Lemon balm was planted last year from seed and a couple of small plants survived winter here in Central Pennsylvania. They got a bit of a late start, so instead of using this herb last year we let the plants grow to establish themselves.

Lemon balm seems to be a hardy plant as evidenced by its surviving the freezing conditions. Witness the dark edges in the photo below.

(Click on any photo to see a larger image.)

Lemon balm survives freezing. Photo taken 30 March 2012.

Plants left open in the garden with no protection from winter weather overwintered just fine. The leaves are developing to a bright green color. I was very glad to have placed a long skewer into the soil next to each herb plant that was left in the garden. That way, in my early spring cleaning and weeding I wouldn’t (and didn’t!) blindly take out a potentially useful herb. It’s a good idea to mark perennial plants, like lemon balm, with stakes or some other kind of marker.

Perennial lemon balm growing bright green in the garden. Photo taken 2 May 2012.

The plants continue to grow strong now. Perhaps they’ll be good for companion planting. Does lemon balm provide any bug-away benefits? Maybe it would make a nice plant pesticide or plant companion. So, that’s it for now — the lemon balm gets to stay in the garden to act as a repellant for insects until we learn more about lemon balm and all its uses.

The citronella-like smell is what turns me off for using this herb in food, but the odor and taste probably change upon heating or blending with other herbs, so it’s worth trying out. Does anybody out there care to mention how you use lemon balm?

However you call them, we protect these perennial herbs from frost and freezing weather with leaves piled several inches deep. Leaves are left around the plants until the danger of frost is gone for the season. When freezing weather is forecast after a little plant growth has appeared in the new year, the leaves are there for the raking. We just pull an armful of leaves back over the top of the emerging herbs to protect them from really cold conditions.

Russian tarragon sprouting up through a layer of oak leaves. Photo taken 16 March 2012.

Near the middle of May, and probably before then for this year, the leaves will be thinned out and a thin layer left for mulch on the herb and flower beds. Extra leaves will find their resting place in a compost pile.

We use a tarp to move the leaves to and from the compost pile. Just rake the leaves on it – and they can be piled high! – grab two corners of the tarp and drag it where you want to dump the leaves. Sure beats raking them to where ever they have to go!

Our list of returning herbs includes -

• thyme
• oregano
• parsley, curled and flat
• tarragon, russian and french
• cilantro or coriander
• chives
• peppermint
• spearmint
• lemon balm
• chamomile
• catnip

The herb I’m missing the most is rosemary. Gotta find a rosemary plant this year. It’s one that doesn’t start well from seed, so I’ll be combing through nursery aisles looking for a plant instead.

All of our herbs are easily accessed from the kitchen and that’s something to keep in mind when you’re planting herbs this year. If your herbs are way in the back of the backyard, or somehow not so accessible, then it’s likely you’ll do without them in your cooking. Our herbs are but a few steps away from the kitchen, so even in the middle of cooking dinner I can walk out there, snip a few springs of oregano or thyme and be back inside before anything gets too crispy.

So far this Spring I’ve used the tarragons, parsley, thyme, chives and lemon balm. What herbs have you used from your re-growing herb garden?

The past couple of weeks we’ve had to cover the sprouts coming up in the garden to guard against freezing weather, but only two times. We covered the lettuces, peas, radishes and onions with an old sheet, a piece of muslin cloth, or black plastic sheeting or garbage bags. The covers were weighed down with rocks or boards. The next day the covers were removed at mid-morning.

Lettuce seeds were planted on the 11th, onion sets and snow pea seeds were planted on the 14th, and radish seeds were planted the 18th of March 2012. These ‘cold crops’ seem to do well in the chilly months if they’re protected from the frost.

Snow peas sprouting in a row. Photo taken 30 Mar 2012.

Snow peas will just about be finished for the season when we want to plant tomatoes, but until then we’ll be enjoying the fresh pea pods. It will probably take another 4 weeks until the snow peas are ready to eat, so we’ll just have to wait!

The seeds of chamomile, Chamomile boldegold also known as Matricaria recutita and Matricaria chamomilla, are so small that thousands of them were held inside a 1 x 2 inch plastic zip-bag that was itself inside of a labeled seed packet. Surely, the plastic bag was necessary to keep the tiny seeds from falling out of the standard seed packet or paper envelope.

Chamomile boldegold seeds.

By the way we were totally happy with the seeds we’ve purchase from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds.

The instructions indicated that germination is aided by freezing conditions, which may explain why only two plants grew from the pinches of seeds that were sprinkled in late Spring. Flowers that were allowed to drop on the ground last year should contribute to a larger crop this year. If you’re going to try to sow chamomile seeds indoors, put the seeds in the freezer overnight for more germination success.

The bright green foliage is bipinnate, where the leaflets themselves have leaflets. The segments that make up the leaflets are very narrow. Leaf stems of chamomile are round, but hollow. Our mild weather probably had something to do with the chamomile plants surviving the winter. Most sources claim this plant to be an annual, but under the right conditions chamomile is a perennial.

Chamomile leaves re-growing from last year in front of the tulips. Photo taken 30 Mar 2012.

Chamomile is a fragrant little plant. The leaves have the smell of pineapple and the flowers smell like apples. The herbal tea we make from the flowers is gently fragrant of green apples.

Flowers are like small daisies, composites with white ray flowers and yellow disc flowers in the center. The disc forms a dome in maturing chamomile blooms.

