When I say some of my growing vessels are tiny, I’m not kidding. This little clay pot is approximately 2 inches deep and 2.5 inches across.
I imagine one day that the cuban oregano growing inside will tip it over. But not yet.
Archive for the ‘Kitchen Inspirations’ Category
culinary scale
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged cuban oregano, food, food photography, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, oregano, Photography on May 3, 2015| 2 Comments »
my house garden mapped
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged cooking, cuisine, edible plants, food art, fun, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, maps on April 27, 2015| 4 Comments »
I’ve been getting a few questions about my garden and how I can be growing everything from traditional herbs to potatoes all indoors. Please keep in mind that some of my planting vessels are re-purposed espresso cups and cereal bowls and very few vessels are large. Nevertheless, I am very lucky to live in an old Victorian with lots of nooks and crannies and windows all around. Outside the kitchen, in the hallway, is a table tucked against a window. And upon that table you will currently find …
Enter the kitchen and one of the very first things you will see is a small bookcase where cookbooks and old recipes are kept on the shelves. On the narrow top, are the following edible parts …
And just ahead, not far, is a small table that receives plenty of light. And so upon its right-hand corner there are stacked the following herbs and sprouts …
Now to the right of the table is a sizeable floor speaker with a sturdy wooden case. That’s right. I usurped a portion of the top and there you will find …
And, last but not least, in this kitchen there is a bay of windows. The curvature is such that the area was just big enough for a certain person to tuck his handmade wooden carpenter’s workbench. I held myself in check and only borrowed a left-hand corner where there now sits …
There are other plants around whose images I like to share with you, but these are the edible ones, close to and in the kitchen, always reaching for the light. I made these guides for the resident chef so that he knows what he is snipping at but I also made them for myself as a calm way to end the day. Enjoy. 😉
the nasturtium are not forgotten …
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, colors, edible plants, flowers, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nasturtium, Photography, violas on April 27, 2015| 2 Comments »
It’s just that my cousin sent me a packet of viola seeds and so I became curious about the viola. The seeds have been planted and they are sprouting quite nicely. Meanwhile I decided to visit my favorite flower market where I picked up a few viola plants. The owner saw me coming and he just shook his head. “You just can’t stop yourself, can you?”
I confirmed with him that the flowers are edible and I’ve done a bit of my own research. So, if the winter was a time of the nasturtium, in their pots and on my plate, perhaps the spring will be one featuring the viola decorating this and that to be determined.
But, FYI, the nasturtium continue to grow, including a young pot of Empress of India. The cover of the seed packet suggests that all of the blooms will be dark red. So far all I see is a lot of dark green leaves with no indication of buds let alone blooms. So, I’m back to practicing that patience thing. 😉
So what happens when …
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged abstract, colors, food photography, fun, Inspiration, light, Photography, red onion, red tomato on April 11, 2015| 2 Comments »
… you place a slice of red onion, a slice of red tomato and a bit of creamy white garlic on a gold clay saucer and then wrap that saucer with some clear plastic? Simply leftovers from a late lunch. Well, depending on the right light pouring through a window, sometimes I think you get magic. 😉
and then even that color fades away leaving beauty
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged abstract, beauty, black and white, flowers, Inspiration, monotype, nasturtium, Photography on April 9, 2015| 3 Comments »
dabs of color on a cloudy, unfocused day
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, colors, flowers, indoor gardening, Inspiration, leaves, nasturtium, petals, Photography on April 9, 2015| 4 Comments »
discovery
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged edibles, food photography, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nature, Photography, plants, wild sorrel, yellow wood sorrel on March 29, 2015| 3 Comments »
The other cool thing about indoor gardening these past few months has been discovery. When heart shaped leaves began springing up in my pots in the soil I had taken from the landlord’s garden, I thought that they were clover.
Some of the patches of what I thought was clover were so thick that I decided to scoop them up and plant them in their own tiny pots, a bit of green to help us stay sane this long winter. The leaves tasted a bit like lemon.
By mid-March the greenery had begun to flower, small bright yellow blooms that quickly spread their petals and then just as quickly faded away. No blooms like I’d ever seen in the clover I remembered from my childhood in Virginia. Still, I described the plant as clover. But when the seed pods formed, I realized I should probably do my homework.
No clover do I have growing in the kitchen and other sunny nooks. With search terms including shape of leaves, color of flowers and seed pods, I was able to discover it is wild sorrel, or in this case, yellow wood sorrel. Still edible, thank goodness. I doubt I’ll ever grow enough to reproduce the recipes I’ve found but it is a fun journey nevertheless.
droplets
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged abstract, edibles, indoor gardening, Inspiration, monotype, nature, Photography, sunflower sprouts, sunflowers on March 29, 2015| 3 Comments »
One of the wonders of an indoor garden for me is the opportunity to look back. I can snip my sprouts, in this case sunflowers, and then after tossing them onto a plate, I can look back at their pot and I find such glorious things like liquid rolling down a stem.
awash in color
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged beauty, blossom, colors, flowers, indoor gardening, Inspiration, nasturtium, Photography on March 26, 2015| 6 Comments »
I also photographed food yesterday in that beautiful sunlight
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged colors, food, food photography, Inspiration, Photography, snacks on March 24, 2015| 3 Comments »
Words + Images 