Saturday, May 12, 2007

Shopping Spree

Recently over at A Study in Contrasts, BLACKSWAMP_GIRL posed an interesting question about shopping carts and what they revealed about the shopper. Back from my own expedition, I gave her question some thought. Here's my "cart". . .

This was after a day at Well-Sweep Herb Farm in Port Murray, NJ with my sister. In addition to herbs, they grow a wide variety of perennials and some annuals, too. As I'm still getting the hang of this gardening thing, I appreciated their highly organized, well-signed gardens where visitors can wander prior to making selections. That was an education in and of itself.

The herbs I purchased probably say very little about me, save that I'm not yet ready to invest in culinary escapades. Though they had an impressive selection of herb varieties, I decided that I'd rather have the basics on hand as those are the herbs I see myself getting the most use out of: basil, rosemary, sage and thyme. There was a no-bolt cilantro that was tempting me, but I resisted as my space is limited. I do see myself someday tracking down more obscure herb varieties with very specific recipes in mind. For now, having herbs that flourish through the season and are always on on the ready are enough for me. As I said, I'm still very new at this!

I am pretty excited about the perennials I purchased: lungwort, pasque flower and sedum. I came wanting to pick up some sedum after having spied some in my neighbors' gardens. I was particularly impressed by its longevity, carrying on into autumn even. The lungwort and pasque flower were totally new to me. I love the lungwort's funky, spotted leaves and shade-friendly flowers. The pasque flower has equally wild foliage, in this case sort of silvery and fern-like, and a great, jagged, cup-shape blossom. If I was a little conservative in my herb selections, I at least feel I made up for it with my perennials.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The herb farm sounds lovely and like a nice day out. I adore basil and grow lots of it each year. The seedlings you've bought look very healthy.

ACey said...

The lungwort will be a joy when it blooms early next spring and keeps going for quite awhile.

1jonboy said...
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Seedling said...

Leonie-
Glad to hear my basil looks good, I'll definitely be putting it to good use. Especially if my tomatoes work out!

Acey-
It was love at first sight for the lungwort. I do hope it's happy with its new home. Thanks for stopping by!

Anonymous said...

This is funny as I was just reading "Newman's Own Organics Guide to a Good Life" and in the book the author, Nell Newman (Paul's daughter), mentions this very nursery as being extremely unique in the sheer number of varieties it has of "common" herbs. Must have been a very fun excursion.