Testing the waters herb co-op in mid-May?

This would be for very hard-to-find herbs. I have access to a wholesale herb grower (Millcreek Gardens LLC in OH) who sells many different varieties of herbs, along with very unusual herbs.

I would need to purchase a minimum of 8 flats this spring (fewer in summer/autumn), and a flat of each type. The herbs are in 3" pots, and are $1.20 per pot (a few are more expensive: bay is $2.50 I think).

Any interest? Suggestions about herbs you want but can't find locally, or even mail-order?

Lupie Lov, You KNOW I will be in on this one!

For starters, would love to have a bay tree.

Also pineapple mint.

I am sure I will be able to come up with many more.
Need to sleep on it!

This message was edited May 21, 2005 2:43 PM

This message was edited May 21, 2005 2:43 PM

I would be very interested! Count me in !

Me too! :-D

I could go nuts just on Mint! ....And Thyme!.......and Sage....

I love Lavender....

I killed my Bay Laurel. *sniff*

I have been trying to get some mints started for 2 years already, but no go. So, I'm interested in all the mints for my winter tea. Most say it's invasive, but for me it's difficult. Gonna keep trying though. I love my tea!

I also cannot find cilantro here, and have tried growing it from seed, but can't get it to germinate.

I tried to get to their website, but can't find it? Anyone able to provide a link?

Thanks,
Joan

here is the link JoanJ:

http://www.millcreekgardensohio.com/

I would get in on the co-op too!!!! There aren't a big selection at any of the garden centers around here!!!!!

sue

This message was edited Thursday, Apr 10th 7:08 AM

I found the website but could not enter in.

BTW, I have several free lists: lavender-recipe, rosemary-recipe, cilantro-recipe, and herb-recipe if anyone is interested.

Although they have recipe in the same, it is about growing, propagating, cooking with and crafting with these herbs.

Let me know if you are interested.

Joan, about cilantro: what time of the year did you plant it? What kind of weather? where (sun,shade, in pots, indoors, or what?
It is extremely easy around here, will help you if I can. I love it- the perfume, the taste, freshness etc etc.

And I have some freshly harvested seed I could send you.
Just LMK, K?

Hugs, Lavanda

Sounds like a group definitely interested! Over the weekend I will sit down with their catalogue and come up with some specific suggestions. Sounds like everyone is interested in mints and lavenders and bay. I will try to come up with 8 really great things that are extra-hard to find commercially. I will keep y'all informed! Tell your other herb-loving friends about it.

When we get a good list, I will post it in the Co-op Forum, get others who don't watch this Forum a chance. And for the prices, we can't lose. Joan, you will get mint growing yet! (Psst: have you tried lemon balm?) I can send you 30-40 extra plants if you want it.

Count me in also.

Lupie: I got in their website. Fantastic. Some of the ones I drooled over were: African Blue Basil, Patchouli and banana mint, plus the scented geraniums.

I could very easily do a scented geranium co-op separately. And no need to do a whole flat of each variety, but only a few of many types. I will make a list of the varieties I have access to now, along with quantities. They are $2.50 each, plus postage. But it should wait a couple more weeks, make sure that the mail doesn't get hit with a cold spell for those living in the north.

Let's see: Apricot, Rober's Lemon, Atomic Snowflake, Skeleton Rose, Ginger, Lemon Meringue and Pink Champagne (my favorite) that I know for sure... we had 25 different cultivars a couple weeks ago at the herb garden. Not sure how many are sold out...

I really like the scented geraniums too!!The Verbena bonariensis has to be one of my favorite plant's it is so cool to look at!! It say's it's a tender perennial in my zone but I have a couple that keep comming back!!!!!

All the sage's are great too and the mint's and well you get my drift!!!! I am glad that I don't have to choose!!!!! hehe

sue

Sue, thank you for providing the link. I'll go now and see if it will work for me.

Lavanda, I've tried for two years to get cilantro to grow from seed, but having no luck. I started my seeds about 2 weeks ago and nothing showing in the cilantro cells yet. I don't plant them outside, since our growing season is so short. I'd love to find some plants that I can plant out. I do love my salsa, and fresh cilantro makes it so much better. I've bought fresh cilantro in the grocery store, but found that if I don't use it within a day or two it turns to mush. I'd love to grow it.

Joan: Even with your short season you should be able to grow it outside. I'm zone 5, not too much difference than yours and mine goes to seed way early. Try planting some directly in the soil and then sow more in 2 wk. intervals. That way you can have some the whole season. It is very fast growing outside.

