Dried Herbs from My Own Little Garden

In preparation for the cooler months, I decided to harvest a bit of the mint that I had been growing all summer. I cut off some of the longer vine-y pieces that were starting to climb out of the pot, tied them together with some string, and attached them to a cooling rack for about four days.

After they had been drying for a few days, I cut them off the cooling rack, and cut the string off that held the herbs together. 

I then proceeded to crumble the dried leaves off the stems, being careful to pick out any stems that fell in with the leaves. 

After I did this to all my dried mint, I ended up with about 3 Tablespoons of crushed, dried mint. I know it's a small harvest, but I've only had the plant for three months so I think she did pretty well!

I put it in a small jar to store it and plan on mixing some organic black tea leaves with it so I can have a homemade mint tea.

P.S. I also recently purchased some lavender and had a pretty advanced sprig compared to the rest, so I trimmed it off and dried it too. Still trying to decided what to do with this tiny herb...

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Monday Gardening

Today is one of my days off of work and the weather is simply glorious...

I am sad to see that summer is leaving me, but I do love the way the air isn't suffocating every living thing. The sky is breathing again and everything feels the release. 

I ran to the store this morning and picked up some broccoli, lettuce, and sweet peas to help my container garden grow. Though I'm considering putting these additions in the ground, if I can find our stupid shovel!

It's one of those beautiful days where you just want to enjoy the simple things in life. Like iced tea, open windows, and a clean kitchen (still working on that last one...)

I'd better run since I have to plant these beauties and load the dishwasher before I succumb to lounging in the backyard, sipping some more tea. 

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