Country Garden Crafts - Circa 1997-98

15-year old dried lavender

Thank you growitathome for reviving sleeping memories of days-gone-by from the backyard.  My post on drying herbs prompted some questions by Joelle that I hope I answered adequately in the comments and also on her blog, Grow It At Home.  But it also resurrected the remembrance of the little business I ran from the backyard many moons ago.  It was called Country Garden Crafts and revolved around dried herbs and flowers.  Back then, I grew few vegetables and focused on herbs - LOTS of herbs. My, how times have changed because I grow very few herbs and tons of vegetables these days.  Below is what I dried for wreaths, arrangements, edibles, cooking, moth chasers, soap (yup, I made the soap too), bug repellents, etc. etc.  Where did I find the energy and time while working full time?  The lavender in this picture still is as fragrant as the day it was picked.  I have this and some moth chaser mixture remaining, but that's about it.   I went to a few craft fairs and yes, folks loved this kind of thing.  But it was very time consuming for the little profit made, but still enjoyable. 

Dried herbs and flowers of years gone-by.:

All the Artemisias (there are hundreds):
Sweet Annie (still comes up from seed by itself after all these years)
Silver Queen
Silver King
Wormwood
Southernwood
(the above make good moth chasers too)
Lavender (used in potpourris, moth chasers, soap, and food - very versatile plant)
Tansy
Sunflowers
Straw flowers
Globe Amaranth
Crested Amaranth
Wheat Amaranth
Echinops
Lemon Balm
Many mints: Kentucky, spearmint, peppermint (luscious), mountain, horse, etc.
Thyme (several: lemon, transparent, english (for cooking)
Basil
Curly parsley
Rosemary
Dill
Fennel
Sage
Tarragon
Cilantro
Green and Silver Santolina (leaves and flowers)
Black-eyed Susans
Antique roses of all kinds (used the petals in potpourri and also in tea sandwiches)
Rose hips (for jam)
Peonys (dry beautifully..looks like a huge rose)

My memory escapes me surely, but these are the herbs and flowers I recall drying and using.  Have fun!