About Me
The saying “Stop and Smell the Roses” is a favorite of mine. I have now found a new saying “Love Your Basil”. My Basil Herb Garden has not only been relaxing, but has brought me so much pleasure that I decided to blog about growing basil, all the different varieties of basil, and creating recipes for all the different varieties of basil.
David and I live in out in West Texas, by a spring fed creek and I want to show off our little piece of paradise and introduce you to my small zoo. Once you get to know me, you’ll see why I want to stay at home, grow basil, create tasty recipes, and play with all my little babies.
Our house is built up on pilings, which is a good thing. A few years ago the creek rose and flooded the downstairs office! Bobby my Bobcat lives in a pen under the house, he has his own jungle gym, and an observatory box that he can overlook his kingdom. The chickens and ducks are right next to his pen in their own chicken coop that David built. The ducks have a pond and the chickens have their roost. I have all our chickens and ducks named after friends and family…I hope they are still friends! lol David has even built me a barn at the end of our property for my miniature donkeys that I want to add to our family. I have an indoor cat Sandy, 2 puppies, Starbucks and Bowie. We saved Bowie from the pound and he’s our Parvo survivor puppy.
Joe David our son, recently got married to Callie and they live in Lockhart, Texas. We love the drive to visit them because we go through the Hill Country, and sometimes to Fredericksburg. This is the peach capital of Texas. The famous Stonewall peach and Freestone peach are from this area. They are also known for all the wineries. We tasted the most delicious Peach Wine, had a personalized label designed for the bottle and gave to our niece for her birthday. Anything is possible in Texas!
I started my basil garden outside under the pecan trees, but didn’t want to lose any of them in the winter. This is when David decided to build me a greenhouse. Most of the materials used to build my greenhouse are recycled. The windows came from some folks remodeling an old house. My work benches were bought from Habitat for Humanity at their overstock sale. The shutters were damaged at Lowe’s, and several of the pots, I designed when we sold Vietnamese Pottery. I’ve already nearly outgrown the new greenhouse with my small collection of 20 different varieties of Basil. I want to see how many of the 100 different varieties of basil I can collect. I am also hunting for the mysterious Chocolate Basil. I will find it, but if you have a source, please share. I have to have one!
I have filmed a few short videos taking you on a tour of our Sherwood Ranch:
This is my butterfly garden. There is everything from a Batface plant, Esperanza’s, Purple Butterfly Bush, and Blue Bonnets.
The Monarch Butterflies were stopping at our Sherwood Ranch to rest before they finish their flight to Mexico for the winter. David and I enjoyed turning our Ranch into a bed and breakfast for the butterflies while they stayed with us for a couple of days.
I love to make Salsa and Picante Sauce. I use my own Jalapeno peppers from our pepper patch. I even have a secret recipe that I will share for my Salsa using Basil. Do you know which kind of Basil I use? You will need to try the recipe to believe it!
Our spring fed creek is the home to large bass, catfish, ducks, a blue heron, and to several geese. Here are the geese coming for a free meal. Pretty loud, huh?
We have ducks and chickens. Each one is named after friends and family! Life on the Sherwood Ranch is so exciting!
This is Bobby! He’s my 11 year old, 50 pound, big baby Bobcat!
And finally, this is my kitchen, where I create all my Basil Recipes!
You’ve gotten to know alot about me, and I hope you will want to get to know my basil and cooking passion more. I’ve lived in big cities from Phoenix, Arizona, to Nashville, Tennessee and I’m so proud to be a Texan now! If you read my Lifetime Journey from Saigon to Texas, you’ll see why I was looking to settle down and relax, and “Love My Basil”.
You can contact me at anytime, I respond very quickly!
Ramona Werst701 FM 72Mertzon, TX 76941325-835-7560ramonawerst@gmail.com
