An ode to herbs. We love to grow herbs at JBG. If you are a CSA Members, you know. When putting together your boxes, we usually put the herbs in last, and so they are likely the first vegetable to greet you when unpacking. If you’re a farmers’ market customer, you are likely used to herbal bouquets framing the cash register. While some of our other crops assume the role of an anchor vegetable, the type of thing you can build a meal around, herbs are different. They are the sparkle that can make even the most mundane plate shine. Having a fluency with fresh herbs can be a tell tale that you are a CSA Member, or at least have a relationship with someone who grows food. We shower you with these tiny, flavorful leaves year-round, and you, in turn, shower your plates, your bowls, and your platters with these fragrant plants.

A kholrabi and fennel slaw, sprinkled with all the herbs. Photo and recipe by Mackenzie Smith. :

Herbs can brighten any dish, and like a squeeze of lemon, can add freshness to even the heaviest stew. Dill, tastes like spring itself - like grass, and deviled eggs, and potato salad and pickles. Herbs can garnish, but they can also stand alone. One of my absolute favorite ways to use herbs is to roughly chop a bunch (of anything) that has been well washed and well dried, and simply add the entire mount to a bowl of lettuce. There’s no reason why your salads shouldn’t contain leaves that pack a bit more flavor.

We’re in a bit of an herbal transition at the moment. Parsley, cilantro, and dill are still around, but soon these cooler weather crops will be replaced with the all glorious Genovese or Thai or Red Ruben basil - the herbal superstar of summer that makes a Caprese a Caprese and a pesto a pesto.

A Caprese Salad, also by Mackenzie Smith.

Here at the farm, we grow tender herbs like parsley cilantro dill and basil. These crops can be eaten in their entirety, leaves to stems, and in the case of cilantro and parsley, roots too… though we don’t harvest those at JBG. Tender herbs with their delicate and glossy chlorophyll-packed-leaves  like to be eaten sooner rather than later. Like a fresh bunch of flowers, these herbs like to be stored in a glass of water, in the fridge. You can even trim the ends to facilitate better water uptake and what we like to call refreshing. And then we’ve got the woody herbs. In this camp we have thyme, oregano, rosemary, and we’ll invite lemongrass, too, even those these tall blades almost seem to sway in a category all themselves. Woody herbs can provide flavor and depth, and a sense of place, to any dish. Regular roasted potatoes feel Italian when roasted with rosemary, and making a paste of lemongrass can transform normal-chicken to Southeast Asian chicken. All of the woody herbs from JBG dry well. Simply hang them somewhere in your kitchen. I like to just crinkle a dried bunch over my pan, until eventually only the naked stems are left.

Eat them raw, sprinkle on everything, or blitz them together and store in the freezer for another day. We love herbs, and we hope you do too. Please read on to hear about one man’s herbventure. The person, if you’re wondering, is Héctor González, Mexican at large, Abuelita Profesional, and our Social Media Manager

Part 1 of an Herbal Story, by Héctor:

PREAMBLE

My mother, Doña Licha, has a natural green thumb. I grew up surrounded by more green than I paid attention to. Isn’t it funny how these traits can be ignored, only to finally pay notice in retrospect?

Doña Licha kept so many wonderful plants alive and thriving. I recall with great warmth how she once got peaches for me and my sibling from el mercado. We were eating these duraznos in our room on the second floor of our home. My mother was there with us, eating and being playful. We needed to throw the pits to the trash but we didn’t want to walk ALL THE WAY to the bathroom. So, in our childish laziness, we threw the pits outside the window, directly into the front garden. We joked we would have a peach tree growing out soon.

My mother found those pits we threw, tended them, and made them grow SO TALL, that our peach tree grew above our two-story home. We often opened our window and stretched out our arms to grab a ripe durazno, giving it a quick rub against our clothes to remove the fuzz, to then sink into it with great gusto.

Peach and loquat trees of Hectors childhood.

I have ZERO plants in my home. I enjoy grabbing flowers at the farmers markets and bike back to my place with the bouquet shining inside my panniers. These brighten my place but these don’t require a lot of care or attention. I often marvel at other people's Instagram pages at how green and lush their places are. A silent voice in my childhood memories is ruffled.

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I love to cook. More importantly, I love to eat and try new ideas. I have the fortune of working at JBG, which makes my food exploration easier. However, I have the romantic idea that while cooking, I just take a few steps outside, grab a few herbs from somewhere, and come back to continue the process in a seamless manner. It’s a fantasy. All fantasies are based in hope. Call it pandemic brain, foolish innocence, or just plain optimism, but I felt this year would be the one where I made that happen.

Now, here are the challenges: Space: I live in an apartment without any sort of earth-filled patio, and the space is limited Sun: I get a few hours of sun in the evening Experience: I helped my mother at times when I was young and I had a garden when I lived at a house. I still have a lot to learn Budget: I don’t want to make it a big expense.