Making vegetables grow in our nutrient-poor, nematode-rich sand soil is always a challenge. After the initial shock of moving here from a world where one puts the seeds in the ground and stands back, we pretty much gave up on gardens until a couple of years ago. We do a little better each year, but at least financially the balance sheet is still dismal.
One plant that is still thriving, even in the oppressive Florida summer heat, is our lemon balm. We planted it this year for no other reason than that it was available at Lowes (or Home Depot, I forget which) and I remembered that Porter had remarked on how good it smelled when we encountered it at Leu Gardens. We let it grow untouched for a long time, mostly because I didn't know what to do with it, but when a friend mentioned making lemon balm tea, I had my answer.
Now I brew a pot of tea with one regular PG Tips tea bag and a handful of bruised, fresh lemon balm leaves. I don't know how it tastes hot, as we're not in that season, but I can attest that it makes a wonderful iced tea. I generally prefer my tea unflavored, but at least for now I can't get enough of this delicious combination.
Delicious indeed. Another great discovery by one of the best cooks on earth. :)
Excerpt: I don't know why anyone would want to annoy a worm, but apparently lemon balm does the trick. I had some less-than-perfect leaves that I didn't use in making my lemon balm tea, so I fed them to the worms. Rather, I put the leaves in their b...
Weblog: Lift Up Your Hearts!
Date: July 1, 2009, 11:27 am
