Herbs

On my first day in York I had my set of keys copied (I don't trust myself with only one set). It takes a few minutes; I spent that time wandering onto the adjacent market, and decided to buy some herbs. Makes the house look nice, and might be eaten too! And it turned out to be a good choice. My bay leaf plant is only being pretty, which it is good at, but the basil, mint, rosemary and thyme (there’s a song in that!) do have their nutritional value appreciated. I am a lazy cook, who only on rare occasion strays beyond the trusted realm of pepper and salt, but having herbs in reach in the window sill does help. The basil ends up in pasta and on cheese-tomato-basil sandwiches, the rosemary ends up in mashed potato and quiches, and the thyme ends up on fried eggs and on goat’s cheese. Spiffing!

The mint is good for tea; I have a “brundail” mint and a “garden mint” and they have both already been used. It’s good I have two; I could easily drink a mint plant to death. And Corinne mentioned you can make tea of basil as well, so even though the poor plant is already under stress because of its popularity in my lunch box, I tried that too. And indeed, it works! And these days I also grow my own lettuce. They sell the stuff in pots, and that’s the best way. I’m turning into a cook-cum-gardener, after having been a townie herbless chef! I think it’s a good thing...