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With the “farm to table” philosophy growing in popularity, I thought I would do my part by planting my modest deck “farm” this season. Modest means I planted chocolate mint, oregano, basil, cabbage, chives, rosemary, parsley and of courses, cherry tomatoes! What is summer without real, fresh tomatoes!
Not to forget, for the pets, I had a small but thriving pot of catnip on the table, and a huge pot of wheat seed. The kitty would climb on the table and nuzzle the catnip to her heart’s content…then crash for a couple hours’ nap. Both she and the dog loved grazing on the wheat seed throughout the summer. If you’re not familiar with it, wheat seed comes up in a thick patch of thin grasses. And it must be quite tasty if you’re four-legged, because they loved it all summer.
And what a summer it was for farming! Unlike our past three years of drought where everything dried up, rain was abundant. Sunshine was abundant, and not too grilling. Lots of humidity and clouds kept everything growing happy.
My “farm” was quite a sight in the corner of the deck. The basil flourished into fat, succulent leaves. The oregano had an amazing aroma that met you across the deck. Both went into many pots of Italian sausage spaghetti sauce. The chocolate mint grew leafy and perfect in a cup of tea. The cherry tomatoes, yellow and pear shaped, were delicious with fresh mozzarella, balsamic and that fat basil. The rosemary – well, just to smell the rosemary all summer was enough.
While this was the extent of my “farm,” I also ventured to real local area farms. Our farmer’s market produced some of the freshest greens I have ever tasted. They sprung from the bowls of fresh salad. The Shitake mushrooms, organic and so clean they didn’t even need brushing, were melt-in-your-mouth sautéed in butter with garlic. The plums were bright red and as sweet as fruit candy. And oh, the tomatoes! So plump and juicy and abundant, many bowls of tomato soup and bisque have blessed tables county-wide this season. It makes you feel healthy just thinking about them all.
But alas, all things must come to an end. Just last week my basil was so thick I had plans to make quarts of spicy pesto with pine nuts, garlic and fresh parmesan, enough to last all winter. But an amazing week with 20 inches of rain on our deck washed out my plans. When it finally stopped raining, my beautiful basil was shriveled and flat. The chives were smashed into the dirt. The oregano was just brown. Floods are not good for farms, even those on your deck.
The good news for this farmer: the hearty parsley AND the rosemary and still thriving! So tonight’s Osso Buco will have that wonderful fresh parsley in the gremolata. And despite the flood, my deck farm is still halfway to Scarborough Fair!

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