Herb Garden

I've grown a lot of herbs over the years and had a nicely established herb garden in our backyard when we lived in town.  Most herbs are perennials and take a couple of years to get established after they are planted.  So, last year when we moved out here to our farm, I had to start all over.   Since moving and getting situated took up most of last year, I really didn't have much time to spend on starting an herb garden.  But, Tom built me some raised beds last summer and fall and things are beginning to look hopeful.  Here's a view of the south end of one bed:

In the lower right corner is a clump of spearmint.  The grayish, green clump to the left of that is sage.  Then you see some small green clumps of parsley and some red and green leaf lettuce that I used as filler until the herbs mature and spread out some.  About half way up the bed is a clump of sorrel and some chives.   The north end of this same bed looks like this:

On this end, I have thyme, chives and chocolate mint (top of the picture).  I planted the chocolate mint late last summer right after the bed was built.  It just sort of sat there and did not appear to be growing, but as you can see, it spent most of its time growing underground runners and has gone crazy this spring.  The thyme was planted this spring and should fill in this end of the bed over the next couple of years.

Here is a closer picture of the sorrel: 

Sorrel is not an herb that is commonly used around here.  The name comes from an old French word "surelle" meaning "sour".  And, it is indeed sour to the taste.  Young leaves can be used  in salads and stir-fries.  There are also many delicious recipes for sorrel soup, like the following:  http://www.gastronomersguide.com/2009/05/sorrel-soup.html