Parsley Surprise

Learning to grow food in the tropics has brought some real surprises, parsley is one of them. 

I started my parsley in the mini greenhouses, then transplanted to teeny seedlings into small pots for growing on until they were big enough to go out into the garden. I didn't even bother to try seeding it directly into the garden bed because I figured the birds or mice would surely eat the sprouting seedlings. This starting strategy worked just fine, giving me plenty of young plants for transplanting. 

I planted 3 small patches of parsley, not knowing if I would run into pests and diseases. It turns out that parsley is very easy to grow here. I really haven't had any problem with it.....(holding my breathe and crossing my fingers), yet. 

The surprises.....,

... It grows year around here. It never stops. So I learned that I planted far too much for my own use and for trading. 

... It never dies back in the winter. It just keeps on going, developing thick stems and looking like miniature trees. 

... It never bolts. This also means that without going to unusual measures, I can't produce parsley seed. 

Above, I just harvested some parsley and now it's easy to see the thick stems.....like mini tree trunks. 

The plants actually look attractive as mini trees. These plants are 3 years old now. The thick stem keeps the leaves well above the soil, thus keeping them clean. That's a nice side benefit, 

Put my finger in there just for comparison. Right after this, I applied a light mulching (1/2" thick) using sifted compost, then covered that with fresh grass clippings. 

Anise Hyssop

I'm exploring herbs....and having a blast! So far I've "discovered" many different basils (I once thought that basil was just basil. Silly me.) Dill. Three types of oregano. 3 mints. Rosemary. Summer savoy. Bay laurel. Cilantro. Sage. Chives. Parsley. Salad burnet (I'm not excited by this one.) And just this year, chervil and catnip. At a cat spay/neuter today, "K" gifted me a packet of anise hyssop seed. What a nice gesture! 

I'm told that the bees are really attracted to this herb. Well, of course that's good. But when I crushed a leaf, the aroma that greeted my nose was very enticing. Instantly I thought of a nice cup of licorice tea. So while my bees may enjoy this herb, they've got competition. I plan to add this to my collection of soothing teas. 

I've never tried growing this herb, let alone consuming it. So, it looks like I'm in order for another new adventure. I'll be checking the Internet to see how to grow this one. The first seeds get sown tomorrow. No sense in delaying, and I'm eager to see some new baby seedlings next week. 

Just a side note - I was never much of an herb eater until I moved to Hawaii to start the next chapter in my life. Now I'm in love with herbs, fresh herbs, that is. Fresh herbs are so amazingly superior that I find myself seldom using dried ones. 

Herbs, in General

"L" just asked me what herbs I'm growing. Oh boy, I have to think about that. Maybe I had better walk the garden to refresh my memory. 

Rosemary. Doesn't everybody in Hawaii grow rosemary? The bushes turn into rampant monsters, gobbling up garden space. 

Stick oregano. Not quite as aggressive as rosemary, it can become quite a large bush. 

Mexican oregano. Not good for cooking (it loses its flavor), but a pretty garnish with a wonderful aroma. 

Greek oregano. A must for my homemade spaghetti sauce. 

Basil. Lots of different types. They come in so many flavor variations. 

Above, genovese basil. Makes excellent pesto! 

I have both a basil called licorice basil, and another called anise flavored basil. I thought they'd be the same, but they're not. They have different type flowers. I bought the seed from two different seed sources. 

Ths is one of my purple colored basics. I'm trying 3 varieties...osmin, petra, opal. 

Dill. I love fresh dill. 

Chervil. Thus is my first time growing this one and I like its anise-like flavor over scrambled eggs.

My only problem with chervil so far is that I don't think I'm giving it the right amount of "fertilizer". The leaves are not uniformly bright green. So it's something I need to work on. But the flavor is really nice anyway. 

Cilantro. I'm trying several different varieties. I'm still experimenting. 

Cilantro bolts quickly in my environment. So it looks like I need to keep restarting it on a regular basis. 

