22 May 2009

Borage and berries

At my local farmers' market this early spring I bought a borage plant. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it, but for $2.50 I figured I'd give it a go - the owner of the herb farm said that it went well in salads (it has a taste reminiscent of cucumber). Well, the wonders of the internet revealed to me another use for the unusual herb: Pimm's cups. I had served these wonderful beverages at my friend M's 30th birthday in March and had a little Pimm's left in the fridge. Last night M came over (to take home one of my renegade strawberry plants that was growing outside of my garden plot) and we enjoyed a Pimm's cup with borage as an ode to the coming of summer.

The borage plant is incidentally planted within my strawberry patch. The literature said they were a good pairing (something about bees I think). Now that the netting is on my patch I scouted the patch early this morning for some berrys without beak marks. Four were ready for picking and I enjoyed them alongside my morning coffee. There are some promising berries I hope will be ready for harvest tomorrow. I always have high hopes that I'll collect enough berries and make something like jam or a pie or something. I always eat them before they can make it to a formal recipe. I just can't help myself.

6 comments:

T. said...

I love Pimms cups!! Yum!

M said...

The borage really does taste like cucumber - weird! And by the way, as of this morning the renegade strawberry plant is doing very well. Granted, its only been int he ground for about 12 hours, but still...

Mommy, Esq. said...

You are so descriptive I feel like I am sitting at your kitchen table with you!

Anonymous said...

Very cool! A little factoid... Borage is high in gamma linoleic acid, which is an anti-inflammatory in the body. Also, borage oil is good for skin issues like eczema. :-)

Janet said...

Summer cocktails ~ fabulous! For such a sultry herb, borage has such an unappealing sounding name!!!

Anonymous said...

I read that Borage multiplies very successfully and is supposed to be very good for bees. In fact, some organizations were giving out free borage seeds to try to help with colony collapse.

I've never had Pimms cups. I'll keep my eye out for some