Greener

Oh, my. The Local Market offers some killer cooking classes. The girls have been attending classes with a friend. Today's class was "Herbs and Spices: The Essence of Flavor". I picked up a pair of giddy girls proudly carrying their very own Basil plants which will likely be ready for harvesting to produce Herbed Cheese Bread in about five weeks. Until then, we will have to settle for the bunches of store-bought stuff or the dried bits in a jar.
It was amusing to discover that despite my lack of ability to produce my own homegrown food here in the 'burbs, my daughter was thrilled to be able to crow that her mommy grew some of our herbs in the yard. Which went a long way toward letting me feel a little less inept in my provisioning of our household pantry after reading Green Girl's post which rather inspires me to look for creative ways to cut down on mass-produced munchies. It is heartening that my kids were not shocked by the news that herbs are grown, and do not magically sprout in little jars from the megamart aisles. I have to admit there was even a small frisson of glee in noting that I am at least producing something that we eat. Not all of our edibles come packaged in a clam shell or plastic bag. It's not much, but it will do here in the burbs with a postage stamp yard.
Tomorrow, I will take Middle Child over to the nursery to add mint and sweet basil to our current bumper crop of rosemary and hardy basil. If we don't manage to kill those off in the midst of a Texas heatwave ("Feels like 112", are dirty words for tender plants and heat-sensitive people alike!), then savory, oregano, and thyme will be our next additions to the herb garden. Herb-growing greatness here we come!