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Posts Tagged ‘herbs’

The instructions say to plant seeds in a shallow dish and move as needed for best light. Instructions I can follow! Not sure how I’m going to serve up this first little harvest.  Maybe with slices of avocado and tomatoes on toasted bread rubbed with garlic.  Theoretically, this cress is a spicy herb.  We shall see. I’m not sure that I grow enough at a time to benefit from the nutritional value, but the simple act of planting a few seeds in a bit of dirt and watching the sprouts rise in the sun, that’s worth the effort alone.

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Some folks think I yearn for a big field to garden, but I don’t.  I enjoy my few clay pots and random mugs filled with dirt, tucked in all sorts of corners and moved about as my whim and the sun does strike.

It has been fun this year to grow flowers, herbs and the occasional vegetable.  The trailing green growth and splashes of color have been inspiring, as well as occasionally quite tasty.  Most of the herbs have died back or faded away completely with a few exceptions like the oregano.

I planted a few new seeds on Saturday.  Spicy cress, fenugreek and more nasturtium.  The fenugreek has already started to sprout.  Perhaps I’ll be able to harvest it for Christmas. On Sunday I picked up some paperwhite bulbs with a goal to plant them in January and perhaps soon after photograph white winter blooms against a backdrop of falling snow. Until then, I have these herbs and, oh yes, that violet.

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I purchased the little pot of fennel as an experiment.  Just to try growing something I’d never tried before.  After an initial mishap involving watering (or lack thereof), the herb seems to be doing alright.  Still haven’t really cooked with it yet, but I do love the shadows it casts.

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Meanwhile, the scallions are a beautiful, unruly mess and the lemon thyme is creating great shadows on the bookcase.

The fennel I nearly watered to death but I think I caught myself just in time. We’ll see. 😉

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My favorite flower shop, Ricky’s, has reopened, providing further evidence that Spring is truly here.  He does not yet have his full array of herbs on display but he had enough to make me happy as I walked into the shop. I departed with some standard items, e.g. two different types of thyme, but I also walked out with something new that I’ve never tried to grow before.  Fennel.

The resident chef seemed happy with sight of the little pot on the table.  We’ll see what he does with the feathery fronds in future dishes.  Meanwhile, the other indoor greenery continues to do well, bathed by the light of the new season.

 

 

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I have a mouse in my house. Of course, most likely more than one at this time of year. But there’s at least one that I know of who likes to nibble at the herbs and other plants I have in various containers about the kitchen and in hallways.  He loves to dig into the roots of the sage and nibble at the leaves of mesclun.  He ignores the fenugreek, thyme, oregano and rosemary, although on occasion I’ve seen evidence that he has peeked into their pots.  The lavender he seems to ignore completely.  The bed of dirt remains untouched and the leaves uneaten.  It is the one plant, aside from the African violet, that thrives this winter.  The pot sits next to a western facing window.  And it is the silhouette of the lavender leaves and branches against the setting sun that I captured in this photo.

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mostly herbs

like cuban oregano

and lavender

and then there’s the little fern

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That thought crossed my mind this morning as I did everything except the one thing I needed to be doing — write, write, write.  But, eventually, I remembered that part of my creative process, especially when I am feeling stuck on a writing project, is to get up from the computer and to walk toward … something.  In this case it was toward a small table in Steve’s kitchen.

On the table is an eclectic mix of items:  an antique silver pitcher against which leans a postcard of Hiroshige’s Plum Garden, a small pot of basil, two pots of red peppers separated by a pot of Cuban oregano, lavender that needs to be replanted and some lemon verbena.

Nestled amidst all of these herbs are bits of pottery filled with fruits of the season, glass votives, an empty wooden basket, and another postcard, Romare Bearden’s Autumn Lamp (Guitar Player).

Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy sits open upon the table, too.  I think I have it for two more weeks from the library before I have to return it. It’s a good book that I think I am going to add to my Christmas list. I flipped through the book for a bit, letting my eyes dance over her words and images.  And then guess what?

I closed the book (after marking what I intend to try for dinner tonight).  I sat back down at the computer and began to put fingers to the keyboard, feeling just a little bit less stuck.  😉

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