I AM BACK....sorry I haven't been posting but we have had our daughter and family here visiting with a grandbaby so all in all that was great. Plants still looking awesome, so if you need that color in your garden you know where to come to. We have been working with the herbs and found this article on using fresh herbs. FOOD FOR THOUGHT or should I say DRINK for Thought.
Fresh, fresh, fresh...you will hear mixologists talking about fresh ingredients all of the time. Using fresh squeezed juices, garnishes at their peak, and fresh herbs make otherwise "decent" cocktails spectacular and you cannot get any fresher than growing fruits, vegetables and herbs in your own garden.
Planting a Bartender's Garden is just one more way to customize and improve your drinking experience. If you enjoy gardening anyway, there is no reason not to design a portion of your plantings around your drinking preferences.
I ( the author) do this in my own garden; planting annuals to experiment with, perennials that are reliable favorites, and choosing faster growing, higher yielding, or more flavorful varieties that work just a little bit better in drinks.
Here are a few suggestions of plants you may want to consider adding to your garden which will enhance your cocktails and homemade spirit infusions, syrups, and other drink mixers. If you have a favorite drink or flavor, add those plants to the list.
Fruits & Vegetables:Use as garnishes, fresh juices, and flavored infusions.
Also, think about edible flowers for garnishes. Be sure when buying flower bedding plants (pansies, geraniums, etc.) that they are either organic or pesticide and growth hormone free if you are going to use them in food or drinks, many are not.
https://www.thespruce.com/bartenders-garden-ideas-
till next time this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa
Fresh, fresh, fresh...you will hear mixologists talking about fresh ingredients all of the time. Using fresh squeezed juices, garnishes at their peak, and fresh herbs make otherwise "decent" cocktails spectacular and you cannot get any fresher than growing fruits, vegetables and herbs in your own garden.
Planting a Bartender's Garden is just one more way to customize and improve your drinking experience. If you enjoy gardening anyway, there is no reason not to design a portion of your plantings around your drinking preferences.
I ( the author) do this in my own garden; planting annuals to experiment with, perennials that are reliable favorites, and choosing faster growing, higher yielding, or more flavorful varieties that work just a little bit better in drinks.
Here are a few suggestions of plants you may want to consider adding to your garden which will enhance your cocktails and homemade spirit infusions, syrups, and other drink mixers. If you have a favorite drink or flavor, add those plants to the list.
Fruits & Vegetables:Use as garnishes, fresh juices, and flavored infusions.
- Apple - Use to make fresh cider or juice, garnish, or infusions. Browse apple cocktails.
- Blueberry - Perfect for muddling or making syrups or shrubs. Browse blueberry cocktails.
- Cherry - Use as a garnish, juice, or make your own syrup, infused spirits, or liqueurs.
Drinks: Black Cherry Breezer, Cherry Bitch - Grapes - Use as a garnish or make fresh juice or infusions, even homemade wine. Freeze grapes for an alternative to ice. Browse grape cocktails.
- Kiwi - Muddle skinned kiwi for fresh drinks or make your own kiwi vodka.
Drinks: Green Lemonade, Kiwi Martini - Raspberry and Blackberries - Garnishes, infusions, liqueurs, juiced, muddled... berries have many uses. Browse raspberry and blackberry cocktails.
- Strawberry - Juices, purees, infusions, syrups, liqueurs, blended, and garnishes. Browse strawberry cocktails.
- Melon - Melons are very easy to juice, even with just a muddler and they make great infusions.
Browse melon cocktails. - Tomato - Choose medium sized, juicy varieties and muddle cherry tomatoes for short drinks.
The Bloody Mary and more tomato cocktails.
- Carrot - Juice for a lighter substitute to tomato.
Drinks: Bugs Cutty - Cucumber - Create very refreshing drinks by muddling, infusing, or blending.
Browse cucumber cocktails. - Peppers - Add a little spice to drinks by muddling or infusing chili, jalapeño, habanero , even bell peppers. Browse spicy cocktails.
- Peas - Bring those delicious peas from the garden into your cocktails via muddling or pureeing. Browse pea cocktails.
- If you live in a warm zone try these (and consider yourself lucky and the rest of us jealous):
- Grapefruit - Easy to juice with a juicer or muddler and great for infusions.
Browse grapefruit cocktails. - Lemons and Limes - Essential bar ingredients for a variety of drinks and garnishes.
How to juice citrus. - Mango - Fresh juice and purees, also good for infusions and blended drinks.
Browse mango cocktails. - Orange - Another bar essential, used for numerous drinks as juice or garnish and great for infusions and orange liqueurs.
Browse orange juice cocktails. - Peach - Use for purees, juices, infusions, and blended drinks.
Browse peach cocktails. - Pomegranate - Use for fresh juice, infusions, or liqueurs and an essential ingredient for making grenadine syrup, a bar staple.
- Grapefruit - Easy to juice with a juicer or muddler and great for infusions.
- Basil - Surprisingly, used quite often in new cocktails.
- Chamomile - Most often used as tea, though it can be used to make liqueurs, infusions, even homemade bitters.
Drinks: Gunpowder Gimlet, Tea Tini - Dill - Best left for infusions and homemade bitters and shrubs.
- Fennel - Similar to dill's strength and best used for the same.
- Ginger - Very useful for syrups, infusions, muddled, even making your own ginger ale or ginger beer.
- Lavender - Perfect for adding a light floral flavor to drinks via muddling, infusions, or syrups.
- Lemon Balm or Lemon Verbena - Often used as a tea, though can be used for infusions or homemade mixers as well. Drinks: Jalisco High-Tea, Tea Tini
- Lemongrass - Use for infusions of spirits (especially tequila) and syrups.
- Lilac - Add a darker floral flavor to drinks than lavender by using the flowers to make liqueurs and syrups.
- Mint - Try different varieties but beware that it is notorious for taking over a garden, so plant in a controlled space or container. Mint is the most popular herb used in many drinks most famous being the Mint Julep and Mojito.
- Rosemary - As popular as lavender and with the same uses: infusions, syrups, muddling.
- Sage - Often used directly in the drink via muddling, though it can be used for infusions and homemade shrubs and syrups.
Drinks: Homecoming Caipirinha, Pineapple and Sage Gimlet, Sage Lady - Tarragon - Can be used directly in drinks via muddling or for infusions of spirits or syrups as well as homemade bitters and shrubs.
- Thyme - Muddle with syrups or infuse into spirits or use to make bitters, shrubs, and the like.
Drinks: Old Thyme Sour
Also, think about edible flowers for garnishes. Be sure when buying flower bedding plants (pansies, geraniums, etc.) that they are either organic or pesticide and growth hormone free if you are going to use them in food or drinks, many are not.
https://www.thespruce.com/bartenders-garden-ideas-
till next time this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa
