At the end of last week's blog post, An Ode to Herbs, we shared Part 1 of Hector's Herbventure - his journey into growing his first-ever herb garden! We know you've been on pins and needles, curious to see how his herbventure is coming together, and so without further adieu, part 2.

Photos and story by JBG's Social Media Manager, Héctor. For more Héctor, checkout his food-centric Instagram.

 

PREPAREDNESS

The Texas Farmers Markets used to do these kitchen rummage sales, where people brought in their kitchen tools and toys that fell into disuse or were simply forgotten. At one of these I managed to score my first sous vide circulator for only $50! I have donated and scored knick knacks there through the years. Some I have used regularly, others got gifted to friends who needed these. One of those purchases was a set of 8 terracotta labels for the garden. I remember seeing the box while looking at a cocktail shaker set. I think it was less than $2 and thought “I don’t have a garden now but someday, someday I will.”



I want a cute herb garden in my apartment’s tiny patio. I have adorable tags ready. What else do I need? Planters. I started to pay more attention during my regular walks around the neighborhood. I saw how people in the nearby apartments grew herbs and flowers with apparent ease. I started to feel hopeful.

I recall a few years ago some of my friends did their herb gardens inside a wooden wine box crate. The project looked very twee and functional. I wanted that. I started messaging the nearby liquor stores, asking if they received wine in wood boxes. Sadly, no luck. The local HEB shared similar results.

I messaged the Central Market and the next day someone from their wine department called me. Yes, they receive wine in these boxes from time to time. They didn’t have any at the moment but they could call me when some arrived. Potentially, I had wine boxes. I contacted the main office at JBG and they reserved some herbs for me. I got: Chives Curly parsley Flat parsley Oregano Genovese basil Thyme Rosemary

A few minutes after I sent that email, I got a call from Central Market. They received a few boxes. I reserved two, for pickup later that day. My bike ride there was peaceful but the return was amusing. I got a lot of quizzical looks from drivers.



These boxes still needed some work done. I need soil. I still need to learn how to keep my new herb babies alive. So much to do, so much to see*.

*The writer doesn’t assume responsibility for you having All Star from Smash Mouth now stuck on your head.

 

A Few More Herbventures, submitted by our Farm Family.

This herbal story was message to us on Facebook by CSA Member Joy:

 

"Last fall I asked if you thought the walking onions in my CSA box would grow if planted. Your response was try it and send a picture if it worked. I planted six individual onions and they are doing quite well. Even survived the 5” of snow in my yard (in a temporary greenhouse). Each individual onion is now a clump of 5 or 6 spring onions!"

Green onions for days! Photo by Joy.



 

Did you buy a rosemary transplant from this year's transplant sale? Here is the origin story of these transplants, submitted by Kimberly!

"In 2004 when I first moved to Austin I brought a rosemary plant that I kept in a pot, until I finally planted it in the ground at my house in east Austin in 2013. Over the years I started to lovingly refer to it as "the blob" because once it was in the ground it started taking up more and more real estate in the yard. Brenton asked me to take cuttings of it for Gianna to root for the transplant sale. It was so massive that I cut off probably 200 large stems and you couldn't even see that it looked any different. I'm very sad to say that my beautiful, long-beloved, ever larger and larger rosemary died in the super cold snow and ice storm, but I'm so, so happy that it has little babies that will be growing all over Austin now. I think the last of them may have sold last weekend, but I'm glad I got one before they were gone. "

The famed rosemary bush, before it died. Photo by Kimberly.

Rosemary cuttings, counted out and ready for rooting.

Your rosemary bush started in Kimberly's kitchen!

Farmer Brenton is excited about rosemary. Are you?