The Mint Patch Monologue

Tag: gardening

  • Only, for the sake of Beauty

    On gardening

    I learned something, some sort of secret whispered into my ears from the sweet pea vines. As I lay in the grass, comfortably, gazing up at them I realized that I might get only a pint (probably less) of peas from this massive row of intertwined vines I had growing before me. “why then, am I really doing this” I contemplated for only a second before I heard them say back to me… you created beauty. I’ve always felt clever and frugal as a gardener, someone with enough knowledge to stick it to the man, a way around buying bell peppers for 5 dollars a piece at the grocery store. Seeds have always enchanted me, but mainly gardening feels like a duty, a wise practice, clever. I realized after spotting the first few pods, that I could probably buy a 1/2 pound bag of frozen peas for a few dollars, and that would be clever compared to tying the homemade trellis I’d made with 78 tiny knots. But then what would I have to gaze upon in the quiet moments of my life, what could I explore the growth and change of, everyday. A plastic bag of frozen peas is good to eat, but my garden isn’t just for eating, it is an expression of my unexplainable adoration of sheer and perfect beauty. Words are inferior compared to the sight of a tender, living element of the whole that we all belong to. Only a careful and soft inspection of the garden with the eyes can cleanse the tired spirit that endures the fluorescent lights of the day. I am an artist of garden beds, of thriving colors, shapes, and textures. I can travel to art museums, and beaches; I can drive through the mountains and pull off the side of the road at over look stops. I can watch the sunset over the river, and I can read poems; no other beauty however, is more close to being my own, an extension of the way I see the world more so than my own masterpiece of vegetable plants and wildflowers. They are their own star, especially when the sun pours through their hues in the evenings. I cannot take any more credit than appreciating enough to set them into motion, and to care for them. It gives me pause to consider that we eat food without ever enjoying the sights of blooms, or the smells of the vines; that we can visit the grocery store, and stand amongst piles of produce but never saw the orchards. I spend hours studying my peach tree, well before the first July bite of the cobbler.

    This is all a consideration of creating in lieu of consuming. We soak up so much information in a day, we take in the news and fill up online shopping carts. We suck dry the reels, the shorts, 5 seconds, 10 seconds at a time; and we garden to make something else, something real. It’s an experience to be apart of with your hands. June is the perfect month to stare at the peas, their blooms, and to watch the translucent pods fill up slowly with little sweet bites of what you brought into existence. No pixels, nothing digital, just pastel hues and a million shades of green.

    As always please write to me, as I do love to chat!

    And please don’t forget to notice beauty, anywhere you may find it.

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com

  • The Other Herbs

    There’s nothing that makes me feel more clever than using homegrown herbs. They grow lawlessly, and you can use them just the same. I don’t count, I don’t measure, I pinch hand fulls with my heart and by their nature, they grow fuller from giving. Anyone would benefit from modeling themselves after herbs.

    This year I have my first successful grown-from-seed basil, strong in stems and in scent. I would be happy to have buckets of pesto by September.  I was once a restaurant server at  CJ Maggie’s restaurant in town, famous for fried zucchini strips but also known for the variety of menu choices. On the pasta list was the “Green Meanie” a bowl of linguine smothered in thick alfredo sauce mixed with pesto and topped with grilled chicken.  I’ll try not to get ahead of myself over writing about pesto, July is the month to indulge the reader, and I’ll be sure to over do it then.

    The chives are shining this week, all of their purple blossoms are open like perfect little pom poms atop each long, green stem. They are always “juicy” when fresh cut and I think I probably underuse them, sadly. So this year I’m making chive blossom vinegar, soaking the little purples poms in a jar of white vinegar to be left alone for several weeks. This will yield a very flavorful sprinkler to use on just about anything. Splashing it over chicken, cooked any way, is reason enough to add this to my pantry.

    Lemon Balm is so much like mint, in that it spreads like little wild fires all over the yard if you let it, and trust that I do.

    The leaves when crushed between your fingers, smell of a bright and tart lemon scent, earthy and herby. There are lots of uses for lemon balm, somedays I venture out to steal a handful at a time just to simmer in a pot of water on the stovetop. Sometimes I add cinnamon sticks, lavender buds, orange rinds, or a chopped apple to fill the house with the smell of abundance, but lemon balm alone is enough joy itself for the senses.

    There’s more; an old creeping English thyme plant is thriving too, alongside a sage bush, and a little rosemary stem. The first sprouts are the best of the year, and pretty soon I’ll be trimming, giving, drying, chopping and steeping luscious piles of green. Thyme works well in potatoes, diced and roasted with olive oil and garlic powder; sage is good with any meats, laid over a chicken breast while it cooks, stuffed into a turkey, or chopped into sausage for added flavor. You can also toss a hand full of sage into the backyard firepit and wish good fortune to all of the neighbors lucky enough to smell the smoke.

    With a setting sun I will close here; just as the rotations of what we orbit and what orbits us, I make my own rounds about the house and garden. I will encourage you to stay curious, and to use your imagination. Acts of domesticity no longer beckon for rigidity but can be works of art, specific to your own domain and the ideas of your heart.

    Of course and as always, reach out to me because I do love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com