Basil & Beet Garden Consulting

This is a native tree frog…who has decided that he prefers my strawberry patch to the surrounding trees…not sure why…but that’s totally OK with me.

There is something so satisfying and meditative about collecting seeds from your own garden. In our modern world, most of us don’t have the opportunity or skills to be self-sufficient in any capacity. For most, food is the closest that we will come to self-sufficiency and that might be just growing our own leafy greens for a salad. But to take it a step further and have collected the seeds for that salad from a previous harvest—it feels good.

Arugula is a great plant for seed saving. It just takes patience, waiting for the plant to complete the flowering and seed setting process. The arugula produces the seeds in these little pods, which are easy to handle and break apart revealing seeds inside.
—Just look for pods that are fully dried; gently break them open over a sheet of paper.
—Discard the pods, and pour the seeds into a paper envelope.
—Don’t forget to label it and store it in a room temperature or cool, dry location.
—OR… Just like mother nature, break open the pods in the garden and plant the seeds right away. In our Greenville climate, arugula will grow pretty well in all of our three growing seasons. I just scattered some of the arugula seeds next to my cucumbers. The warmer the temperature, the spicier the arugula will be. Also, the warmer the temperature, the faster the arugula will flower and go to seed. What a beautiful process🌱

Like kitchen gardening tips specific to Greenville, SC? Sign up for my free emails. Link in the bio.

It’s mid May & the lavender is gorgeous and living up to its aromatic reputation! Greenville, lavender is not a fan of our native red clay, so grow it in a large container where it can spend years giving you your evening wind down, herbal tea.🫖

Veggies to get in the garden ASAP!

What’s better than gardening? Gardening with beer! I’m so excited to be partnering with Yee-Haw Brewery for this hands-on herb garden workshop!

Cilantro thrives in the COOL season. Once the temperatures warm, it will either shrivel up and look so sad, or bolt—produce flowers in the pic (they are beautiful and good for the pollinators. If you are patient, you could harvest
the seeds for the kitchen—that’s coriander seed!)

These two spring favorites grow happily together! They are both perennial, coming back year after year.

Rendering for a recent Design Consultation. A lovely couple in Greenville—one eager to learn to grow food, the other hoping for a beautiful garden. These visuals offer a glimpse of the potential garden design in their space.

Did you know that Greenville has three growing seasons? Learn how to produce more food from your garden. www.basilandbeet.com