Who bends a knee where violets grow, a hundred secret things shall know.” – Rachel Field

I’m putting in a little herb garden at the cottage.
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme.
Basil, Dill, Cilantro, and Chives, too.

It rained this morning and I bought plants in the mist. It seemed right somehow, to be buying seeds and plants in the spring rain.

In early early spring Mr. H.C. tilled up a long space of dirt in front of the peonies, day lilies, and the lilac bush. These old favorites were here when we moved in — just a long line of perennials that had weeds and grass in the bed and really needed something else to make them look pleasing. It’s in the back of the house, so I mulled around various ideas: a cut flower garden, more perennials, even transplanting the peonies so they could bloom where people could see them. Because really, peonies need to be seen, not hidden away in the back yard. But from what I’ve read, peonies don’t really take to being transplanted. And these two peonies are Very Large, Old Favorite varieties from way back when…

What do you think of a long line of herbs in the front?

Yes, I liked the idea too. And because there is lots of space, four blueberry bushes will be planted there next to the herbs. And caged. Because we have deer, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, and a groundhog (with two babies!) who live under the tool shed. And a large opossum knocked on the front door last night. I really don’t know if opossums like blueberry bushes, but my guess is they probably do… And the rabbits around Apple Hill are unafraid of anything. Look how close little Flossie let me get to her last night:

So I’ve been weeding this new herb bed. I don’t really mind for it lets me breathe, think, pray, drink in the beauty of spring, and lean on the shovel. For awhile I was pulling up all the little violet plants, and then I wondered why in the world was I pulling them up? Violets are among my favorite spring wildflowers, and I certainly don’t care if they grow among the herbs. Violet flowers are edible and look beautiful in salads or sugared on cakes. In my old back-to-the-land hippie days I made violet jelly once. It didn’t taste like much, but oh, it was the most beautiful shade of fuchsia. The leaves are edible too, so I tried a couple of young tender violet leaves. They don’t taste like much either, but then neither does spinach raw from the garden…

My second favorite wild flowers are daisies. I’ve found several patches growing wild around the cottage, so I moved them into the bed as well. And if the little herb garden gets taken over by daisies and violets, well, that’s fine with me. It’s called the Que Sera Sera method of gardening.

My herbs are planted, seeds and plants both, and the blueberries are being planted as you are reading this. And there’s plenty of shovel-leaning going on too…