I'll try that Debby, thanks.

Joan, since cilantro seeds are so big, try nicking them or rubbing them between sheets of sandpaper before soaking them for an hour. They should sprout in a couple of days.

My cilantro sprouts, grows, and begins to flower within 5 weeks. You should be able to grow it well, even with your short season.

Cilantro is seldom offered as plants, because transplanting them usually causes them to bolt. Many plants in that family are the same: root disturbance causes them to flower almost immediately. And then the plants aren't strong enough to set viable seeds! After you have successfully grown them once, let them reseed. You should have enough new plants every year after that: dill, cilantro, chervil are the most notorious in the family, but there are a lot of others.

Kathy! Cilantro is like dill? I have volunteer dill growing all over the place every year. Now I know I'll try planting it right in the ground after sanding and soaking the first time around. Maybe Mother Nature will take over from there if I can just get it started.

Thank you all so much!

Please count me in!

I will probably want in on this too! Can't wait to see what ya pick.

I sent Lavanda a big box of herbs yesterday, and of course I couldn't resist sending her a partial list of plants available! That is a PARTIAL list, Lavanda! I would love to send y'all copies of the wholesaler's catalogue, but since they don't sell retail, they don't have a lot of extra printed catalogues...

I am thinking of making this one of 3 different lavenders and 3 different thymes and 3 different rosemaries. Sound good? Or maybe skip the rosemary and have 3 different mints? Any particular kinds of mint y'all can't find locally?

9 different herbs available... remember there is an 8 flat minimum, and 24 of each plant...

OK, here are *most* of the lavenders available: Fernleaf, French, 'Goodwin Creek', 'Grosso', 'Hidcote', 'Irene Doyle', 'Jean Davis', 'Lady', 'Munstead', 'Provence', Spanish, and 'Twickle Purple'.

Mints: Apple, Black Stem (chocolate), corsican, curly, Emerald & Gold, 'Kentucky Colonel', mountain mint, peppermint, spearmint, pineapple, Nepeta, Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant', Nepeta nepeta (catnip), and pennyroyal.

Thyme: 'Bressingham', 'Clear Gold', Caraway, coconut, creeping, English, French, Lavender, Lemon, Silver, Woolly, Orange Balsam, and Oregano scented.

Rosemary: ARP, 'Golden Rain', 'Lochwood de Forest', 'Logee's', 'Madalene Hill', 'Old Salem', 'Pink Flowered', Prostrate, 'Severn Seas', 'Shimmering Stars', 'Tuscan Blue', White

Sage: 'Berggarten', Clary, Common, Dwarf, Golden, Mexican, Perennial Blue, 'Victoria Blue', Pineapple, Purple, Tricolor, White, and Silver. Whew!

I would like some feed-back about which ones are the more interesting to you: the types and the varieties.

Or would y'all rather have some of the very unusual herbs? How about things like Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum) or Ambrosia or costmary or Woad? Myrtle? Patchouli? These last two are slightly more expensive, tho.

Lupinelover,

I like the idea of skipping the rosemary and going with the different mints. I would like to see variegated or different color foliage/blossoms.

Some of my favs are:

chocolate mint
pineapple mint
apple mint
purple sage
wholly thyme
munstead

I also like the idea of herbs that are harder to find.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Hi Lupi -love the selections, and I'm interested in hard to find herbs too. Here are some things I would vote for:


Mints: Apple, Black Stem (chocolate), corsican, curly,pineapple, Nepeta, Nepeta nepeta (catnip)

Sage: 'Berggarten', Clary, Golden, Mexican, Perennial Blue, 'Victoria Blue', Pineapple, Purple, Tricolor, White, and Silver

Here are some I like lavenders: 'Hidcote', 'Jean Davis', Spanish.
Mints: Emerald & Gold, Thyme: Caraway,Orange Balsam and would love Patchouli.

This message was edited Friday, Apr 18th 8:06 PM

Lupi: I would love the hard to find herbs of Ambrosia[smells heavenly]hard to start from seed, have to be more patient than me, costmary[bible leaf] and patchouli. I have one plant of patchouli, that i started from seed, it smells so good too. It is so hard to choose a few. You have a hard decision to make.

I'm still on a quest to get mints to grow here, so this is what I would vote for, but I know you can't do them all, so I'd be happy with one of them.

