Monday, October 19, 2009

You Plant It -- I'll Pick It

I’ve got a good gig going here. It seems that I’ve found my way to kitchen nirvana without all the hard work of growing anything. You already know that poor Richard has slaved away in Mamie’s garden all summer to provide produce for my culinary adventures. And you know that Jack has picked many a peck of peppers for me to pickle, and make into jelly, and dice for the freezer.

Garden Mary – not to be confused with Horsewoman Mary -- owns a local produce and antique business in “downtown” Tellico Plains called the The Barn of Plenty. Out back of the barn, Mary grows organic heirloom produce and herbs for sale in her business. She called to tell me that we’re expecting freezing weather this week, and that many of her herbs won’t make it through the winter. Did I want to come harvest them before the freeze?

Mary has attended several of the bluegrass events at Charlie and Deborah’s Coker Creek Saloon, and has commented to me that she loves the food we provide. The last time I was in her place of business, I mentioned that I’d like to purchase her last-of-season herbs and preserve them rather than allow them to go to waste. Of course I wanted to harvest the herbs, especially since I had already created a disaster dusting our wooden blinds.

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing, right? I took the blinds down and removed the slats for a thorough cleaning. When I was ready to re-hang them, I had a wee problem – they hung at an extremely unattractive and uneven angle. Somehow, I had managed to discombobulate the string around the roller. And, try as I might, I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Thank goodness Richard arrived on the scene at about the time I was about to start cussing or crying. I gave the blinds to Mr. Wizard, and concentrated on other things. With the sun shining for the first time in over a week, it seemed like a good time to get outside for a bit. I needed a break. Or, perhaps, I needed to give Richard a break from me.

I grabbed my picking basket and headed to Tellico where Mary gave me permission to harvest to my heart’s content. She also asked that I pull up her dill, and indicated that she would be pulling up her basil in the next day or so. With the soft ground created by the weeks of rain, I was able to pull up the dill and basil plants without a lot of effort. Mary planted it, I picked it – and she wouldn’t allow me to pay her. The least I can do is help clean her garden.

I’m now the proud owner of bushels of basil and other fresh herbs. With company coming, I won’t have time to make pesto sauce, but I can cut and freeze the basil for future use. I’ll dry the dill and sage. The thyme and oregano will go into the freezer. And I just realized I forgot to pick tarragon. Looks like another trip to Mary’s barn…