My mother passed away just after Christmas of this last year. This entry is sort of a tribute to her. She spent many years studying herbs and their benefits. She had an acre of garden space that I am trying to keep up, but am mostly failing at. She spent all her time, every day she could, in her garden and it was beautiful. I was able to spend 4 months with her before she was taken to a better place. During that time if I had known she was not going to be here with me this year I would have paid more attention to her gardening and I would have tried to learn everything I could from her in that short period of time. Instead everyday was taken for granted, and though I was interested in learning all her secrets to canning, preserving, and gardening, I thought I would have more time to learn with her by my side. So this year was a trial year for me in gardening, and even though I have had a garden of my own in the past, never have I had the challenge of such a large area or a vast array of crop choices.
I don't remember everything she told me about gardening, but I will sometimes find her notes, or remember something she said that stuck in my mind. So I tried to plant what I thought she would have planted and where she would have planted according to those few memories. My ending result has been mostly voluntary plants and weeds!! A few items I have planted are growing, but all of her flowers, herbs and other plants are popping up everywhere. It is really exciting when I notice something new make it's way through the weeds that doesn't resemble a common weed; so I let it grow. Now I have a bearable garden with an excessive amount of weeds, but with work and kids, it isn't easy to keep up with. I am dedicating this post to my mother, though I don't know all the names of the plants that I have, I am studying and finding a ton of information that helps identify them. On this page I will post photographs of her plants from her garden and attempt to identify them. Comments that help identify or assist me in any way are greatly appreciated!
Observations of the plant
These are the first voluntary plants that came up everywhere in her garden! They were overtaking all my other plants, so many of them had to go. As I pulled some of them up I noticed a smell of freshness that reminded me slightly of cucumbers mixed with the aroma of freshness. The only thought that came to mind was the scent of "fresh linen" that you can buy as air fresheners and candles from the store, but that wasn't quite right. The smell of this plant is much better. As these plants grew, they became thistle like and grew very thick. They have cute little blue flowers and still smell so good...maybe even yummy!
Memories with my mother
I remember these plants from last year, but I don't know if my mom ever told me the name of them. I do remember she told all her grandchildren that they could pick the little blue flowers off and eat them! I don't remember if she said they had nutritional value, or why she would eat them. I personally never tried them, but she ate them and so did the grandkids. I might have to try them, since the plant does have a sort of "yummy" smell.My findings
I found that these are borage plants, also known as "star flower." This plant has been used in medicines, for oils, and has also been used as a source of food; as a dry herb, and/or has been used in salads. It has a cucumber-like taste! (Guess I do have to try it now!) It is also known as a "companion plant," meaning it aids in the growth of other plants such as legumes, strawberries and tomatoes.This information was found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borage
