On the wish list!

Puttering around in the garden today, I noticed that the chives were in bloom. I have both the purple-flowering and the white-flowering types..the purple being the more common chive. To me this one has the "oniony" chive taste where as the white one is Garlic Chive and hence, has a "garlicky" flavor which is much stronger taste. I know that you can dry or freeze chives for later use, but I have never had the need for this since I try to overwinter a pot of them in the house. Most of my herbs do well in the sunny windows of my entryway. There are windows on three sides of this small room with a long shelf that is perfect for flower pots. This year I plan on adding a grow light to help the herbs flourish. Having fresh herbs in midwinter just makes everything taste better. This also provides for better home remedies since fresh herbs are "full strength". On the wish-list for this year..a greenhouse/herb house! I would love to have a full size greenhouse to grow a full herb garden during the winter. I am thinking that should be a project ...soon! I have accumulated a variety of old windows that would be suitable for this, now the problem is talking my husband and son into building it! Maybe the promise of homemade soups and breads made with the herbs will convince them!

Today, too, I had a visitor in the garden. A small raccoon wandered in as I was watering the Butternut squash plants. It seemed quite oblivious to my being there and meandered down the pathway to the compost pile. I had just put out a watermelon rind and I suppose it could smell supper. By the looks of its muddy legs it tried to find shellfish on the marsh banks before ambling my way. This could possibly be one of the three small raccoons that the dog "treed" on the pier post earlier this summer. Those should be about this size by now. Perhaps that is why this little rascal was not afraid of me, but I know as cute as it is, I know eventually I will have trouble with this one foraging in my garden patch. Ezzy the mutt might have to stand guard a tad more vigilantly that she has been..she seems to be getting lazy lately..maybe the "dog days of summer"?