I’m taking a break from sewing again as they put me back in a wrist brace to help it heal better.   In the meantime, the herbs in my garden are going absolutely nuts.  After looking at my garden this morning, it was clear I needed to take the mint and basil in hand.

Last weekend I picked up some peaches at the farmer’s market.  It was definitely time to use them, so I decided to try my hand at a peach liqueur.  I added in some fresh mint from the garden, chopped the peaches, covered them with a simple syrup, then some bourbon and vodka.   Now it just needs to sit for 4 to 6 weeks.

Next up, I tried my hand at some vodka infusions.

On the left is a spicy basil vodka, with spicy globe basil and jalapenos from my garden.    It needs to sit for 3 to 5 days.   On the right is just a basil vodka, also using the spicy global basil from my garden.  It will also sit for about 5 days.  And in the middle is a strawberry basil vodka.  The basil is from my garden but the strawberries are local.  It needs to sit for a week.     I didn’t get a picture of it yet, but I also am working on a mint oil extraction using vodka.   It needs to sit for 4 weeks.    I’m so excited to use my herbs.   I think I’ll start freezing some of the overflow so that I can have herbs from my garden all year.

I tried my had at canning for the first time a few weeks ago.  I made a strawberry vanilla jam.  SOOOO yummy.  Today I made another attempt at canning and made mint apple jelly.   The recipe used a store bought apple juice for a starter, so I used Simply Apple which doesn’t have any  preservatives and isn’t made from concentrate.   It’s also a cloudier juice, so my jelly isn’t as translucent as you would normally expect, but I’m still really pleased with it.  I can’t wait for it to cool so I can try it out!

I’m really enjoying the garden this year.   I definitely am going to have to get some more strawberries and make some more jam.   And next year, we’re planting strawberries.