Rosemary
Rosmarinus officinalis
R
osemary is one of my all-time favorites, is really diff erent. The aromatic smoke glaze is
and fortunately, it grows abundantly a real winner, and it’s pretty spectacular!
around our house. Yet there is an old wives’ Finally, if you boil or steam rice—especially
(not husbands’) tale about this herb: if it grows brown rice—you can add a rosemary branch to
well, then the wife is the one in charge. the water and pick up a heady background scent
Our plants grow tall and wide, so they are to what otherwise can be pretty dull stuff!
placed at the back of the herb patch. Like other You may also want to pair rosemary with
pungent herbs, this one repels small insects, but peas, potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, and toma
terflies, carrot flies, and ticks. So you may want toes. (Wrap a branch in cheesecloth so that it’s
to plant a couple of starts in your raised-bed easier to remove before serving.)
areas at one end on the north or east side, so that You will see from the zones (8–10) that this
their size doesn’t rob other plants of the sun. herb doesn’t like extreme heat or cold. Because
It’s a brilliant flavor companion to all meats of this, you may wish (if you live where it gets
but especially, to my taste, with lamb. It has a really cold) to buy a lightweight container, at
multitude of uses. When your plant (and mar least 12 inches in diameter, and grow your
riage?) has strengthened, you can strip off the rosemary in light, well-drained soil. Be sure to
spiny leaves and use the stems for skewers. I put punch holes in the container and buy a drip
rosemary and orange zest in low-fat egg cus tray to catch excess water when you bring it in
tards to compensate for the removal of fat—it doors for the winter. We are in Zone 7, and our
works really well. rosemary did well for 6 years; then came our
If you grill, you can add both rosemary and deep freeze, and our trusted bush died, which
fennel branches to the coals just at the last few apparently gave me the chance to reclaim my
minutes of cooking to add a smoky fl avor that husbandly role!
276 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
