Rent is high, and space is limited so we have to make the best of what we have. I like to grow herbs for starters. They fit in a small pot, pack a lot of flavor, and look nice. Besides, herbs are great for a budget because they give fresh flavor to canned and dried foods. My favorite herb to grow is mint. The reason I like it so much is because it is almost impossible to kill. It is, by most definitions, a weed so be sure to plant it in a pot by itself because it will take over! It grows by creeks, so it can’t be over watered, and even if it does kind of die lots of watering usually brings it back to life. I bought a lovely pot that had mint, oregano, and thyme at Trader Joe’s for $7. The mint has mostly taken over the other herbs but is absolutely flourishing despite the lack of sunshine we have had this month. Mint can also be planted from seeds, or if you know somebody else who has some ask if you can have some from the roots and plant that into some soil and ta-da, your very own min plant. Besides the feeling of gardening success mint is useful in making the ordinary gourmet. My mom added it to fruit salad to make it fancy and give it an exotic flavor. There are, of course, the classic, classy option for mint such as fresh mint tea or fresh mint juleps if that is your thing. My favorite thing with mint is yogurt salad. Over chicken, rice, really just about anything it is absolute heaven. Again it has that way of making ordinary foods exotic and delicious. For yogurt salad… About 2 cups yogurt About 2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint 1 grated cucumber Cumin Salt
