The Last Leaf Gardener

Taralli, is the name given to the crackers, which I’ve taken a photograph of and have posted at the top of today’s entry. I brought the crackers for my friends and I to munch on whilst we had a picnic in Central Park and listened to the violinist Lara St John’s concert at the park’s bandshell this past Tuesday. 

These taste treats are known for their flavors which can be “onion, garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pepper, chili, salt, or fennel.” It is the latter of these flavors which lured me into buying them for our picnic in the park. Fennel, or FOENICULUM VULGARE, as I prefer to call it, provides a wonderful scent to my urban (NYC) garden.

However, I rarely harvest it, except to give it to friends who enjoy cooking, because I cannot bring myself to eat or drink what I grow (I wish I could say this about “the three food groups” of cheese, chocolate and wine); and so my FOENICULUM VULGARE often flowers, as seen in the second, third and fourth images of this posting. I am aware of the fact that once an herb goes to seed, its flavor may be bitter, but since I don’t eat or drink concoctions made with them, I mostly just let my herbs live out their lives in my garden. I have mentioned this fact in other posts in my tumblr pages, and if you want to refer to them, please click here as well as here, and for more info on the life of FOENICULUM VULGARE in my garden, please visit me on blogger.

I tend to be the same way about the salad greens which I grow, as I truly enjoy their presence in my garden, which perhaps you can understand upon looking at the fourth and sixth images included in today’s posting. Moreover, when salad greens go to seed, they leave behind whimsical flowers which I’ve featured on TLLG’s Facebook Page as well as former entries in my tumblr pages which may be referred to by clicking here  and here as well as here.  Additionally, more info on the “salad days” of my salad greens can be found in my blogger pages.

Moreover, I hope to feature the pros and cons of harvesting herbs and beautiful ways to package them within the virtual stories (garden themed movies) that I plan to produce for my “giving voice to what lives in a garden” project, which is the basis for a Campaign that I’ve launched on indiegogo.

How about you, dear reader? What are your thoughts on eating or making beverage concoctions from what lives in your garden?