Sign up for 5280's weekly e-newsletters. Want the latest restaurant scoop? The latest happenings around town? Access to exclusive events and deals just for 5280 readers? As I walked into Sunflower Market yesterday, I saw a new addition to the outdoor display: tiny pots with tiny herb plants in them. I immediately stooped and started cooing at the parsley, until a green-vested employee pushing carts raised his eyebrows and ushered me inside.
It’s nearly time to plant my herb garden, and this year I decided to actually plan ahead. While Simon and Garfunkel sing beautifully about parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, I actually rarely use any of those herbs in my cooking. I am planning to do basil, mint, cilantro, and chives, which also happily fit the syllabic structure of the song, so I can go around humming the chorus in anticipation.
Last year was my first successful herb garden, and it changed the way I ate (and drank) immensely. Suddenly, easy pasta sauces tasted gourmet. I was blending pesto regularly. I dropped fresh mint in iced teas and, later, mojitos. It wasn’t hard to grow any of the herbs, and beyond the couple-dollar start-up cost, it seemed brilliantly free to accessorize my dishes and drinks all summer.
This year I also have goals: I want to freeze basil, have enough mint juleps to talk in a suh-thern accent again, make fresh pico de gallo, and blend up some tasty pesto once more. I also just discovered the basil gimlet (with vodka or gin) that might have to make its debut this summer.
Next week: The Obamas planted their Victory Garden, to much fanfare. We’ll talk about what us normal folks are planting in our more modest plots, and share some gardening tips.
Posted 4/8/2009 at 12:36 pm by Jennie Dorris
Bargains, Community :: Permalink :: Comments (3)
Hello, garden, my old friend…
Where are you getting your herbs on the cheap? Are you planting seeds or buying the starter plants?
I lost my first paragraph, it will appear soon! Tewonawonga, I typically do plants, but I’m open to trying seeds.
I thought the Simon & Garfunkel bit was pretty funny.
I’m planting myself a square-foot veggie garden this year, and I am uber excited about it! I grew basil 2 years ago, and it was awesome freezing it because then you can have “fresh” basil all winter long and it actually kept well! Going to do that again this year.
(Not being a southerner myself, I think I need to find what these infamous “mint juleps” are and make them.)
- Cesia.