Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

You sound just like me when I started! I walked into a store and asked what kind of herbs should I get because I just started…she asked me what spell I was doing. It really got me thinking, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of different herbs and neither is better than the one before it.

Bottom line, think about what kind of magic you want to do overall, then research the common herbs used.

Just a few common herbs that are used in a variety of things:

Lavender (aka ‘eye of newt’)
Peppermint
Dragon’s Blood (it’s the resin from Palm trees)
Mandrake root
Chamomile

Why some of the strange names? Because during the times of the witch hunts, if people were convinced that you used ‘eye of newt’ in your spells, then they wouldn’t be suspicious if you were out harvesting plain old ‘lavender’…

GardenersCardiff answers:

Most perennial herbs are hardy plants that are able to survive winter, but one should check their specific zone map to be sure. Most Herbs prefer to grow in well-drained soils, and soils that are heavy should be amended with organic matter to loosen the clay structure. Another method of improving drainage is to plant the herbs in raised beds. Plants that are marginally hardy (such as rosemary & Greek oregano) should be dug up, potted, and wintered indoors. They can be moved back to the garden the following spring.

Herbs are classified either as *Annuals, *Biennials, or *Perennials. Annual herbs are usually grown from seed; they grow, flower, and produce seed during one season, and then die. Biennial herbs grow for two seasons, flowering the second year only. Perennial herbs, once established, come back each season. Some herbs are Tender Perennials; these do not survive severe winters and are best grown as annuals or wintered indoors.
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Additional Information: Growing Herbs in the Home Garden:
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/herbs/ne208hrb.htm

GardenersCardiff answers:

There are several ways you can dry herbs – natural, oven and microwave.

With the natural i tie them in a bunch and hang them upside down in a brown paper bag and put it in a dark place.

Oven – lay them out on an oven tray and put in a slow/low heat oven for several hours.

Microwave – place on a paper towel in the microwave and cook on defrost a minute or so at a time.

Not real sure about the oven and microwave i usually just do it by ear so to speak. You could probably check this out on the net.