Edible in Bed 32

When we started "gardening", a few of our friends couldn't understand why we'd want to go through all the trouble. After all, for the sake of simplicity, we moved from a too-big-house in the 'burbs to a just-right-size condo near the city closer to both of our jobs and closer to where we spend most of our time.

And guess what? That simplicity, our change (drastic change) in lifestyle, has given us more time to do what we love. More time to do what matters in all kinds of ways. 

Planting a modest herb bed is one of those ways. And we it love because it is so good for us - we get super fresh herbs (farm-to-table is always healthier), it's less expensive (we bought a lot of herbs at the ridiculous price of $2-$3 a package), and we meet the nicest people who are tending their own little beds and talk smack about the advantages of hardwood mulch vs pine bark mulch or of composting vs store bought fertilizers.

And, goodness gracious, we're reaping the fruits of our labor from Bed 32!!

Tons of basil, mint, sage, thyme, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, peppery nasturtium flowers (for salads - yum) and everything else in between.

The other day I was pulling weeds (10 minutes a week if I keep it up) and took a few iPhone snaps.

All of these plants were no more than a few delicate leaves sticking out of the ground not that long ago!

We're using the herbs in creative ways - ways we never would have considered if buying from the store. Some of our salads are composed of nearly all herbs - so good!

Abundance in Bed 32.

I've been monitoring our new herb bed in lot 32 once or twice a week and it's growing nicely!

We've had plenty of rain so we haven't had to water much. And that's OK with me because the hose is down the hill and we have to unroll it until it's almost completely off the reel to get it to our bed. That's the easy part. The hard part is winding it back onto the reel so it's not twisted and bent and you're not covered in mud afterwards. We rarely succeed with the latter.

But the trade off is that we have a bed that gets great sun! And if I have to make a choice between plenty of sun or the trouble of lugging the hose, I'll take sun and lug the hose any day.

Can't wait to dry a few herbs, like this or this.

I'm keeping an eye out for fresh and healthy recipes that incorporate lots of herbs, like this.

We have 33 plots available in the condo, and most of them are taken. There's lots of interesting things to be seen in the other plots...

Springy

I've been in a work-related class all week. Ack…my brain is frazzled and what gray cells weren't affected have taken an hiatus. I had to change my work schedule to accommodate the class, and boy was that tough. I'm a creature of habit and I like keeping a schedule through the week, but this class blew it all to pieces!

The fortune cookie in my Chinese take out dinner tonight appropriately read "The only constant in life is that there will be changes." True.

We decided to take up herb gardening (again*). On Sat we picked up a booty of herbs from Strange's and planted a nice sized bed that afternoon. Rosemary, sage, basil (lots), tarragon, lemon verbena (great in iced tea), mint, thyme, marjoram, edible nasturtium blossoms, and a few others.

*The developer of our condo laid out 30 or so gardening beds for owners who wanted to have a modest plot to grown things in. We planted an herb bed right after we moved in a few years ago, and it did just OK. Really, the bed wasn't in an ideal location and didn't get all the sun it needed to thrive. But this time we have a different plot that gets more sun so we're hoping it will flourish and yield a lot more than the first time around. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Shopping for herbs and flowers on a warm spring day is so wonderfully therapeutic!

It was French Food Fest weekend too - the best cream puff in RVA (although the homemade cream puffs at Aziza's on Main are pretty incredible).