08 June 04
You know
You know you’ve been doing a lot of handwork when you absently rub your fingertips before you fall asleep and realize the tips are numb and tender at the same time.
It could have had something to do with me digging in the dirt in my little garden plot in our condo’s back yard. I’ve got a 4’x6’ plot of dirt that will soon be home to tomatoes, kale, basil (lots of basil!), a variety of lettuce, and rainbow colored chard. I planted more last year but this was all that I had a lot of success with. On our deck we’ll have more tomatoes, cayenne peppers, yellow bell peppers, catnip, basil, dill, chives, oregano, tarragon, thyme, parsley, and stevia.
The thyme was left over from last year. It was growing so well and I loved cooking with it so I decided to bring it inside for the winter. We ate and ate and ate the thyme but it still thrived. This is one hardy plant. If you think you have a black thumb, give this stuff a whirl. It’s tasty and hard to kill. The catnip makes the kitties happy. One cat likes it fresh, the other prefers it dried and served inside so the wind doesn’t scatter it all over the deck. He’s a fussy, fussy guy.
You may not have heard of the last herb I mentioned: stevia. This plant is a sugar substitute. It’s 300 times sweeter than sugar and is perfectly suitable for diabetics. Since it works best as a liquid and has no substance, I’m not sure how I’d bake with it. But, I love sweetened ice tea and I think this is going to be the perfect solution to my sweet-tea tooth. The plant is only supposed to get 12 inches tall, but it’s already 20 inches tall. I think I’ll have enough to share.
Comments
- you will let me know how the stevia experiment turns out right?
— Roni on Jun 10, 04:21 pm
- i hope your fingers are feeling better...
— gwen on Jun 10, 06:46 pm
- Be careful, though, because some folks have concerns about stevia. But you probably don't have as big a sweet tooth as me so you probably will be safe. I'm a real guzzler. Mmm...sweet tea. Your garden sounds wonderful.
— Gillian on Jun 10, 09:29 pm
- Wow, thanks Gillian. I'll do some more research. I'm curious who funded the study. It's my journalism education rearing it's neglected head (did the sugar growers fund the study? Did the makers of Nutra Sweet have anything to do with it) I'll read up a bit more and weigh my options. I can't imagine it replacing all of my sugar in my diet, but the idea of sweetened ice tea and lemonade with no sugar or calories sounds delightful.
— Cinnamon on Jun 11, 01:39 am
- Thanks, Gwen. They're feeling better. I'm slowly forming a sewing callous. Makes me feel kinda hard-core to be honest with you.
— Cinnamon on Jun 15, 05:23 pm
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