Appetizing Muse

Since early last summer, I have been growing my own herbs - slowly but surely. Rather than plant a full garden, I chose a large store-purchased planter and added a selection of three herbs: sweet basil, dill and parsley. It took quite awhile, but eventually my little crop yielded plenty of the pungently fresh herbs for my own use.

I'm no dab hand at drying fresh herbs, nor did I undertake extensive research into the subject. After pulling the herbs from the planter, I laid them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet and dried them in a cold oven for three or four days. After they were completely dry, I painstakingly ground the dried leaves with my hands and removed the stems. I placed my batch of herbs into individual "pint-sized" canning jars for which I made my own labels.

Since autumn is here and winter is just around the corner, I decided to grow my next "crop" inside the house. Using the same planter, I have assembled cilantro, lemon basil, marjoram and more dill seeds. I labeled the "wrong" end of white plastic knives with a black marker to identify my herbs, with the month and year added. I'm using a dusty old shelf in the laundry room for my "greenhouse," relying on natural heat in the room to aid in growing the aromatic plants. There are no windows, so I predict a few months before I have another batch of usable herbs.

As I'm growing the herbs for my own use, I'm not too concerned about the lengthy process. It's also a learning experience, but one I'm quite enjoying.