Just So Yum’s Garden Makeover

Follow Just So Yum’s Garden Makeover journey, while we turn this neglected garden into a flourishing herb garden.

When we moved into our new house we were lucky enough to have a veggie garden out the back.

Unfortunately, it was overgrown with weeds and needed much love and attention.

We did however make some discoveries amongst the weeds, finding there was continental parsley, mint and rosemary.

Sadly the rosemary wasn’t maintained well, so we decided to remove it and plant a new one.

Day One – Weeding the garden

The kids and I got stuck into the garden, weeding the beds and preparing them for our new herbs to go in.

The soil is quite good so we didn’t need to do too much to it.

The kids had a ball in there, especially Lakyn when he discovered worms and other bugs in the soil. (He has a bug obsession…lol)

Day Two – Planting new herbs

Now that the beds were weeded, it was now time to get herbs and plant them in the beds.

We took a trip out the Bunnings Warehouse in Delacombe (just outside of Ballarat), to pick out some herbs for our new garden.

We choose:

• Rosemary to replace the one we where removing
• Basil
• Thyme
• Chives
• Spring Onion
• Oregarno
• Mint
• Curly Pasley

Once we were back home, Shannon removed the Rosemary and another bush that we couldn’t work out what it was.

Then I planted our new herbs and now crossing my fingers.

As you can see we still have some more work to do, weeding the pathways and removing the bigger branches from the bushes we removed.

Also once the string onion is strong enough I can separate them. We still have more we want to plant as well.

Be sure to stay tuned for more updates on Just So Yum’s Garden Makeover as a new herb garden flourishes.

What to do with fresh Rosemary

I was not about to let the rosemary we removed go to waste, there was quite a lot of it that was useable, but unfortunately, once it’s cut, it doesn’t stay fresh for long. And there was too much for us to use.

So I decided to dry it for later use.

It’s quite easy to dry Rosemary and there are two ways to do it.

How to dry Rosemary

There is a long method and a quick method depending on your time. For me, I choose the quick way as there is a lot.

The Quick Method:

Preheat your oven to 100°C, line a baking tray with baking paper and cut the sprigs of rosemary to a size to fit on the tray.

Place your rosemary sprigs spread out on the tray and place them in the oven for one hour.

Allow to cool and using your hands remove the dried leaves and place them into a clean airtight jar.

The Long Method:

Tie a bundle of sprigs together with twine and hang upside down in an area that gets lots of sun for two to three weeks.

Once dry remove the leaves and store them in an airtight jar

Tip: for both methods don’t use the thicker woodier parts of the plant, use the same thinner parts that you would use when using fresh.

Use By:

Dried Rosemary will last up to 12 months once dried, so be sure to label and date your jars.

Also, check out these recipes that we have used Rosemary in.

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