Cataloging the Candidates

After receiving word that a meeting I was supposed to attend this morning was canceled, I decided to use the time to start an herb directory (using Excel). "Wow, she really is serious about her herbs," you may be thinking. I know this task might seem uber-obsessive, but it will help me to learn faster and keep everything straight, and I think it will be a useful quick-reference in the future. Again, I am not going whole-hog to start out. I have selected a handful of herbs to document in detail, 10 to be exact. These 10 herbs are all in the running to be among the Chosen Four (Five). Think of this cataloging process as a background check performed before a prospective employee is hired: I want to make sure I'm getting valid information and am fully informed before I make my selections.

For instance, I am already finding conflicting information in regards to sunlight requirements for some herbs. This is definitely something I have to reconcile, as this characteristic of the herb is a crucial determinant in the selection process. I would hate nothing more than to have inadvertently selected a couple herbs that in actuality require part-sun, part-shade, not full-sun. Such a mistake in the process I feel would be inexcusable. If I am going to blunder along the way, I want it to be for something forgivable, not for something as easily avoided as selecting the right herbs for the lighting conditions.

For those interested in what I am recording for each herb in the directory, here is the list: common name, scientific name (genus + species), family, growth form, height, flower color, light requirement, growing requirements, harvesting, and medicinal properties/uses. I think this will be a good start and give me a quick, but comprehensive snapshot of each herb. Once I pick the ones I will be growing, I'll probably go a little bit more in depth in terms of the "character sketch" for each particular herb, delving into its history and the like. In fact, some of the lore surrounding particular herbs and the origin of their names is quite interesting and might factor into my decision to grow them.

Was this cataloging process terribly tedious? Not at all. I found myself really enjoying it, and I think I might even extend the directory to include a few more herbs of interest, perhaps working my way toward developing a personal herb compendium. But starting out with 10 was definitely a wise choice. Additionally, creating the directory had the effect I was hoping for: I've learned a lot, got answers to some of my initial questions (i.e. if it's better to start from seed or use seedlings), and all of the information I'm gathering seems more manageable and accessible. When I decided to start this project I never suspected that I'd be busting out the Excel sheets, but I'm really glad I did. However, if I start talking about making graphs--please--somebody stop me.