The Last of Our Basil Pesto til Summer 2012

Smith Meadows Kitchen has always relied on our veggie growing friends who attend one of our seven markets to provide us with delicious herbs for our pastas, sauces, soups and more.  Combined with our pasture-raised meats we have made many tasty dishes.  It is this synergy that makes our food excellent.  In 2011 we branched out on our own with a modest garden of basil, sage, tarragon, parsley, peppers, thyme and mint in front of our commercial kitchen.  It was a successful experiment that has inspired us to push forward with more gardening under the tutelage of a former farm apprentice, Steffany Yamada. We are revamping our garden around La Capretta Studio to be a culinary and medicinal herb garden. Steffany will be planning and leading our project throughout November 2011.  Our assistant James Bergida is helping her with a new retaining wall between the zen sand garden and the rosemary bed, as well as the borders around the old and new beds we plan to establish.  The herbs we will grow include: basil, green garlic chives, garlic, rosemary, sage, tarragon, lavender, mint, calendula, hyssop, and lemon grass.

The last of the Basil dreaming of next year!

We have been very lucky to have so many wonderful people with green thumbs visit and occasionally stay with us on the farm.  Steffany was a farm apprentice from 2009-2010.  She has apprenticed at many of the farms that make up our growing community in Northern VA and MD. We hope that she will return to see how her plans take root.  Below is a slide show of our activities so far.  Stay tuned for more on our garden in 2012.