i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
Lemon Balm (Melissa Officionalis) is a perennial herb part of the mint family with very similar growth habits. It’s hardy and invasive if left to its own devices, so like my mint, it’s been relegated to the invasive herb box where it holds its own …
If you’ve never used mint (or mint jelly) on a sandwich, you really should start. Seriously, you won’t be disappointed. I don’t know how to describe the deliciously fresh taste that using mint imparts, but it’s what I think of when I think of Summer. …
Mint, of the genus mentha, is one of the herbs that I always have on hand. Several different species exist, although I usually only keep one or two (currently, I have peppermint and chocolate mint.) It’s probably the least picky herb I have had the pleasure to keep, thriving in full sun to deep shade, watering a lot or watering a little–it seems that the more I neglect it, the more it grows. However, this causes it to be somewhat invasive, so I’ve relegated them to a flower box, where any other growing space is out of easy reach for their creeping volunteers. It does great in poor soils, and tolerates a wide range of soil acidity.
I like keeping it on hand for salads during the summer, or in place of lettuce for sandwiches. It goes divine in a summer iced tea, sweetened or unsweetened, and lemon/lime/orange-ades.
There’s really not much to say except that it’s important to keep it contained due to its highly invasive nature. Keeping it in mostly shade will slow it down, as well as keep the leaves large and prevent it from bolting too quickly. Of course, volunteers are easily pulled–it’s roots are relatively shallow and come up easily. I love working around, and so do bees and butterflies when it comes into flower. As a perennial, it comes back year after year, and is hardy down to USDA zone 3.
Sometimes I feel bad about containing it because it really is a very useful herb, and I would love for it to be used as a groundcover between other taller bushes, but I’m afraid it might smother or rob nutrients, so for now, it will have to do where it is.
Recipes with Mint:
Turkey, Muenster, and Peppermint Sandwich
Simple Mint and Chickpea Salad
I’ve been wanting to do this DIY for a while, but could not, for the life of me, find the bar of beeswax I had used to seal my mason bee house. I wanted to be as close to plastic free as possible, not only …
I had to put “sundried” in quotations because I didn’t actually dry them in the sun, but what would you call dehydrated tomatoes? Dried tomatoes… dehydrated tomatoes… desiccated tomatoes… they don’t sound too appetizing that way and the supermarkets sell them as “sundried” anyway, even …
I love having an extensive herb garden because I can just go outside and pinch some off, without having to worry about where to store large quantities of it (and, if I don’t use it up soon enough, the flavors may fade.)
Oregano (Origanum Vulgare) is a perennial staple, doing well in neutral soils and part shade (where I am, in Zone 7, it does need some afternoon shade or else it dries out and becomes spindly.) It, like other herbs, do not enjoy being fertilized. It spreads by runners and seed, becoming bushy and trailing, so it also makes for a great potted utility plant if you’re into the Mori Girl (Forest Girl) interior design style like I am. I have mine planted underneath my currant bushes, where it serves as a groundcover to prevent moisture loss.
Personally, I think it’s something that you can’t really have too much of, because it’s attractive but not overly invasive the way mint sometimes is (even though it’s part of the mint family.) And, of course, harvesting and drying it ensures you have much to last you through winter (if you’re not growing it inside the house) and it’s used extensively in Italian and Greek cooking. One of my favorite ways of using it is just minced with other herbs in my garden, some salt and pepper, and a generous dash of olive oil, as a dip for some delightfully warm, crusty bread.
Recipes With Oregano
Tasty Tuna Sandwich
Antipasto Salad Supreme
Oven Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes
Sophie’s Lady Crab Cakes
Hearty Garden Bean Soup
Herb Butter From Scratch
Panzanella
If anyone had been willing to listen the last few years, they know that I had been battling deer in my garden and had been losing. Overnight, my poor fruit trees would be stripped of their leaves, and their odd gastronomic decisions made me think …
For those wanting a less Asian approach to using shiso while using a large quantity of it, this is the recipe for you: Sauteed Clams, Shiso Batayaki style. My husband (who is part Italian) LOVES this sauce as it is wonderful for all kinds of …
**The longer you keep them, the more moisture gets pulled out of the yolk and it will be firmer. It’s normal for the yolk to shrink in size and take on a darker color.
About two years ago, one of my best friends told me about a book she read called “The Art of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo, and how, in it, there is a method of figuring out what to keep and what to throw away when …