Tiny Bulbils!

   Most of my day is spent in the Small Gardens.  Either the vegetable plot or the flower beds have laid claim to my time which is alright by me since that is where I prefer to be.  While setting in more tomato plants (this makes 40 total so far), I noticed that some of the chives have started bolting.  Personally, that is fine by me since I adore the blooms.  Throughout the  vegetable plot and the flower gardens there are volunteer clumps of both types of chives.  While admiring the blooms, I also noticed that most of the plants had bulbils on top.  These tiny bulbs will soon be heavy enough that the stem will bend to the ground and a new clump of chives will take root.  These and the billion or so seeds from the blooms explains how the entire yard is now filled with chives.  Son keeps telling me that we should market them!

  Out of curiosity, I pulled off some of the bulbils and smelled them.  Pop always said that if the plant smelled like an onion or garlic, then it was definitely an onion or garlic (or chive).  The mimic plants do not have this odor. Yep, the ones I was admiring definitely had a garlicky smell to them.  A small handful of these bulbils would flavor up a pan of stir-fry or a shrimp dish quite nicely and there would be no mincing needed!  I moved on to another clump of chives, pulled off a handful of bulbils and noticed that these had a more oniony smell.  Tomorrow, a cluster of bulbils from each will be used in some dish just to sample the bulbils and perhaps I should try pickling some of the tiny bulbs from the wild onions that are also taking over the place!  These will be some fun experiments!

THAT is an herb garden!

  For the past few months, the gardens have fully been neglected.  Other obligations called my attention away from the weeding, tilling and planting.  We have no fall garden and will likely not see any fresh vegetables until next spring.  I feel guilty, in a way, but then, I feel too tired to fret over it much.  

  This afternoon, I took the old dog out for a slow stroll around the hillside.  He is not doing well and it is a struggle for him to walk much.  He does seem to enjoy the slow paced strolls with many rest stops along the way, however.  On one such rest, I piddled in the herb garden for a bit.  Chives are about the only thing that is thriving at the moment and, sad to say, I may regret the neglected patch come next spring.  As it is, I already have far too many chives, but each and every plant has gone to seed.  Thousands of seeds are being flipped to the ground with each breath of wind.  At this rate, the entire lawn will be chives soon enough.  Next spring will find me cutting chives instead of grass!

  On second thought, perhaps this overabundance of chives is not a bad thing!  Maybe my lackadaisical style of gardening has a bit of hidden wisdom!  Cutting the grass around here takes a good six hours of pushing a lawnmower and swinging the trimmer.  If the chives are allowed to grow where they may, my yard time may be cut a good deal!  Instead of mowing, I can leave the place be!  My reasoning?  I no longer have a lawn!  It is now an herb garden and we all know that you do not mow herbs!  Now, that is thinking ahead!