Some of the herbs in my #bloomingdaledc garden

Basil

Cilantro

Rosemary

Spearmint

Sometimes I don't realize how much stuff I have growing in the garden until I pull out my camera and say to myself, let's see what's there. And lo and behold I find I have quite a few herbs -- all of which I use for food flavoring all the time.  There's a basil plant just starting, a really pretty cilantro, a well-established rosemary and some spearmint invading any flower bed it can get into.  I usually dry the basil leaves in the oven (after it's turned off!) or use the leaves in a salad.  Cilantro is great in guacamole and in just about any soup or rice dish. Whenever I make roast potatoes I usually crush a bunch of rosemary in olive oil in the blender and pour that on the taters, with a bit of salt (very yummy!).  And the spearmint tea is good for tea in the summer (pour boiled water on a few sprigs and then cool it).  I lost my lavender plant in a recent rainstorm as it got soaked and the roots rotted as I forgot to check the pot and clear out the water in time. I grow these herbs as they are so EASY to grow and the soil around here seems to helpful to the plants.  The big danger is if they are in pots and I forgot about them and they either die from lack of water or too much water. It's just so wonderful to run out into the garden and get something to flavor your food and which is likely very beneficial to your health.

Cropping the Basil

Late this summer I planted some basil seeds that someone had given me from their garden and by the end of September I had a good yield. Here's a photo of these little plants that I just harvested before they flowered.  After washing them and brushing off any strange looking yard bits, I pulled the leaves off and put them on paper towels on a cooking sheet to dry them. To speed the process I put them in the oven after I had finished cooking dinner, and so they slowly dried out overnight.  I noticed the next evening -- when I went to cook dinner again in the oven -- that the leaves were not completely dry, so I put them back in the oven overnight for another drying session (that is, after the oven was turned off!).  By the third day they were nice and dry and I could crumble them into a sterilized dry jar. So now I have home grown basil to cook with.  I threw some of the leaves into a soup the other day and when we next make pizza you know I'm going to use these then! There's something very satisfying about growing your own stuff and eating it! Praise the Lord for warm ovens and green basil!