Herb Garden ~ Yogurt Dip with Herbs

Since it's raining out, and I'm cleaning and shampooing carpets, I'm sharing the update on our herb garden.  By the way the rain came back in full force - flood warnings every where.  And it's cold.  I had to put on my winter coat yesterday.  Brrrr.  So it's wet, cold, windy, cloudy, and it's May.  May.  I repeat May.  Mother Nature must be drunk.  And my year-old $78.00 thermal muck boots have holes now.  Holes.  I have to walk through a river to get to the barn and my socks are soaked.   I'm about to get the canoe out, ha ha!
Anyway....

Spontaneously (earlier this Spring), Hubby and I decided to give the herb garden a "face lift."  This is why.  The photo is actually of the flower bed, but the same border - natural rocks we found on the homestead.  I've had the beds this way for 9-10 years now.  Every spring I have to re-set the rocks, sweep up all the mulch and/or dirt and put it back in the beds.  Gah!

You can see the mess of weeds too.  When I first put this garden in, we used simply newspaper.  It's held the weeds down until now (9-10 years later).  I had to dig up the chives completely, dig out all the grass, and replant.  On the left is my green onion, and to the right of that thyme (filled with grass too).  It was a job this spring.

 All the landscaping stones are in place, and weeding resumed.  What a mess it was.  Weeds, weeds, weeds (which I turned into tea makers, aside from the grass)  I let it go last fall to stock up on all those tomatoes.  

It's looking much better now. I'm on the hunt for pine mulch now.  If not, I may be renting a chipper and making my own (if we have any downed pine out in the "back 40").  I have already planted new oregano, chives and rosemary, but I need more rosemary.  My invasive herbs are in pots.  I may even try (dare I?) to replant all the medicinal ones the raccoons terrorized last year.  

My parsley is already up.  I couldn't wait any longer, and snipped some to make a dip - homemade yogurt, finely chopped fresh parsley, and minced garlic (still providing from last year).  You can top fish, sandwiches, or use it as a dip.  Yum!