Sunday, February 20, 2011

Indoor Gardening for Dummies

A few years ago, we were in the kitchen store in the Fargo mall.  I spied an aero garden, basically an indoor hydroponic growing system, and examined it with interest.

I told Wesley that I would like to buy one.  But, we were too busy that day to really check out the possibilities. 

I forgot about my comment.

He didn’t.

This year for Christmas, Matthew & Wesley carefully picked out three Aero Garden units.  One for Matthew, so he could grow catnip for his cats.  Two for me, a little one for herbs, and a big one for lettuce or tomato plants.

So far, our crops have been an outstanding success.  A couple of times a week, we harvest a delicious blend of lettuce, enough for two or three servings.  The catnip is growing like a weed. 

Wait, I think it is a weed.  But, Matthew is happy because his catnip plants are much taller than my herbs or my lettuce.

And, my little herb garden is flourishing.  Italian Parsley.  Genovese Basil.  And the Oregano was doing really good until the cats decided to eat it.  They must have discriminating palates… they haven’t touched the catnip plants but they are eating my oregano.

herbgarden herbgarden2

Last week, I harvested the herbs, and made four little cups of savory fresh herb butter, using a recipe from Allrecipes.com (here).  We’ve been enjoying it all week, on baked potatoes, French bread, whole grain toast… mmmm!

herbbutter

Herb Butter

  • 2 cups butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic cloves
  • 4 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Mix together well.  Store in fridge.  Use the mini plastic Glad cups with lids to package the butter… they are the perfect size for a gift. 

In addition to the fresh parsley, I also added some fresh basil from my garden,  a few of the surviving oregano leaves.   I accidentally used crushed cayenne rather than crushed red pepper flakes (I thought they were the same thing).  The cayenne gave the butter a delicious spicy heat, but it might be too hot for some tastes.  Next time, I’ll try the red pepper flakes.

Does anybody else have an Aero Garden?  What are you growing~

4 comments:

  1. I have not experimented with an Aero Garden, but I sure did enjoy hearing about yours. They look like a lot of fun. I did buy three $1 pots from Target today to sit on my window ledge - basil and parsley. I believe everyone is in the mood to see Spring and things growing. Judy C www.shadetreequilting.com

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  2. Huh. I thought cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes were the same thing, too! Now I'll have to go look up the difference. The herb butter sounds all the yummier from being made with fresh, home-grown ingredients! :)

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  3. Hi Denise. When the butter was so hot & spicy, I thought I'd better re-read the recipe, and check on the type of pepper. I learned that crushed red pepper flakes are the type you see on the table at a pizza place. Wikipedia says it's a combo of ancho, bell, cayenne pepper and more. I used crushed cayenne (a true powder, no seeds or flakes), and it was definitely spicy. But, we loved it!

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  4. Thanks for a great looking herb butter recipe. I have not done the Aero herb growning - but it looks fun to do!

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