Herb Time

OK, so it's sunny out and my day off which means I'm not going to write much!

Things are finally growing in the garden and we may eek out a few tomatoes and zucchini, but not sure if we'll have a chance to grow any other sun loving veggie. Going to have to buy some new starts today. Think I'll give basil a try. That said, the peas and broccoli are super happy and you can even see little baby broccoli heads starting! Exciting as this will be my first year for broccoli success.

Today I decided to collect and preserve some of the herbs. The mint will get leggy soon as it gets hotter and dryer (yes I'm being optimistic) so I picked some to dry and some to make mint water from. The mint water is delicious when it's hot out. I just steep a bunch of it as if I were making a very concentrated mint tea. Then I add that to a pitcher, fill with cold water and put that in the fridge for when we're thirsty and hot.

I also picked chives, which did I tell you I figured out how to preserve last year? If you try to dry them whole they shrivel up like dead grass. If you chop them fine then lay them out to dry, they stay nice a green and the taste is great.

The lavender is just about to flower so I rushed to pick as many stems with unopened buds as I could. I'll dry these and use them for baking this fall/winter. They are delicious in orange scones. I made a lavender ice cream last fall that was tasty too.

Lastly, I picked a bunch of lettuce as it's finally warm enough for me to crave salads. Fresh lettuce from the garden will actually last a long time in the fridge. I discovered two years ago how to make greens last longer. I just wash them well and then spin them dry. Next I wrap a bundle of them in paper towels and place that in a glass storage container. All of that goes into the crisper bin in the fridge and will last at least a week. That way you only have to wash lettuce once a week! To combat spiders, slugs and such that like to get in the folds of lettuce, I just soak it in the sink for a half hour or so.