Herbs

For the past few months we’ve been creating a lovely communal herb garden for our block. We have a rota for daily watering, as the twice weekly automatic reticulation is insufficient for the hot dry summer days. This photo shows how it looked a month ago and it’s now time for planning the autumn planting:

We’ve had good crops of chives and basil, cherry tomatoes and oregano. There are two varieties of chillies, long green ones and tiny fiery red ones. It’s a raised bed and I always pick something on my way back from the swimming pool.

Last night we held a celebration dinner for those involved. The theme was green: for both dress and food. Everyone brought a dish. Mine was pea and broccoli soup. This was followed by a variety of interesting salads and one-pot pastas. There was a big “medicinal salad” consisting of many raw vegetables and herbs chopped up small in a thermomix. I should add that the champagne was free flowing, but no-one had to drive home so that was OK. We had some good laughs and for a while forgot the Coronavirus and plunging stock market. Our hostess provided some unusual entertainment to round off the evening. We all had to relax our head on a cushion and close our eyes whilst she made reverberations on Chinese crystal bowls and Indian bells.

We briefly considered putting a few cannabis plants into the garden next, but it may not yet be legal in this State.