Herbs Beautiful Herbs
I HATE WASTE! Don’t get me wrong, I am still guilty of producing it, and you could also call me a hypocrite as when it comes to food I am an ‘if in doubt throw it out’ kind of girl but it is for that reason that I try hard to reduce my waste levels. You will probably have noticed that I love herbs and I use a lot of herbs across most of the dishes that I make. Hard herbs give a lovely rich developed flavour during the cooking process and soft herbs give that incredible fresh burst of flavour as a finishing touch. But herbs can be a product that gets binned a lot. I try hard to use them all up across multiple dishes. Hard herbs, however, are a bit more of a challenge because you don’t need as much in a dish (too much rosemary can kill a good ragu). Even if you have stored yours perfectly, wrapped them and looked after them, chances are you still won’t use up the entire bunch before it starts to turn to dried up old looking wood. Am I right?
And herbs are pretty expensive for what they are. I am all for supporting the growers, I know that a great deal of work goes into producing those little packets of goodness (and hopefully some profits make their way to the growers and aren’t just going into the supermarket’s pocket), but now that we are heading into the colder seasons herb prices tend to rise.
So here is my little save on waste tip. Please considering using instead these beautiful little herb pots (you know the ones they often sell in the supermarket? Except I got mine at Harris Farm so the quality is a bit better). They are awesome! I don’t know why I didn’t start using them years ago but…. I do now and have beautiful little herb pots lining my window sill. Fresh at hand when you need. Love love love it!
We actually have a fabulous raised garden out the back too that my husband built for me but I’m sorry to say I am a terrible gardener. Great at planting and I love watering the garden, but that's about as far as my skills go - I did not get the green thumb gene. I am really good at keeping these little pots alive however, and they are absolutely fabulous to snip a few sprigs from as you need. My days of throwing out dead dried hard herbs from the fridge are over.
My Greek basil I have had for about 6 weeks but it could be longer and it just keeps on giving. It is looking a bit rough but there is still lots of life left and it only cost me $3.99.
I would recommend you get hard herbs like rosemary, oregano, and thyme. You will start to see that I am using these a lot more with the changing weather so rather than throwing out half used bunches of hard herbs regularly, this is a fabulous alternative and a cute way to brighten up your kitchen window.
Just don’t forget that they need water aye. xx