Is it okay to quote myself? I'm sure there's lots of thought provoking, herb-related quotes in the world, but this captures an herb's best quality - how it effects people. When I walk through an herb garden, I can't help but touch the plants and take deep breathes. If you came with me on my meanderings, you may laugh at my habit of gently pulling on the plant leaves and then smelling my hands. It looks funny, but it is intoxicating!
Right now, my garden consists of herbs in small pots on my porch. The soil in my backyard is mostly rock, so I find it difficult to dig a real garden, even though herbs usually do well in various kinds of terrain. Herbs do equally well in containers and for things like mint & catnip, it's recommended because they can totally take over a garden! The draw back to herb container gardening is that they do require regular watering: not my strong suit. Thank goodness herbs are fairly hardy and can withstand my occasional neglect. This year my husband has made that task much easier by installing one of those pocket hoses. I love that thing! One of my most dreaded chores is to move a heavy, unwieldy hose, whether it's the central vac (which I no long use, in part because of the hose) or the garden hose, I work up quite a sweat trying to get the thing uncoiled and recoiled. Seriously, you'd think I was wrestling a boa constrictor if you saw me! I LOVE the pocket hose and so do my plants!
This year I planted 2 mint varieties, oregano, basil, parsley, cilantro, lemon balm, lemon grass, catnip, citronella, and lavender. Is there anything better than making dinner and running to the back porch to finish it off with fresh cut herbs from the garden? My tomatoes are almost ready for harvesting and I can't wait to eat a Caprese salad with my homegrown tomatoes & fresh basil leaves! Mmmm, that will be a little slice of heaven!
My project, however, is cultivating a larger lavender garden! I was inspired by my trip to San Francisco. They planted herbs everywhere, especially lavender! And before you say, "it's Tasty Tuesday, this is suppose to be about food", let me tell you, you can eat lavender. I'm sure most of you knew that already, but there are probably some of you picturing a slice of cake that tastes like soap from Crabtree & Evelyn. Trust me, lavender is edible! I had a scrumptious lavender French macaron (French spelling) from Miette's in The Ferry Building. The trick is to use the right kind of lavender and not too much of it! The flowers are beautiful sprinkled on top of cakes & cupcakes. It can be used in hot and iced teas, too! I've even seen the herb & the flower candied. The possibilities are endless. And if it's still not your taste, it has tons of other personal and household uses, not to mention it's a bug deterrent in the garden!
Here's a close up of my current, medium sized pot of lavender. I have made several cuttings that will root on the window sill over the next few weeks. The plan is to then pot them, nurture them over the winter, and plant them in the front garden in the spring!
Do you have an herb garden? I'd love to hear about what's planted in it. Even if you haven't had great success, maybe we could give you some helpful tips. What favorite herbs to you use regularly use in your cooking? Would you be willing to try a lavender flavored macaron?
I look forward to hearing all about your fragrant and useful herb gardens!! I can smell their tasty goodness already!
Don't forget, go to the blog to make your comments!
Thank you for reading & commenting - your engagement feeds my soul and connects our community!
Your Partner in Ministry,
Shelly
warrior
"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body." Proverbs 16:24
No comments:
Post a Comment