5.17.2012

it's not easy being green...

i'm not going to pretend that i enjoy the twice weekly grownup game of musical chairs (better known to us urban dwellers as alternate side of the street parking), but there are some pretty sweet perks to being a city kid.  i've been behind a lawn mower exactly once in my entire life – i did such a good job, my uncle made me cut his neighbor's grass while i was at it – and the walkway and front steps of my building are always cleared of snow and ice before i even get out of bed on cold winter mornings.

what i do find myself missing out on is the chance to get my hands truly dirty.  my last apartment came with a patio and outdoor garden space on the property.  i can't claim to have planted the best vegetable garden ever known to humankind, but i did have immense amounts of fun putting it together.  and, when i abandoned said garden to spend the summer elsewhere, a coworker and her partner gladly volunteered to keep up the regular watering in exchange for exclusive harvesting rights.  you'd think i handed them a winning lottery ticket.

my favorite part of a summer garden has always been the assortment of herbs that inspire months of culinary adventures.  limited as i am by my current surroundings, i've had to settle in the last few years for a long planter box perched on the ledge of a sunny window.  with such a tiny plot to claim as my own, i've had to become highly selective in what makes the final cut.  last year's assortment included two types each of basil and thyme, rosemary, and oregano.  in spite of having been neglected all winter and watered only when the surrounding houseplants looked like they were minutes away from certain death, the oregano and rosemary have decided to defy me by hanging in there like real troopers.


 (oregano)


 (rosemary, with new addition in the background)


i've added lemon thyme, a perennial favorite that lends absurd amounts of flavor to seafood, and i'm saving the remaining space for a bit of thai basil.  so... it's not exactly rolling acres of crops, but it is my little slice of happiness.

(variegated lemon thyme)