God's Littlest Acre - Window Sill Farming

I've just finished reading The Bucolic Plague, by my friend Josh Kilmer Purcell. It's all about how he and his boyfriend Brent, two confirmed city boys, bought a palatial farm in upstate New York and turned it into a brand. It's a very funny book, and it's gotten me thinking about where my food comes from.

Meanwhile, my parents just left on a weeks vacation to California, and my mother has entrusted me with her potted herb garden. She brought it by a few days ago, and I've been tending to it on my window sill.

Despite the unrenovated windows and window sill, the garden is doing very nicely here! I believe it's even grown some.

She's planted some lovely herbs to use when cooking. They include basil, thyme, rosemary, chives and mint.

Her basil is going great guns! It's the show off of the garden. Just look at how lush it is! I need to trim off the blossoms so it won't go to seed on her.

While not as showy, the thyme and chives both seem happy.

The rosemary is doing well too. Just look at those rich green leaves.

The mint is potted in a separate container. It's a variety with tiny little fuzzy leaves. I have yet to try some in my tea. Maybe this evening.

It's so nice to have these little green friends with me in my apartment. I'm planning my own herb garden for glass shelves I intend to install in my kitchen window when I renovate in there. It's not the wide open spaces of Josh and Brent's farm, but it will be fun to pluck my own fresh herbs for the meals I cook!

Right now I may steal some of mother's basil for a batch of pesto. For those of you that missed it this March, here's my father's recipe:

Pater's Pesto

4 cups fresh basil leaves, neatly compressed
1 cup pine nuts
5 cloves freshly minced garlic
1 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Begin by combining your basil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor. Pulse a few times to begin combining them. With the processor running, add the olive oil in a steady drizzle. Once it's all in, scrape down the sides of the processor and add the cheese and pulse to combine. Salt to taste. Makes about 2 cups.

Be sure and have a look at The Beekman - Brent and Josh's farm. It's a beautiful place. You can also see them on their reality television show on Planet Green on Wednesday nights. It's called The Fabulous Beekman Boys. Tune in, it's a lot of fun!