Sage, go figure

The herbs on the edge are becoming a hedge.

I've discovered something interesting:

The blue sage, out of focus, above, is very slow. I thought it was something I was doing wrong.  The chartreuse, variegated sage, not pictured, is also very slow. Just sits there. Then, a few weeks ago I bought a quart pot of a common boring ordinary grey sage. I planted it and it took off. It is now twice the size of these two cultivars.

Did everyone know that, already? That straight up Salvia officinalis is the grower? I haven't had the plant for a couple of years after my last one died, one bad winter. It flowered, first, perhaps sensing The End. And I will use the new one, soon for abbacchio alla Romana. Also very good crisped in some butter and tossed over almost any kind of pasta, but especially where a little lemon is involved...

The lemon basil, at the end there, is about to bloom. The bees will be very pleased. The purple and the spotted basil are already stringy and pale, beyond flowers, and I have potted up some new seedlings that I started a month ago on the roof, to replace them.

I would love to be in the garden, such as it is, more often. But I have less than a month to go before I submit the book's manuscript and photos to my publishers, and I am now in the middle of choosing those images. Then they must be processed and meticulously labeled. Twelve months of New York, Terrace and Roof Farm, and Food. I so want them to be good. And new, and fresh. I am also cooking and photographing like mad, and revising text as I go. I would very much like to be three or even four (five?) people. One of me could be gardening, one of me could be shopping and cooking, one of me could be shooting and another of me could be writing recipes. And another me to be a much better proof reader than this me is. Oh, and a me to vacuum and talk to the cat and be nice to the Frenchman. Oh: a seventh me to take care of the blog would be helpful.

So if you hear a cross-eyed, high pitched squeal coming from Brooklyn...

...it's the cat. Absolutely refusing to multitask. And to think I gave him bouillabaisse for his dessert.