Growing herbs

Nothing nicer than growing herbs...a pleasant little past time.

We have already Cinnamon Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Mint, Red Chillies, "Pepperdew" peppers.

All these are doing well and we have such an abundance. I planted pepperdew (actually my wife did) last year...at one stage I battled to find seeds as they were quite rare for public use but some friends gave us for few plants...they are quite prolific...one bush produces over 500 peppers ( rough estimate). The result is we have too much and Elena has bottle so much...she knows how to do it, in fact her pickle recipe is better than what you buy in the stores and they are quite pricey in retail stores. We now have literally thousands of seeds.

What I want to plant is Oregano, Sage,Coriander, Marjoram and Sweet Basil.

There is nothing nicer than adding fresh herbs to stews, pasta sauces and curries. It's a very relaxing and rewarding hobby.  

They say that if you want to be relaxed and rewarded the best way to go is to grow WEED.

Since it has been legalized in Canada many folks are growing their own and in downtown Vancouver, you would find it difficult to find a spot on the beach without being smoked out.

But they are all relaxed and drive fancy cars............

Lol AJ

I'll be harvesting my second season's stuff in late April.

Heya Seba, you're touching on one of my favourite hobbies. I successfully grow Chilli, Oregano, Mint, Sage, Parsley and Rosemary,  had a bit of success with Italian Basil. The one I struggle with and would like to grow is Coriander....I've given up, annoying because it goes well with a curry.

LOL...somehow I suspect the influence of grass growing amongst some of our members...at least it seems so at times.

But yes Denny there is nothing nicer than going into your garden and snipping off leaves and twigs and collecting herbs and spices to add to stews and other tasties...fresh herbs bring out much nicer favours than dried ones. Yes Elena has planted coriander...it's an essential for curries.

Maybe I will also try garlic...I love the stuff, especially when fresh and no green shoots in them.

I'm also crazy about thyme..probably with rosemary being a close second but obviously it's the blending that counts and what we enjoy is experimenting with combinations. There are so many good recipes that you can google.

The best curry recipe comes from  Mr Joseph, he's Indian...chief chef of The Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks. He's world class...his Durban Curry is by far the tastiest I've ever tasted. He gives you the ingredient only, his combinations he keeps as a secret.

You can find these details on the internet.

Plum some folks are making a killing selling the stuff. The legal distributors - growers who are GOVT. controlled are complaining because with the tax load above their costs they are not selling the amounts that they thought they would. Much too expensive for the smokers on assistance so they have returned to the illegal suppliers.

The Grow Ops are underselling them and keeping the RCMP extremely busy.

A group was arrested growing the weed in 26 houses in BC with a turn around grow time of 12 weeks and an estimated return of $20 -$25 K per crop per house. All crops are grown with stolen Electricity which in turn is averaged out and paid for by us honest home users of electricity.

Simple arithmetic estimating 4 crops per year per house (at the low end) works out as follows:

$20K x 4 x 26 = $2,080,000 all tax free.

No wonder these illegal suppliers of weed are always smiling and singing - 

Ò Canada our home and Weed-free land..........

They cannot believe their luck.

Big thank you to our PM.

Seba

My wife and I stayed at the Oyster Box before it was renovated, a lovely hotel then it's probably even better now, thanks for the info,  I had no idea at the time that it had a reputation for serving a great curry. Oh well...next time then...

AJ

They illegally connect electricity because an exaggerated electricity bill is a tell tale sign a place is being used as a growhouse. The problem being that the heat coming off a growhouse is massive. The place lights up like a bonfire on thermal imaging...usually done from choppers...and from there a warrant soon follows.  

Guys in the sticks will often use generstors. Advanced growers use LEDs powered by solar. 

Plum I am not sure how they were detected but criminals will always find methods to beat the system and make bucks.

Some bikers had a container buried underground and also got busted.

Another was a container being driven around with I presume a generator supplying the power and also got busted.

That is why they are called crooks. Making money on other people's nasty habits.

Pity.