Parsley....a curly type. I just started more of the flat leaf type. 

Summer savory. Great with chicken. 

Cutting celery. I have better luck with this than regular celery. The trick is to keep it moist, semi shaded, and growing quickly. 

Bay. I was gifted a small rooted cutting that's growing fine but isn't big enough to harvest from regularly yet. 

Borage. New for me this year. I plan to try some of the flowers in salads this week. 

Should I include mints? The onion family? I have chocolate mint and peppermint. Bulb onions, green onions, leeks, garlic, and chives. How about nasturtiums? Are they an herb? 

I plan to expand, try new ones. Perhaps fennel will be next. 

Homemade Mint Extract

I love the flavor of mint. Hubby's not impressed by it, but I'd say just about everything tastes better with a minty touch. Thus, I grow mint. Spearmint, peppermint, and chocolate mint. I like all three. It grows fairly well here in Hawaii, but I notice that is goes through a rest period. The plant partially dies back, pauses in growth, and generally doesn't look good. And of course, zero harvest. So in order to get my mint fix during that rest period, I need to preserve the mint. 

Drying mint leaves is easy. But in order to preserve the flavor, the dried leaves do best if stored in a sealed container in the freezer. I'll use dried mint for teas. We drink green tea on a daily basis. A bit of mint in it is really refreshing. As long as I don't go overboard with the mint, hubby likes it. 

For other recipes, I find that an extract works easier. Being the self sufficient type, I wanted to learn how to make my own using my homegrown mints. Turns out that it's really easy to make mint extract. It won't be entirely home sourced because I don't make my own vodka, but I discovered that one bottle of vodka will last me a long time. That's right, I'm not a drinker. I've read that you can use rum instead of vodka. Hey, I've got plenty of sugar cane around here. I wonder how one makes rum.....? 

Anyway, here's the steps for making mint extract:

1- Remove the leaves from the stems. I just use leaves and the tender stem tips. I choose the nicest looking, perfect leaves. 

(Above, fresh picked sprigs of spearmint.)

2- Wash/rinse the leaves. Spread them out on a towel and let them dry. Or towel dry them to get most of the water off.

3- Bruise the leaves. I use to either crush the with my hands or use a rolling pin. But I soon discovered that if I rolled the washed, wet leaves in a dish towel then crushed away, the leaves got dried and bruised at the same time. The leaves could be chopped instead of bruised, but it just means that the small pieces may be harder to remove from the extract. For most applications, it doesn't matter if there are mint leaf pieces. 

4- Pack a canning jar with leaves but don't overpack it. If overpacked, the leaves will expand over the top of the vodka and rot, ruining the batch. 

5- Fill the jar with vodka, making sure to well cover the leaves. 

6- Put the lid in the jar then store it in a dark area for about a month. Test the liquid. If its not minty enough, then store it for another month. Having said that, I have a new method that I've switched to. I store the leaves for one month then fish out the spent old leaves, discarding them. Then I add a new batch of fresh leaves. Then I'll store that jar for another month. At the end of the two months the extract is nicely minty. I suppose you could keep repeating that step but I usually don't. 

As for the choice of vodka, it doesn't matter, I'm told, as long as its 80 proof or more. The alcohol acts as a solvent and preservative, 

Some tips I've discovered--

...the mint leaves float initially. After a few days they sink. So in the beginning until the leaves sink, I will give the jar a little shake to keep the leaves well coated in vodka. 

...the longer it is steeped, the stronger the mint flavor.

...replacing the old leaves with fresh makes for a mintier extract. But after doing that a couple times the vodka must get saturated with mint oil because it doesn't seem to get all that stronger. So replacing the leaves once or twice is it. After that it isn't worth the effort.....the effect of diminishing return. 

I haven't tried it, but I bet I could make extracts using this same method for vanilla, coconut, orange, ginger, etc. But since I can get those fresh pretty much year around, I haven't experimented. But I have considered trying various citrus extracts. Perhaps someday......