Old School

Yep, we kicking it old school around the Fine Martial household these days.   I knew my little mortar and pestle was supposed to arrive today, and naturally the work day ended up being the longest day ever.  Funny how that works when you're expecting something in the mail. 

At long last, the shift finally ended and I rushed home to find my package had indeed been delivered. 

The first thing I did after opening the package was to give it a good wash and dry.  Then, while I was letting it air out a bit longer, just to make sure it was fully dry, I replaced the hair screens in my bathroom sinks, which I also had ordered.  

For what it's worth, these aren't actually there to catch my hair, but rather all the other things I might drop into the sink -- such as hair clips, bobby pins, fingernail clippers, screws.  You know, the usual stuff. 

Then came the fun part.  I got out my dried pineapple sage, 

and a big bowl, then put on an episode of Shark Week and began pulling the leaves off the stems. 

I did my best to get all the smaller stems out, too, but some may have gotten through.  Oh well, I'm sure they won't hurt anything.  

Once the leaves were separated and the stems tossed into the compost pile (which I need to stir again, by the way), I put a few into the bowl and began crushing them.  

I discovered that I kind of move the pestle in a circular motion once I've gotten the leaves semi-crushed, I can grind them really pretty fine.   I didn't, though.  I left the leaves fairly coarse, because I want it pretty obvious these are home-grown herbs, since they might end up being a Christmas present.  

As luck would have it, the sage I'd cut was just enough to fill one of these 4 oz Ball jars. 

I need to find some sort of clever label, along with a clever moniker for the jars, but for now, I've just got a piece of scotch tape on the lid, with the contents written in that.  And I've got to get some more jars as well. 

This being my first foray into herbs, I'm kind of learning as I go, and yes, I'm making some mistakes.  One thing I think I've been doing is overwatering, so I've cut back quite a bit.  One of the websites I read said to hold off watering until the leaves begin to droop, so I'm going to try that to see if it helps. 

Another thing I've read is that I need to be harvesting them more, because pruning them regularly keeps them growing.  With that in mind, as soon as I was done with the pineapple sage, I went back out and cut back both my sweet mint and peppermint pretty hard.  I think it's too late for my spearmint, because it's already flowered, and I've read that once an herb flowers, the flavors just aren't the same.  I'll just wait until next spring to start drying some of that. 

Probably tomorrow, I'll grind and bottle the lemon balm I've already dried and cut some more of that.  I've really got to rig up some sort of drying rack if I'm going to keep on doing this, as the closet is getting pretty full about now. 

As for now, it's back to Shark Week.  

Laters.