Eating the Garden whilst Enjoying the Flowers

An exciting hunt through the markets of Paris elicited a mouth-watering and tantalizing visual feast. My favorite seeds that I found are Italian - Franchi seeds Misticanza Quattro Stagioni - a delightful find of mesclun, endive and chicory.

Digo varietà medio-precoce, mistacanza ottenuta dalle migliori varietà di lattughe indivie e cicorie, assortite per precocità e gusto. Le varietà da taglio rivegetano rapidamente.

Il dit, une mélange variété moyen-précoce, obtenue des meilleures variétés de laitues, endives et chicorées, assorties pour précocité et de goûte. Les variétés de coupe, végètent rapidment de nouveau.

Y también una variedad semiprecoz, mezcla obtenida de las mejores variedades de lechuga, achicoria y escarola, escogidas por su precocidad y sabor. Rebrota rapidamente después de cortar.

I also purchased beautiful red lettuce seeds - laitue batavia grenobloise rouge, and seeds distributed by Aviflora which are for dark opal basil – a delicious and beautiful deep, burgundy-tinted basil.

Un basilic très décorative par ses feuilles violettes, très joli dans le jardin mais surtout à utilizer en garniture dans la cuisine.

The final wonderful lettuce I discovered is called Lattuga Lingua di canarino. It is an early lettuce, and has long almost pointed leaves – but with enough surface that it still looks like, and tastes like a lettuce. Franchi Sementi again.

Fall Chores in the Herb Garden

Now that the evenings are drawing in and the air has a chill to it, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are on the horizon and we are thinking about withdrawing to the warmth of an open fire, it’s time to be thinking about harvesting the herbs we have successfully grown over the summer months. Instead of going out and picking fresh sprigs of rosemary, why not pick what you want now and dry them, so you have a ready supply over the winter months. Want to know how? Read on...

Herbs that are best for drying are basil, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme. Cut down the best looking branches. Wash and pat dry the herbs to prevent mold and then bundle them into bouquets and tie them with string and hang them upside down so the stalks are upwards and the leaves are pointing down. Place them in a dark, airy place for drying and keep them out of the sun. Sunlight is great for growing plants, but it's terrible for drying herbs, causing them to turn grey and lifeless.

Another way to dry herbs is to strip the leaves off the biggest stems and place them on screens that allow the air to circulate e.g. a sweater dryer. When the leaves are crisp to the touch, they are ready for storage.

Once dried, the herbs will last two to three months in an airtight container and here is a good tip…. Store the leaves whole and crush when needed – crushing the leaves smells nice, but you lose flavor that way.

Not all herbs dry well, some herbs such as chives, parsley, cilantro and tarragon can be made into vinegars and oils or even frozen. Just chop up the fresh herbs and freeze with water in ice-cube trays, or pack small bunches in tin foil and simply put in the freezer until needed.

And of course dried herbs and flowers make great gifts for Christmas….. How about dried Lavender either in a tied sprig or in a small potpourri bag?

The Kitchen Garden

"The Knotte Garden Serveth for Pleasure:
The Potte Garden for Profitte."
- Horman, 1519

Talking of herbs, here is some history that we hope you will find interesting. The above quote dates back to the sixteenth century and charmingly describes the value of a herb garden at that time. They were not only aesthetically pleasing, but practical. The herbs were not only something nice to look at whilst they were growing, but were put to good use either for culinary, medicinal or purely cosmetic purposes once they were cut.

In fact, the idea of a Kitchen Garden goes back to the very earliest of times when monks in medieval monasteries grew herbs for medicinal purposes. Heather has just completed a kitchen garden for one of her clients and her herb knot garden was inspired by the European designs of the Mediterranean Renaissance and the majesty of Elizabethan England.

Knot gardens or Parterres gained popularity with the nobility during the European Renaissance and garden designers in the sixteenth century would organize kitchen gardens not only into squares and rectangles, but into exquisitely complex geometric patterns, often outlined in boxwood or herbs. Elizabethan Gardeners used lavender, germander and sage to lay out their knots, but boxwood became the plant of choice by the seventeenth century and they would often fill the spaces between the clipped outlines with colored sands or gravel. These spaces would either be left blank or filled with flowers or herbs. Parterre gardening declined in popularity by the 1700s but was revived in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries along with the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture.

Heather chose to outline her knot garden with boxwood and fill the spaces with herbs. Surrounding the knot are a variety of lavenders, which not only provide height, but fragrance.