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Grow your own herb garden this spring
Some Kinda Good
SKG april may

Springtime brings so many reasons to celebrate. Chief among them is gardening! This will be my fourth year as a gardener, and I’ve found so much satisfaction from growing my own food. It all started with a few empty terra cotta pots my husband, Kurt, and I found in the backyard. 

Each year, I’ve added something new to my herbs, and two years ago, we upgraded our garden from individual pots of herbs to a container garden we fashioned out of a 4-foot horse trough set on cinder blocks. After drilling some holes for drainage, layering gravel and a mixture of professional potting soil and fertilizer, the scene was set for a successful growing environment. We planted English thyme, sweet basil, rosemary, parsley, jalapenos, tomatoes, and red and green bell peppers. I’ve never considered myself a green thumb, but by the looks of my garden, you’d never know it. 

Each day, I’m like a kid on Christmas eve when I get home from work, as I walk outside to see what’s new, what’s ripened and to pluck the fallen pine straw out of my plants. The basil gets sky high and the tomatoes often grow all the way up over the cages. It’s so fun to watch the tomatoes and peppers turn from green to red, and quite educational really. 

If you’ve never planted a garden, I highly encourage it. Start small with an indoor herb pot — you can even use a five-gallon bucket! 

Learning how to grow food and nurture plants is important and helps us understand where our food comes from and how it’s produced. With all of our garden fresh goodness, we’ve made everything from jalapeno margaritas, fried green tomatoes and Georgia peanut pesto to charred salsa and homemade tomato sauce. On social media, I share live garden check-ins from my backyard and often feature these recipes from my kitchen. Be sure to like Some Kinda Good on Facebook and follow @SKGFoodBlog on Instagram to come along! You can also get all of these recipes and a video tutorial on how to construct your own container garden by visiting SomeKindaGood.com.

Whether you grow your own garden vegetables or visit your local farmers market to experience the flavor of homegrown, I hope you’ll take advantage of what’s local and in season now.


Charred Garden Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

• 3 medium red-ripened tomatoes, stemmed

• 1 medium sweet onion, skin removed and halved

• 1 green bell pepper, halved

• 2 jalapeños

• Fresh basil, one bunch

• 1/2 lime, zest and juice

• Salt and pepper


Directions:

Over medium-high heat on a well-oiled grill, grill bell and jalapeno peppers, and onion on both sides about 3-4 minutes until char marks form. Meanwhile, quarter tomatoes and add them, plus basil, lime zest, juice and salt and pepper to the food processor. Once vegetables have finished grilling, add them to the food processor and close the lid. Pulse until desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Serve over grilled chicken, eat with chips or toss with pasta!