My girls at Girls Inc. have a wonderful garden. We have several herbs: baby basil; Italian basil; thyme; sage; rosemary; oregano; flat leaf parsley, also known as Italian parsley; chocolate mint; and peppermint. I teach the girls how to use herbs. We start by tasting the herbs fresh from the garden. Then we make butter with herbs, cream cheese with herbs, rosemary pecans, herb biscuits, and pesto. I teach them all about eggs, how to break open an egg, how to scramble an egg, and then we add fresh herbs to the egg mixture and cook the eggs. It warms my heart when a five year old ask if we can make that “pesto stuff” again. I love to transfer skills to children and “pay it forward.”

We also are growing cherry tomatoes, hearty heat tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, watermelon, and zucchini.

The girls love taking care of their garden. They water their plants with recycled water from our rain barrel.

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BASIL

 Did you know?

1)      Basil is an annual herb belonging to the mint family.
2)      There are over 40 known varieties of basil.
3)      Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is the most commonly known and grown.
4)      Ocimum is from a Greek verb that means “to be fragrant.”
5)      Basil is recommended for digestive complaints, headaches, and anxiety.
6)      It is one of my favorite herbs. I could put it in any dish, and I love making pesto with basil.

 Italian Herb Butter

Yield: 1 cup

 Ingredients:

2 sticks butter (1 cup) room temperature

½ cup fresh basil, flat leaf parsley, & oregano leaves, finely chopped

Course salt

White pepper

 Preparation:

In a small bowl, smash butter with a fork until smooth.

Add herbs, a couple of dashes of salt, one dash of freshly ground pepper (or to taste) and mix until well combined.

Transfer to a piece of plastic wrap (11 X 10-inch).

Roll into a cylinder about 6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.

Twist the ends to seal.

Refrigerate until firm, about two hours.

You can refrigerate up to one week, or place in a freezer bag and freeze up to three months.

 Notes:

-Rather than chop the herbs, I have my girls break up the leaves with their fingers. They love helping out.

- Great on crackers. Slice and place on steak or pork chops. Add to hot pasta.
- Add a sprinkle of garlic powder and mix.

 Source:  http://precociouspatti.blogspot.com/