The whole plant seems to appreciate cooler weather. The scorching heat of last summer made the plants grow very slowly. These chamomile plants were still producing flowers in the cool autumn days until frost halted their activity.

Flowering chamomile in the autumn. Photo taken 11 Oct 2011.

Chamomile is native to Europe, but it’s now naturalized nearly everywhere else. In the United States it’s said to be found growing along old fence rows and in fields. We have it growing near the house because we planted it there. I haven’t seen it in the wild, yet, but I’m curious if others have? If so, leave a comment and let us all know!

Lettuce, peas and onion sets are already planted in the garden. Last night’s snow would be called an “Onion Snow” because it covered over the onions that were planted a week ago. The ground is still cold, but when it warms up the onions will start growing quickly.

Onion sets in the garden with a little snow on top. Photos taken 1APR2011.

Onions that were water-logged last year and whose tops died back have sprouted. I was surprised that any root remained for re-growth, but the greenery is already 4-6 inches tall.

Garlic and chives are re-growing and soon they’ll be on the dinner table. You could as easily call this a “Chives Snow” instead of an Onion Snow. The wild chives that we see growing in the woods are the only green thing growing under the trees right now, except for a rare fern here and there starting to green up.

Perennial chives under the April Fool's Snow.

I think I’ll snip off some chives for a potato and egg dish tonight. Here’s a quick recipe for Potato, Egg and Chives:

• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and add half an onion, diced.
• Cook the onions until soft.
• Add a couple of cubed potatoes, cover and steam until cooked through.
• Beat a couple of eggs in a separate dish or add them directly into the skillet.
• Cover for one minute and then flip the whole mess for another minute or just stir everything together.
• When the eggs are set, sprinkle with pepper and cut chives.
• Serve with toast. Yum!

Twenty-two Canada Geese flying North.

The Canada Geese I heard overhead this morning were flying due North and that was a happy sight!

We tried broiling the garlic sprouts in the oven. It was delicious!

We harvested a few of the biggest sprouts. Some of them needed to have the ground broken before their roots would let go. Once they were pulled out of the ground the outer layers with most of the dirt were peeled away, leaving a very large scallion. The tops and roots were trimmed and any dirt washed off.

Then, the 8-inch scallions were placed in a shallow dish. A couple tablespoons of olive oil were poured over the garlic sprouts. Each sprout was turned in the oil so it was completely covered and then transferred to a foil-covered broiling pan. Black pepper was the only seasoning.

We put the pan under the broiler for only a few minutes and then you could hear the oil was hot. At this point you have to stay close and watch or the garlic will burn to a crisp. Turn the garlic when it browns on one side. Remove the garlic when it gets a little crispy on the other side and serve at once.

Forgot to get a picture this time, but there will be more broiled garlic sprouts to enjoy very soon. Does anybody else out there eat garlic like this? It had a mild flavor and everyone enjoyed it.

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We never had any garlic in the garden until last year. The year before last we were given some bulbs from a friend. He didn’t know what kind they were, but being Italian and a great chef, we took his word that it was some great garlic. He has since remarked that we’ll be mad at him this year because we’ll have garlic all over the garden. He’s not too far off the truth, either!

We planted in about 6 garlic bulbs in the Summer of 2008. Those bulbs matured and we harvested a few. The others were let go over the winter. In the late summer their seed heads fell over and planted many new garlic sets.

The garlic sprouts were thinned out and grew last summer and left to grow and overwinter. Now they’re growing again, and noticeably so! (Photo taken 29Mar2010.)

Garlic plants in the garden, two years old.

I’m looking forward to harvesting that garlic in the weeks ahead!

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Parsley is a biennial plant, one that grows for two years, flowering in the second year. It will overwinter here at Zone 6, but I’m not sure how far north you can go and still get the second year crop. Further north parsley is probably treated as an annual by planting it each year. To protect it over the winter, we pile up leaves all around the parsley plants and perennial herbs.

The first year is pure vegetative growth. The plant will get larger and bushier. When the stems are too long they won’t remain erect and droop out to the sides, making the parsley plant into a large round shape.

Parsley second year right after overwintering.

Second year growth is primarily involved with sending up a flower stalk. Biennials require some sort of winter period of dormancy before they can flower. During the second year you should harvest as early in the year as possible because the plant will put most of its energy into creating the flower stalk, flowers and seeds, not in producing more parsley leaves.

Bolting is the term given to the rapid growth of the flower stalk in the second year. Once the plant has bolted, you might as well find another parsley to transplant. After bolting and setting seed the parsley plant dies.

Harvest any of the parsley as it grows. You can use scissors or just your fingers. The stems are pliable enough to let you just pinch off a piece. Snip off a sprig here and there for garnishes.

Before the flower stalk gets too tall, we usually harvest most of the parsley and put it in freezer bags, as is. Once frozen, you can use scissors to snip off some parsley for your soup or potatoes when ever you need it, and re-freeze the remaining parsley.

This growing season was not a good one for tomatoes, but that just meant that it was time for other plants to shine. Basil, for one, did excellently this year.

If you’re thinking about protecting your plants from the cold, good on ya! Get out that tarp or row cover to shade your beauties from the cold. If the plants are small and few, try a large cardboard box. Just place the box over the plant in the evening and remove it in the morning.

If you’ve got a row of veggies to protect, you’ll want to try a row cover or a light fabric so that many plants can be protected at once. Got an old sheet? That’ll do!

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