Fresh Herbs

Let's start with one known fact. Fresh herbs from the supermarket usually suck. Who knows how long they've been sitting on that shelf (or in that plastic package). Half the time I buy basil at the supermarket, when I'm desperate and it's the middle of winter, I get home and open the package and half of it is brown already! In addition to the sub-par quality of supermarket herbs is the often outrageous price. OK - maybe it's not outrageous and maybe I'm just a little bit cheap thrifty. But I hate paying $3.00 for a small bunch of basil that is wilted and half brown OR $2.00 for a GIANT bunch of cilantro, when I only need a little bit for one recipe.

Anyway, this rant brings me to one of my favorite summer time hang outs - Small Farm in Stow, MA. If you are in the area, I strongly encourage you to make a stop here. Small Farm's farm stand is a great place to get fresh veggies, like corn, garlic, scallions, eggplant, zucchini and summer squash, among others that I'm forgetting at this moment. They also have pick your own flowers, tomatoes, and HERBS!!!! Yes! For the small price of $1.50 you can fill up a small plastic bag (about the size of a quart ziploc) with whatever herbs you want! They usually have thyme, oregano, mint, pineapple mint, basil, purple basil, dill, chives, and lavender. So if you only need a couple sprigs of mint for your mojito, but you want a TON of basil to make pesto, then that's what you pick! Since living in the area, this place has been my all-time favorite discovery. You know the herbs are fresh because you're picking them yourself, the price is right, and you can get the exact amount of herbs you want! All of the herbs pictured fit in one bag!