AND VOILA!

Here it is!  My herb line up!  Starting with the left, we have chamomile, cilantro, chocolate mint, cilantro again (can never have too much), spearmint, and lavender.

I wanted pretty planters, but they all cost at least $5 to get bright colored pots.  SO, I bought the cheap clay pots that cost $1.50 a piece and painted them bright colors.  It's nice to look out my window and see the prayer flags and they bright colored plots.

I'm waiting for the cilantro and lavendar to start growing, but the other ones I can start cutting and drying pretty soon.  Now I just need to figure out how to dry them out and store them until I want to use them.  I'm thinking I need some clear canisters or something along those lines.

Herb Garden Beginnings!

Ok, officially started my herb garden today after buying 3 potted herbs at the market. Today's purchases:

Chocolate Mint: a mint plant I plan on using for teas and maybe stuffed peppers
Spearmint: great in water during the summer to cool off, for colds and allergies, and for making tea.
Chamomile: Aromatherapy scent as well as a good cough suppresant if you are looking for a calming tea.

I still want to expand to include other medicinal herbs and delicious herbs (lemongrass!) as well as some commonly used kitchen herbs. Definitely need some cilantro!

Any ideas out there on good additions to my tiny upstart?

Early Friendly Tea Party

So yesterday was the big organic/fair-trade/locally grown if possible tea party.

Mission: Host a tea party using only fair-trade, organic, or locally grown products.

Mission Status: Relatively Accomplished!

Food:

Organic carrots and celery (not in season here yet, so not possible to get locally grown)

Organic and locally grown cucumbers

Whole wheat bread (non-processed)

Organic yogurt (used to make veggie dip by adding spices)

Non-processed cheese

Non-processed whole grain crackers

Beverages:

Organic fair-trade berry tea

Black tea, curtesy of Tazo (I added peach juice to flavor it from locally grown Porter Peachers).

Review: The bread was my biggest let down. I should have planned better about getting a hold of it. I will say though, the food tasted wonderful! Especially the veggies! Everything tasted fresh and full of flavor and I didn't end up spending more than I would have had I taken a junk food or non-organic approach! So I found it a great way to kick off my new life approach to eating well and supporting my local economy and farmers.

Looking Forward To: Meat. Where do I find local deli meat? What about thinks like summer sausage? Can I find an alternative?