Basia — Sounds like your path was similar to mine. Suburb to city to sticks. And a similar beet crop, too! Now why did you have to tell me about the ciabatta? Why?

The summer’s golden beet crop was terribly dissapointing. At harvest, I pulled up a bunch of struggling, tiny shoots that never made much of themselves. In a pot on my sill, now, they give me fresh beet greens and look much happier than they did all summer! Maybe I’ll replant them in the spring.

Don’t give up. Experiment to see what loves your house. Be careful about putting things on the porch, though. My porch is enclosed but unheated. Lost all the arugula that way.

Really enjoy your blog! I grew up in an old (Holland Land Company! My Dziadzie kept a cow!) suburb with a huge garden, then moved to Manhattan and tried to grow things in coffee cans on my windowsill. Now in a semi-rural area, I have less yard than you, but share your enthusiasm for being my own grocer! And you’re right – Chef John is evil. Never EVER try his no-knead ciabatta! EVER! (Dare ya!)

Very nice and minty but unfortunately, having added food colouring whilst not wearing glasses I used my daughter’s NEON green instead of just plain green. Makes for a very odd looking Grasshopper! On a similar note…not that you’ll ever be able to grow vanilla or distill rum… but I had such fun making the creme de menthe that I made Vanilla Cordial at the same time. Tried some at New Years and it turned out to be fantastic, completely worth the cost of the vanilla beans! I’m very fond of vanilla as an actual flavour. Actual as opposed to things that are labelled “vanilla” that in reality should be labelled “unflavoured white”.

KB — You give me hope! My sage also has some woody stems, and I’m going to cut them off in the hopes that the new growth (there is some, by god!) will take over.
Our rosemary is also doing well, but it grows so slowly that I’m reluctant to take any of it to cook with. Come spring, I’ll be planting sage all over in the hopes that I’ll have a permanent installment.

The sage is doing the best, by far. According to folklore as the sage prospers so does the household! I did trim it ruthlessly when I got it, as the stalks were very big and woody. Now it’s threatening to take over the whole pot.

The oregano is also good, and the rosemary. The thyme came back from my pruning but it is very fine. Usuable, but there isn’t a lot of it and it looks feeble. A pretty light green, but feeble.

I have enjoyed having such fresh flavours to lighten up the dark days of winter.

One of my head gardener duties was keeping certain herbs growing year round for the house chefs. We had a large greenhouse which helped but successional sowing (starting a new crop every 2 weeks) was the only way to keep herbaceous herbs. Grow them and crop them quick, and move on to the next row. Same goes for basil.

Beth — I had no idea sage would make it through the winter. The rosemary never does, so I figured sage was a no-go. But I’ll try it next season.

Madcat — Too late, eh? Sigh.

Sage is perennial, so it will keep going. Eventually it gets woody and splits, but I have a rather sad looking bush at the moment that must be 10 years old.