Monday, March 19, 2007

Happy Spring?
Seems our Mother Nature is just out to tease us here in the North country. We have been vacillating between 45 degrees Fahrenheit above and 7 inches of snow and blowing wind for several weeks now. I'm ready for gardendwellers season.

We're already gearing up for Rhubarb harvest and my mouth is already watering thinking of rhubarb pie, strawberry rhubarb jam, rhubarb sauce over ice cream, rhubarb bread pudding, rhubarb cookies, and the list goes on. Last year at our Chef's appreciation day, where we treated our customer chef's to a nice lunch and tour, we featured a nice pork loin with rhubarb marinade. It was great. Being the first crop of the season to be harvested, rhubarb is always a signal of the beginning of the gardendwellers year to me.

The Rosemary, Lavender, Chamomile, and several other varieties of seedlings are sprouting in our makeshift greenhouse. Their little bits of green give hints of good things to come this summer. I've also seeded the Artemisia or Sweet Annie we'll use in the herbal wreath class. I love its spicy aroma that blends so well with the other herbs. Each weekend from now until April ends we have more seeds to start early and then as soon as we feel the last frost has come and gone we will begin seeding outdoors. Basil is always one of the last to be seeded as it HATES frost. Dill, Cilantro, the Parsleys - yes three kinds this year - and fennel will be the first ones to go in. Some of the perennial herbs like Winter Savory, Thyme, Lemon Balm, Chives, and Sage will start greening up as soon as the robins are back.

I'm terribly excited this year as we are trying a new herb - Lemon Verbena. We tested it last year and it grew very well so I went ahead and ordered 120 of them, or was it 240? Either way, I'm hoping to have plenty of this amazingly lemon plant to sell for culinary, aromatic, or decorative purposes.

Can't wait to see all of you! Think Spring Thoughts.
Holly Rose