Herbs and More

The weather has been glorious the past two weeks.  The summer-like temperatures have made fall activities even more enjoyable.  We’ve been spending as much time as possible outdoors – playing in the leaves at the park, working in the garden, or just basking in the sunshine.

Last week the children enjoyed picking the herbs from the plants that we were not bringing indoors.
 

This week we’ve spent some time cleaning up the garden in anticipation of next spring.  We had a great supply of tomatoes and cucumbers this year but many of the other plants produced little even though the plants seemed healthy.  Some, like the sunflowers, were a complete failure.  I’m not sure why – maybe too much rain.  I know we never needed to water the garden even once this past summer.

Other than bringing in a few of the herbs for winter I’ve been trying to figure out a way to continue our gardening adventures indoors.  Last evening I attended an ‘Indoor Veggie Gardening’ workshop at Sage Garden Herbs – one of my favourite places.  I wanted to stay (and shop) longer but I came home excited about the possibilities for a bona fide indoor garden.

Dave covered many topics including lighting, soil, plant selection and general plant care.  I was most interested in the soil section – I believe this is where our outdoor garden is lacking too.  As I often profess that I do not ‘teach’ the children but rather ‘co-explore’ with them, I too must recognize that there comes a point when ‘guessing’ just doesn’t work any more.  There has to be more research and fact for these ventures to be successful.

So, armed with my new knowledge and supplies I’m now making plans for our indoor garden.  With any luck we should be able to have a great sensory garden to delight us through the long, cold winter.