SECOND SEASON HERBSCAPE

 

 

Late summer, in the south, can be the start for a second season garden which is often more productive than the spring planting since they don’t bolt as readily or become bitter tasting.  Just water diligently until the seeds germinate and the plants are sturdy and strong and remember that the hummingbirds and butterflies will love the fresh crop of flowers.  Compost is the best way to enhance a late planting and to help the soil retain moisture and moderate temperature changes.  There are numerous herbs and edible flowers that love cool weather and make a great fall crop especially to go with your end of summer harvest and salads.

 

            Just to get you started consider a few of these to plant again this fall.  Dill is great for pickling those cucumber harvests.  Mache corn salad with its nutty flavor greens, arugula, mesclun and colored leaf lettuces will make beautiful fall holiday salads especially when sprinkled with bright colored nasturtiums, pansies, or calendula and chrysanthemum petals.  Basil and cilantro will be ready for those “end of the season” pestos and salsas.  Chives will once again produce those edible blooms to garnish cheese balls or produce herbal vinegars.  Sorrel will be ready for soup and chamomile for tea time when the temperatures turn colder.

 

 

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.”
Psalm 24:1-2