properties which can sharpen thought and bring about a sense of well being. Lavender and rose geranium essential oils are standbys for me. Lavender is calming and used to reduce anxiety as well as to relieve headache. Rose geranium is for emotional balance and depression. I think together these oils will delight both the person writing a note on this paper and the person reading the Valentine’s love note.

Cold in the Greenhouse

When I got home from a trip Monday night the temperatures were in the negative! The next day I noticed some of my rose geraniums in the greenhouse had gotten nipped by the cold. Mind you, this is not really a greenhouse; it has no temperature controls. It is basically a shed with a brick floor, south facing windows and a large water container inside and my workshop on the other side. I was told by the previous owners that it never froze inside, but temps below zero may have pushed things. One of my rose geraniums is severely drooping right now but I am hopeful that it can recover. You can see another rose geranium looks pretty good as does the rosemary and lemon verbena. The common geranium is also blooming red which is great for the Holidays. I use this greenhouse for overwintering some of my plants and am trying my hand at starting some new plants as well; mint and lavender. I also have a try of mixed lettuces going which I will harvest from soon. Its nice to have fresh greens in the middle of winter for a salad. I am also housing some tender plants from the Herb Society garden. Some of these are not doing too well as I think not enough roots came with them upon transplant. They include stevia, lemon grass, bay, marjoram and a few others. If I remember correctly, the garden cleanup day was a cold and wet one and these were probably dug in haste! But, its always hard to predict Mother Nature and even they may come back.