Apple, Black Stem (Chocolate), Peppermint, Spearmint, Pineapple.

The Lavenders are intriguing, but does anyone know right off the top of their head whether they are annual or perennial? If perennial, are they hardy to zone 4? I don't expect anyone to look them up for me, as I can do that myself, I'm just tired tonight from cleaning for Easter. LOL! I'll look them up tomorrow if nobody knows the answer.

Thanks Kathy for taking this on.
Hugs,
Joan

Joan: I don't think the lavenders are hardy to zone 4. I'm zone 5 and they are iffy here. Will winter over for a few years and then they don't come back.

Thanks Debby. I was thinking that they might not be.

i know french lavendar is a tender perennial here where i am Joan.
I have tons of peppermint i want to get rid of!!!!
Im willing to try whatever is chosen that I dont already have oodles of! Mints can be very-ummmmmm whats the word-invasive! ;)

Tricolor sage,Orange Balsam and coconut thyme sounds interstinglavenders-i have NO ideas! but would try any~!
rosemarys-ANY!

Lupine,

I would love to get in on this. I have traded with 2 people at Dave's so far, and have never been in on one of these wonderful buys that I have seen. What about some cooking herbs other than the normal? Any one have suggestions? I also love all kinds of lavender! (You can never have enough) I have Calif bay in a pot. I would be interested in other bays also.

I'd be interested also.

Lupinelover,
thank you so much for doing this. I would love to see some more unusual basils. Debby mentioned African Blue Basil. I've grown this basil before. It is incredible. It is also not as fragile as some of the other basils. We had an unexpected freeze the year I grew it and with just a sheet over it (it got huge!) it did fine. My other basils all croaked.

Would be interested in a variety of more unusual basils, various thymes and provence lavander. I'm trying to get on the site to see what they actually have I will provide more input after I do that.
Thanks again, Cathy

Can you tell us how many 3" pots are in a flat. - Reread and found the answer: 24 right? - I've been dividing my pink chintz to get it around my small pond. At these prices I could probably be at least 3 years ahead!

I could probably buy a goodly portion of a flat of pink chintz. I am very into my herbs and might be able to fill out some flats that need filling out. Basils, thymes (particularly lemon, maybe lime) provence lavendar. And, did you say something about artemisia?

Thanks so much!

PS I have a fantastic recipe for lemon thyme chicken. Needs about a 1/4 cup of chopped lemon thyme though!

This message was edited Wednesday, Apr 23rd 11:55 AM

JoanJ, and others, I have orange mint that needs dividing and replanting. It has a georgouos scent and is fantastic in hot or iced tea. Any interest?

I hope this is appropriate to put in this thread.

Lupi - would definately be interested in hardy basil like African Blue as Kokopelli suggested. Can you imagine having a somewhat hardy basil? :-D

Kokopelli! I'm a newbie to mints. Would love to try some of your orange mint!! Do you have a wish list? Please send along that Lemon Thyme chicken recipie....my lemon thyme should grow huge this summer..(well, I expecting it to! :-D)

kokopeli, emailing you!

So how do you send plants in the mail so that they make it across the country and don't kick the bucket? How do you all do it?

Sorry I was absent for a few days, for those who didn't see it, I was out in my shady gardens most of the week digging and packing up about 300 plants to send to DG'ers! LOL I spent today finishing dividing the rest of my shady plants, actually PLANTING some of my new treasures!

Plants that are packaged well travel very well, Jul. For things that I have divided in my own garden, I first rinse most of the clay soil from the roots, then I soak the roots in compost tea for a minute. Wrap the rootball in paper that is soaked in compost tea, then put the paper into an appropriate-sized plastic bag. Seal using rubber band or twist tie with the foliage outside (if possible).

For pot-grown plants, I have found that they travel best if removed from their pots, and have the growing medium (or at least some of it) still entangled in the rootball. Again, saturate with compost tea, wrap with compost-tea wetted paper, plastic bag, and they will arrive as fresh as when they were in the ground (usually). But sending wet potting medium adds a lot to the cost of shipping.

For woody plants, I use some moistened peat (I always use compost tea to moisten my peat) inside the paper. They suffer far less damage traveling that way than bare-root.

Yes, I use a lot of compost tea! Great stuff.

Hope this helps! Kathy

Hi Lupi,
How do the waters test out?
Just wondering :)
Cathy

Lupine,

How about some Lemon Grass??? It is so hard to grow by seed and we just love cooking with it. Jul