I just want to play in the dirt and be surrounded by plants
It’s all happening.
Greenhouses are love
Dear Reader,
When I was a child, my grandparents and great grandparents owned a flower business, and they grew all of their plants. I remember walking around the greenhouses and being allowed to choose whatever flowers I wanted to take home, which I loved. To this day, I find such a sense of peace and calm roaming around a greenhouse. The smells, the warmth, the air filled with the aroma of plants. It just feels like home to me.
Working on farms
Aside from working for myself, my favorite jobs were working for local CSAs for a number of years. I did this almost twenty years ago, and I worked until my oldest was born in 2008. Then I did some work periodically where I could fit it in, amidst being a mom and starting my own business. No doubt about it, farm work is hard work, but I loved it so much. Leaning in to the rhythms of the seasons allowed me to embrace each one more fully than I ever had before. It also made me feel so connected not only to the earth, but to our ancestors. With a growing family and business, my time working on CSAs ended, but the valuable lessons I learned stayed with me.
My small urban garden
Soon after I started working on CSAs I decided that I needed my own garden. I live in an urban setting, so space was minimal. We decided to put the garden on the upper level of our yard, so we built a retaining wall out of cement, bricks and bottles, and that way we had an upper and lower part of the yard. My first planting attempts were not very successful because I really didn't take enough things into consideration. I planted big currant and raspberry bushes as well as many different vegetables in my mini space. Long story short-even though all of my plants produced, it really wasn't that much. So, after a lot of consideration, I decided that a big change was in order.
Switching to an herb garden
After working on an herb CSA, I finally realized that I should just be growing herbs in my garden, and I never looked back. About 95% of the herbs I grow are medicinal with only several different culinary plants. I make all of my own teas, infusions, oxymels, syrups, tinctures, balms, and supplements from the herbs that I grow. I pack my urban garden full of herbs every spring and dry them in my dehydrator, which is so much easier than hanging them to dry. The pride of my herb garden is my elderberry tree, which yields so much that I often have as much as six gallons of frozen berries in my freezer after the end of the season harvest. This season, with my community garden plot, I plan to grow even more herbs.
What do I grow?
- catnip
- lemon balm
- yarrow
- california poppy
- motherwort
- lavender
- arnica
- oregano
- basil
- nettle
- calendula
- echinacea
- parsley
- feverfew
- tulsi
- mint (various kinds)
- chamomile
- elderberry
- thyme
Every year I buy my plants at Horn Farm and The Landis Valley Herb and Garden Faire. If you do stop by The Herb and Garden Faire this year, come and find me-I'll be at booth #59.
Happy planting dear reader,
xo Christa
https://www.landisvalleymuseum.org/event/herb-garden-faire-2025-at-landis-valley-village-farm-museum
Thanks for reading-I’m glad you’re here.