An organic herb garden of our own
Jacquie Brasher

This year marks the tenth year that Alan and I have been in Swainsboro. I have no idea where those years went. Well yes, I do, but I also don't. You know what I mean? Where do any of the years that fly by go anyway? They must evaporate in the fast-paced swirls of time.

This weekend, Alan and I finally moved our long-defunct organic herb garden from one side of our yard to another. The original herb garden perished from neglect and the unmerciful South Georgia sun. Alan had moved the wooden frame from searing sunlight to a slightly shadier side. That was last fall. It has taken this long to get the herbs set up in their new home. For the last few months they have had to contend with living in much smaller quarters- clay pots. I made sure they weren't too deprived, though. I started feeding them two percent milk every now and then, especially if the milk was expired. I had heard somewhere that milk is a wonderful fertilizer. It worked. The herbs thrived and flourished. (However, milk tends to go sour in the soil and smell to high heaven, so beware!)

Alan reminded me that it was our herb garden that had a small part in getting us to Swainsboro in the first place. When he was interviewing for a job here, the late Emily Pestana was one of the professors on the Search Committee to look for a new English instructor at East Georgia College. She was apparently impressed that we had grown an herb garden in Alabama. I'm sure Alan's other credentials were pretty good, but the fact that we were "herb gardeners" didn't seem to hurt!

Our herb garden currently has basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, mint, lemon balm, and about twenty-nine cayenne peppers. (We're hoping the pepper plants will ward off any unwanted critters. We may be wrong.) It'll be interesting, and to some degree frustrating, to see what survives and what doesn't. All gardens are subject to the elements and various wild animals that will be undeniably curious. I'm just hoping our two cats won't see this raised bed as a glorified litter box. If either of them does, they will have to contend with the gushy side of the garden hose, conveniently located a couple of feet from the bed. Dharma and Viking will be sprayed with some pretty chilly water if I find them sniffing around my herbs! (Tough love, you know?) I can just see the cats talking to each other now: "Oooh, look! Our humans have built us a gigantic potty! The plants are in the way, but who cares!"

I love cooking with fresh herbs. My favorite is basil pesto, an extremely easy dish to make. It combines fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Process in blender or food processor until smooth, serve over hot pasta and devour. It's so simple and fantastic. I remember serving the dish once to a kid Alan and I were baby-sitting (in our younger, more foolish days). He took one look at it and said, excitedly, "It's green!" He loved it. You can't beat something like green pasta to get a child to eat.-- Jacquie Brasher is senior staff writer for The Forest-Blade and can be reached at jacquie@forest-blade.com.

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