Tarragon, basil, sage and thyme

Close to the Paul Simon hit but not. This is my summer herb garden; almost out of hand. Basil and thyme, I've got oodles of recipes, cook with those two herbs all the time. It's the sage and tarragon I'm struggling with so off to the 'net and here are some quick ideas.

• Caramelize onions an then throw in whole sage leaves and roast for about 8-10 minutes.
• Swirl two tablespoons unsalted butter in a skillet over medium. Stir constantly until it brown and stops bubbling, add the sage and cook until crisp. Serve over cheese raviolis or plain cooked pasta.
• Chopped tarragon into your regular potato salad. Also in chicken or egg salad.
  
• Chopped tarragon and chives into omelets.
  

I happened to visit Kalyn's Kitchen and found this recipe for roasted mushrooms with tarragon. How timely. If you have any recipes specific to these two herb, share the permalink with us.

weekend dog and garden blogging

inspired by my experience with the crop share and the urban homestead folks in pasadena, i decided to try my hand at some container gardening up on my rooftop/patio/balcony area. my patio was recently re-roofed, thanks to some skillful handyman and general contractor services , courtesy of my pa, which means i actually want to go up there again. so, in late february, i got me a copy of the bountiful container and started reading and planning. a few weeks later, i started planting. i thought i would start from seeds for a lot of things (except tomatoes) and after a few weeks of watering dirt and watching nothing come up, i gave that up and bought some seedlings for most of the rest of the plants. i've since learned to sprout seedlings on my kitchen window sill, which has been helpful.

at present, my little container garden is growing well. the edible portions include: tomatoes (salad size red and lemon boy); cucumbers; thai bird chilis; jalapeno peppers; nasturtium; lettuce; green garlic; green onions; chives; oregano; mint; thyme; basil; tarragon; sage; and rosemary.

here're some pictures of my growing little garden on a sunny saturday morning:


container garden - tomatoes, cucumbers/nasturtium and peppers (l to r)



baby tomato


lettuce


thyme, mint & oregano


nasturtium

and, because it's the weekend, here's a snap of my houndlettes soaking up the sun. i call it "still life with dogs and herbs" for sweetnicks' weekend dog blogging:


max & multy

Update: It turns out this is the last weekend dog blogging ever, so make sure to go check it out. thanks cate, for so many of weekends of dogs!