As we get more into fall, my herbs have been looking a little ratty. I already trimmed my basil back, but a lot of my herbs have red or yellow leaves and are generally a little messy.
To say nothing of the dying shiso behemoth. Add to that a fennel going to seed, and I knew I had some work to do.
So I pulled the fennel and the shiso(s) and cut back all the flowery bits on all the other herbs along with any red or yellow leaves.
Then it was a matter of fertilizing, to prevent future discolored leaves. I use a pretty powerful kelp based fertilizer for my peppers and tomatoes- but frankly that’s horribly overpowered for herbs. For herbs I use fish emulsion.
Now there are a few problems with fish emulsion- chief of which is it smells horrific. Just… awful. But it really works and it wont burn your plants with too much nitrogen.
Think of fish emulsion as the scientific version of what a lot of grandmothers used to do when they’d bury a fish head under their roses.
Also what the Roman’s used to put on their food
The hyssop is growing well after I pinched it’s flowers:
Lots of new growth coming up. The thyme was bushy as always- I thought I was being clever putting in two plants and while I do use a lot of thyme, thyme is like mint in that it will always get overgrown.
The tarragon also needed to be pinched back, and the sage needed some undergrowth to be cleaned up.
The Oregano continues to grow mightily, which reminds me, I haven’t made tomato sauce in a while…
Anyways it’s the right time of year for this maintenance, and a good weekend to get it done.
The Neanderthal Gardens 