V.G.T. - Kristine in Troy, IL

We continue our Virtual Garden Tour, heading back towards the center of the country. Kristine Brown, the writer, illustrator and publisher of the amazing herbal teaching tool for kids and adults alike - Herbal Roots Zine - shares her gardens with us today. If you've never had a chance to see any of Kristine's work, visit her site and get a free back issue of her e-zine by signing up for her newsletter and for those who prefer printed materials, you really must see her newest creation in the form of a wall calendar (I ordered mine). On occasion, Kristine writes for The Essential Herbal magazine, and we appreciate that.

water pond: contains calamus root, yerba mansa, papyrus, lizard tail, arrowhead and white pond lily plus is home to about 100 goldfish, several frogs, dragonfly nymphs and during the spring hosts toads and their 1000's of tadpoles they leave behind.

water pond 2: shows garden behind it which hosts trifolium pratense, plantago major, achillea millefolium, melissa officinalis, nepeta cataria, echinacea purpurea, althea officinalis, alcea rosea nigra (black hollyhocks), mentha piperita, mentha spicata, symphyotrichum novea-angliae (new england aster).

herb garden 1: mentha piperita, leonurus cardiaca, feverfew, monarda fistulosa, melissa officinalis, valeriana officinalis, althea officinalis, helianthus tuberosus (sunchokes) in back right corner.

herb garden 2: stachys officinalis, symphytum officinal, foeniculum vulgare (fennel)



view from the back porch: back yard to the right, to the left walks out to the water pond and herb garden. go straight out to more herb gardens, beyond that is the vegetable garden and further still the farm fields that surround us on 3 sides. taken late spring (may-ish) 2 years ago.

herb garden 3: faces back porch (standing near the old greenhouse) echinacea purpurea, nepeta cataria, hemerocallis fulva (daylily), oenothera biennis (evening primrose), alcea rosea nigra (black hollyhocks)

herb garden 1 backview: leonurus cardiaca, tanacetum parthenium (feverfew), althea officinalis, stachys byzantina (lamb's ear) veggie garden: where herbs meet veggies and kids run amuck

veggie garden:

veggie garden backside: view standing between farm field and garden looking towards house. herb garden stretches behind garage on both sides and up both sides meeting the driveway on the right and the house on the left

Some of the plants:

Urtica dioca

Thymus vulgais

Prunella vulgaris

Monarda fistulosa

Leonarus cardica

Inula helenium

Equisetium arvense

Borago officinalis

Avena sativa

Althea officinanalis

Acmella oleracea

Achillea millefolium

In the interest of full disclosure, some pictures are from previous years. This growing season was extremely challenging for growers all over the country, and we are so grateful for the gardeners willing to share with us!