Kids and Herbs
Forum Archives
reapersarrest
Posted: May-27-2004 at 1:55pm
As some of u knoe the entire back yard of my house is working on becoming edible. but I have an herb question. I want the kids to have their own herb garden, and I knwo that soem herbs out there are expecially tasty. We have one not sure of the name already planted that tastes like root beer and so one, I am looking for some like that. Any ideas.Also I woudl like something that could take the occasional ( and sometimes not so accasional) rough house , since I am placing it around thier swing set and such. My son has already grown the sunflowers around there and he freaks if the cat so much as walks by them but I think when he sees that they are stronger he will calm down. So let the ideas come forth and please help me out here!
Thanks
K.
Trish
Posted: May-27-2004 at 4:42pm
Bronze fennel looks ferny, gets big and vigorous, and tastes a bit like licorice. It can re-seed with a vengeance, though. My kids bring people over to get a whiff of the fennel and also the lemon balm (a la Pledge).
Most mint varieties can handle the occasional tumble through the patch. I especially like chocolate mint (like a York peppermint patty). Other varieties of mint smell more fruity or more like citrus. Remember that mints propagate by underground runners, so a planter sunk into the ground is good insurance.
Screaming Eagle
Posted: May-28-2004 at 9:31am
Chives are fun and pretty tough. Yummy chopped up on baked spuds and the little purple puff ball flowers are fun for kids too.
Rosemary is a tough shrub and has a wonderful strong sent.
I really like lemon time--it's pretty too.
Oh and what about lavender? Great purple fairy wands.
reapersarrest
Posted: May-28-2004 at 9:38am
great ideas and thanks. I reall dont care about it either getting out of control or spreading since the lawn gets mowed and the kids play area is contained.I really just want them to be able to tumble around ont eh grass and play outside where things smell nice. Love the idea about cholcolate mint though the kids will enjoy it tremendously!!! thanks
K.
DebbieTT
Posted: May-29-2004 at 12:47am
I would plant some woolly thyme as ground cover, it can take quite a beating and run around the bases of your taller herbs.
growsherown
Posted: May-31-2004 at 9:42am
Dont forget those wonderful fruity sages! I have a pineapple sage that smells like pineapple life savers, or white gummy bears, and also an awesome honeydew sage.....YUMMY!
Gardening with kids is FUN!
reapersarrest
Posted: Jun-02-2004 at 10:32am
thanks I am working on it now, I have so many ideas and all of you have been wonderful about it.I also need to know if there is anything that I could plant (herb wise) that would keep the bugs away from them? I think that if they could smell good and also be bug free that would help
K.
reapersarrest
Posted: Jun-21-2004 at 3:18pm
I am BACK!!! AN d now we have a new problem>>>> Got things planted and set. Kids love it!!!! i see them always with some sort of herb in thier mouth. The otehr day I came out and I swear they smelled like a york pepperment patty factory. LOL thanks gosh things recovery quicky!!. And the kids never have bad breath. The thing I would like the know is a got a couple of sugar plants ( they are really sweet) and the kids love them but they are starting to produce seeds. Are these type of plants hard to grow from seeds? should I left the kids eat them or shoudl I save some? I know the seeds are eatable. just want to know if i shoudl rescuse some or not?
K.
Trish
Posted: Jun-22-2004 at 1:36am
Are we talking about Stevia rebaudiana ?
I'd be interested to hear this answer myself. I grew one big Stevia plant last year. I potted it and brought it inside last fall, but it would have been kinder to kill it outright.
Anyone? is this a good plant to start from saved seed?
reapersarrest
Posted: Jun-22-2004 at 12:27pm
yep thats the one. I could not remeber the real name. Any info on this one i could get would be great before the kids eat ALL the seeds. Thanks
K.
cjmiller
Posted: Jul-31-2004 at 1:47pm
I grew stevia, and frugally saved seed, and then read that the sprouting ratio of home grown seed is about 4 out of 100! Oops! Since that revelation turned out to be truer that I imagined (!) I am now quite willing to buy the plant. Nichols Garden Nursery sells the plants for $7.95 in the 2004 catalog. It is easy to grow, and easy to dry, and it takes about 2 or 3 leaves per gallon of sun tea to sweeten it adequatly. You can buy prepared stevia as a white powder, but it is lots more fun to grow it. Mine got about 2 ft high and 1 ft wide in partial sun and poor soil. Not bad. and yes, the leaves are sweet with no after taste. Try this site: www.nicholsgardennursery.com 1 800 422-3985
Carol
SunnyBunny
Posted: Aug-24-2004 at 12:58pm
Oh no! I did read the caveat about herbs and using them wisely on the RS site but I wanted to add something I just learned...I did not know that some lavender forms were toxic and some were not...I taught my son to love fennel, so much that frequetly I would come out and he would be there with fennel spit on the sides...I was quite surprised to find out lavender could be toxic. Another thing for this mom to think about!
Aloha
Lisa A
Posted: Aug-24-2004 at 2:28pm
Who is the source for this info, Nui? I can not find any reference to possible toxicity with lavender in any of my several resources on the subject. Do you mean different species of lavender or different lavender products, such as lavender oil? TIA!
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Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton