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| Flowering chives from Green Gulch at Ferry Plaza Saturday Market |
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| Oregano blooming in my wooden planter |
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| Flowering Sage in Barbara Pleasant's garden—Growing Sage |
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| Rosemary blossoms, buzzing with bees, in the Berkeley hills |
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| Hyssop—cutting the stems releases its fragrance |
"The tiny intense blue flowers scattered
over a background of varied greens and
hard- boiled eggs are ravishing." —
Richard Olney
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| A butterfly enjoying thyme in full bloom |
"The hillside formed a tapestry of the blues and violets of flowering wild thyme, punctuated by bushes of wild rosemary, feathery shoots of wild fennel and the spring growth of oregano and winter savory—the poetry of Provence was in the air..."— Richard Olney
Richard Olney in Provence
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| Spanish lavender brightens my herb garden and delights the bees. |
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| A friend's garden with a magnificent quantity of flowering basil.....and mint |
And finally— Basil. As in the passages above, I quote Richard Olney, from Simple French Food:
"It is addictive, and few who form the habit of using it can do without it! By all means use the flowers as well as the leaves and, rather than chopping, tear the latter into fragments; then they won't blacken."
Featured Book:
An oldie but goodie. This was perhaps my first cookbook. My mother gave a copy to me, another to my sister and kept one for herself. She loved growing and cooking with fresh herbs and she had an admirable collection of herb books and old herbals.
Craig Claiborne, long-time food editor of the New York Times and author of many classic cookbooks, offers a tempting set of recipes for fifty-four herbs and spices, illustrated with lovely pen and ink drawings. My copy is spattered and worn, but still sports the original dust jacket. I make the pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving; no other filling comes close!
