Parterre Herb Garden Update 2022

I wanted to provide an insight on the parterre herb garden update 2022. The culinary parterre is a delight to see and smell! Harvesting is a delight and a chore.

On a Wednesday in August we harvested the chives, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, and savory. Then we harvested the mints, the lavender, yarrow, and the echinacea, chamomile, rose hips, and hibiscus. It was quite a haul.

Timing Is Everything

When you pull a full harvest, you must always be ready to prepare them. The herb porter I bought from Monticello works like a charm. The bag is set on the frame and has drain holes so water and air can move about.

I use both a dehydrator and air hanging to harvest the herbs. Both work equally well. But the dehydrator is faster. Air drying in the house is a really charming affair.

Preservation Tips

After everything is sufficiently dried, you must store them properly. I just use old spice bottles and new labels. The medicinal herbs I just store in boxes lined with parchment paper.

The worst thing one can do with herbs is to harvest and not be ready to preserve. I have lost herbs to rot because I was unready to preserve them. Just be ready to spend the two hours prepping the herbs to dry.

Urban Farm or Homestead and the Road Between

Is Mezzacello an urban farm or homestead and what is the road between? We are asked this question a lot. I answer an urban farm. This is not a homestead. In the literature, a homestead is a parcel of land capable of fully supporting a family. This is not possible here at Mezzacello. We do not have enough space, animals or biomass.

What We Lack We Create or Store

The image at the top of this blogpost is a practical meal made almost entirely from food grown at Mezzacello. I qualify this as almost because of the butter. We made the butter from heavy cream. It’s the beef, pork, grains, and dairy that we lack entirely. This is why we are not a homestead.

I love Mezzacello because I focus on the applied STEM applications of ag science. I know I cannot grow enough to support me, but I can optimize what I can. The biggest obstacle on an urban farm, after growing food effectively of course, is preserving it!

I follow Huw Richards on YouTube. He is a master gardener located in Wales and he created the idea of part-time sustainability or temporal sustainability. This is a very elegant way to reframe an urban garden, versus a homestead.

The FOODIST Blogs

The partnership here at Mezzacello between Rick and I is about specialization; I grow and provide food and resources and Rick turns that into amazing meals and nutrients. It’s important to us both. It is also why we created the FOODIST blogs. I wanted to document the endlessly creative ways we preserve and use food. This is the road between.

In all of the FOODIST blogs I try to clearly articulate when we are using fresh food from the gardens. Rick is very creative and well-read. He reads a great deal and is very curious and talented. If you follow #Mezzacello on social media you will know how imaginative he is.

A favorite of Rick’s is Jacques Pepin. That is a favorite of mine too. We love Jamie Oliver as well. There is a great cookbook by Oliver called “Five Ingredients“. We love that book too! As it really just requires a well-stocked pantry and minimal fresh ingredients.

We know you will enjoy the FOODIST blog. Rick uses the blog as a recipe box. I think that is lovely. It is my hope that is has a bigger life than that! LOL! Regardless, we will expand the blog as we have so much food to harvest and store. Let’s get to cooking!