The herbs and the bees

We'll blame it on the books because they can't argue back and also, well, it IS their fault.

It started with the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters, which are also a series of movies my friend and I used to get from the library. They are about Brother Cadfael (duh) and his apothecary job and how he solves crime with his knowledge of flora and also because he seems to be more observant and sensible than almost everyone else (how many times did I want to strangle Brother Jerome? But I digress.)

In any case I became interested in growing my own herbs to make fantastical things. So far the most fantastical thing I've made is baked chicken, but it was really good chicken! Even my attempts at potpourri are always foiled by me not remembering to harvest things when they are supposed to be. One of these days I might get my act together.

My herb garden.

In everything I read they always tell you to watch out when planting mint because it spreads so quickly. My mint did spread but remains in a manageable sized patch. My oregano however? Taking. over. my. entire. property. I have more oregano than ten people could use up in as many years; it's insane.

About 1/1000000000000000000 of the oregano I currently have:

Herbs bloom like most plants and in fact have gorgeous flowers!

Sage:

Thyme:

Spearmint:

Oregano!

The honeybees are having a field day.

I was suddenly remembering a post from last year where I decided to fill my bedroom with bouquets - it made the room smell amazing!

A trio of flowers that came up volunteer in my corn garden. (Also the head of some elephant garlic I had last year. It doesn't smell, I just think it's pretty)

Putting some of my oregano blossoms to good use.

I go to bed with this fantastic, fresh, green smell. How do I know what green smells like? I don't know, that's just how I can describe it. I love it and you should give it a try!