Herbs Garden

WHEN I cook, one of the factors that I'd always found helping me a lot, is the availability of the ingredients at hand. I do follow recipes and at most of the time, make the preparation days before I do the cooking (when cooking for special occasions or big dinner), but sometimes, I'd also like to challenge myself and say, let's see what's available in the supermarket and we go from there ... Let me tell you, if you are not the adventurous or creative kind, get yourself ready and well prepared BEFORE you start cooking.

When I was living in Germany, I tried to have a garden on the balcony, but every three months I had to leave the country for my healthy does of tropical sun and leave the three-leaves lemongrass to suffer the coldness of winter. I had never had real luck with gardening there.

Now that Adelaide has a hot summer Mediterranean climate, I th

ink I could try my luck here. The soil around the house doesn't seem to be promising, but as my Thai neighbour would say, put a lot of manure and you'll be blessed with gorgeous bushes of lemongrass. I would really love to see that. I imagine the sight behind my home in the village back in Sarawak, where the road leading to the house is lined with lemongrass, chillies, eggplants, beans ... and many more that my mother would effortlessly plant and enjoy watching them grow, more than hundred percent guaranteed success.

So I tried and keep on trying. I have thought about getting the manure, but it has not warm up enough in me to be surrounded by manure. I am sure it won't be that bad, and I will be rewarded with much needed green fresh vegetables and herbs. I will get there ...

Turmeric

Ginger

Vietnamese Mint

Chives

Curry plants

So for now, I am happy with this very small start of my potted garden. I did planted some chillies though in front of the house, and though they have rewarded me with some chillies to grace my cookings, they unfortunately have to suffer the constant summer heat in order to satisfy my obsession. And I am not going to mention tomatoes, who have decided to die slowly after one or two batches of bearing deformed fruits. It's too tragic to include them in here, so just the chillies for now ...

And for my interest in getting more western inspired cooking I have also included a few more ...

Sweet basil and parsley

Thyme

Sage

Rosemary

Bay tree

I know that one day I will be a happy person happily cooking in my kitchen, looking out at my healthy garden. One day ...