Mountain Mint



Mountain mint


You see the picture above?  And that tiny green plant with about four leaves in the center?  It's mint!

Last week I was working out on the Isle of Arran in the most spectacular March weather Scotland has ever seen.  As I was hiking along, mapping what rocks were where, I spied what looked like mint growing out of some basalt outcrops (a.k.a. black rocks).  I didn't think it would be mint, as I've never associated it with the Scottish countryside.

Upon inspection, however, I found that it had the tell-tale square stalk that is characteristic of mint.  And once I had pinched off a couple of leaves it was clear: definitely mint!  Once I noticed that first clump I found more of it dotted here and there, always where rocks were exposed and often under slight overhangs.

Mint is one of the only edible plants that I remember being taught to identify.  My mother had a patch of mint in her yard that was threatening to take over the world (which is why it's good to keep it planted in a container).  One day in the garden she picked a sprig of mint and told me, "Look, see the square stem? That's mint; all the mint family have square stems." 

How nice to be in the Scottish countryside recalling a lesson I'd had over twenty years ago in a Connecticut garden.



More mountain mint



My First Woodlands Harvest

Ta Da!  There it is- my first harvest from the Woodlands Community Garden in Glasgow.  It's not much, but it's the first fresh picking I've done outdoors here in Scotland and it made my very, very happy.

The wee spring onions came out of my new plot!  There are still a small group of onions growing in the bed.  These two were picked as we investigated what was still growing in the plot and tried to decide what we want to plant and where to fit it all.  I sliced up the onion and sauteed it in butter for about half a minute, then added toasted garlic and tossed it all with fusilli.  It was a very simple pasta that had great flavor from the combination of aromatic garlic and sweet, grassy onion.  The onions were so small that the taste was reminiscent of chives.  Speaking of chives, I should add those to the planting list.

The four sprigs in the picture are two varieties of fresh thyme.  These were from my garden-neighbor's plot; she grew at the garden last year.  The skinny one is your standard thyme, while the other one is a variety of creeping thyme.  The leaves are more succulent and really lovely, but it's taking over her plot.  The creeping thyme sends out runners so instead of growing like a little shrub, it grows (creeps) laterally, sending out roots all over the raised beds.  I've been instructed to take as much as I want and I intend to!  I also want to separate some divisions so that I can add thyme to the windowsill parsley and get a proper windowsill herb garden growing.

Baby Steps

As I battle the cats over trying to keep houseplants, there is one plant that I have managed to keep on the kitchen windowsill for three weeks without it being destroyed.  It's a curly leaf parsley plant.  I decided it was time to pick up my first little wee herb for the flat when two recipes I planned to make in one week both called for parsley.  I would have preferred flat leaf parsley, but beggars can't be choosers.  I am lucky that the fancy grocery store nearby sells little pots of herbs in the first place.


Potted parsley

Growing herbs is definitely the way to go.  Whenever I buy fresh herbs at the grocery store, I get more than I need and they just rot away in the fridge.  With a little plant, I can pick parsley as needed for recipes and it adds a little greenery to the kitchen in the meantime.  Also, herbs are one of the easiest plants to grow.  As long as they get reasonable amounts of light and water (and don't get mangled by cats), they will be happy.

However, there is another perk to this windowsill parsley that I didn't anticipate: I am using it much more often in my cooking.  It's right there, all the time, and gains my attention.  To be honest, most of the herbs in the MKG just languished in the garden unless they were specifically called for in a recipe.  With the parsley right there, it gets added as a little burst of fresh green flavor much more frequently.  For example, I made sauteed mushrooms with garlic, butter, and cream the other day and thought, "Perfect- I'll add a handful of chopped parsley to the mushrooms."  Without the plant at arms reach in the kitchen, the mushrooms would have been a little less tasty. 

Now I'm looking forward to expanding my wee indoor herb garden.  Wherever you live, in a flat or in a house or on a boat, I encourage you to add a few little potted herb plants to your world.  Your cooking will thank you for it.