aT MAY. be frosty at night

. but a few sunny days this
‘time of year is enough to give
anyone spring fever. It pot
me out in the garden picking
branches of Forsythia to
“cheer up the house.

_ It'also got me looking around in

my herb garden.

, Brian planted my collection last

‘year and for the first time in my life
‘Thad an unlimited quantity of herbs
to sparkle up my kitchen.

“A chose wisely’ ‘when it came to
planting - —> everything except the
basil and parsley i is perrenial —

age, thyme, oregano, mint and :
chives/are all showing new growth.
“The parstey i is also sprouting but
this is the'last year for these plants.
4 they're biennial. Also, as expect-

, the, mint is. doing its best to take

over - > that stuff is likea weed.
“ [grew up.in Alberta. Every year.
nly parents planted a huge veg-
+, etable garden - ——no army could
“have | used up the Baskets of 5 wegeta-
bles we harvested. ° :

2 ‘Everyos. 2¢ in town had the same
“sort of patch so you couldn’t give
thein away, either. I learned to can

and pickle by the, time Twas 10 ¢

years’ ‘olds

‘ Lalso” learned how to plant and
cow vegetables, Alberta-style. In’

‘the spring,come farmer would

come up the lane with a stinking

-load of manure, For a few bucks
‘he’d dump, a load on your ‘patch,
“The kids’

top.’ ‘
oA few. Weeks later, you were

“handed ‘the-bii

and you dug it.in. That wasn’t too

~ difficult-in Alberta where the soil is
» deep, soft loam, I tried it in North

Vancouver and dug out a ton of

rocks in a small square.

Discouraging —- we gave up and

planted grass. -

So, my herbs are almost the first
edible crop to come out of our yard,

discounting a few tree fruits and the :

occasional tomato.

' Even an apartment dweller can
‘grow fresh herbs —- all you need is
some containers and some potting
soil, Herbs can be combined with
pretty flowers if you want to make
it fancy. ;

7 Containers can be expensi ve but
if you've a little imagination you
can do wonders with lard pails (ask
at restaurants or bakeries). My son-
in-law makes ail their containers
from scrap wood. |”

ADVERTISING

._ CORRECTION —
EATON'S~SPRING #2- FASHION (418) .

Page 4 ~ Levi's 531. Stonewashed
deans price higher than advertised,

* should read: $49.29,
Inadvertently, the. error fisted above
has appeared in our advertising. We
sincerely regret any inconvenience or
confusion to our customers.

EATON'S

siness end of a shovel -

So, if you want the pleasure of
cooking with fresh herbs, now is the
time to get organized. And, if you
decide to go the cheap route and use
lard pails, 1 saw a great display.

The owner had painted bright
flowers on the outside and grouped
the pails in a sunny corner, To
make the grouping interesting,
some of the pails were raised up on
blocks of scrap wood, Give the mint
4 pail to itself or you'll have it
everywhere!

Basil has to be my favorite herb.

This year 1 plan-to plant a few
marigolds around it — Pm told
they may keep down the insects that
like it as well as I do.

Last year | found a wonderful
recipe for pesto sauce, using basil
and parsley. (fl print it later when
we have cnough growing.

Here's a delicious basil dressing
to use on fresh tomatoes.

BLENDER BASIL *
DRESSING

job. was to take it over the “|

Place everything in the blender
and buzz until smooth, secaping
down the sides often,

2 cloves garile

4c. fresh basil leaves

Few sprigs thyme

Few sprigs parsley

2 Thsp. white wiue vinegar

1 8-02. tub ght cream cheese

. Try this on slices of tomato
teamed with sweet onion rings.

You won's be able to grow pep-
percorns but I've had seveens
requests for this tangy steak sauce:

GREEN PEPPERCORN
SAUCE

1 Tbsp. butter

1 green onion, minced, including
top

“’e. dry white wine

% c. whipping cream

3 tsp. crushed green peppercorns
Use a small saucepan for this.

Melt the butter and add the onion,

See Papaya page 43

hl

THE CORPORATION OF
THE DISTRICT OF
NORTH VANCOUVER

For Sale;
RESIDENTIAL LOTS

BRAEMAR NEIGHBOURHOOD:
+ CITADEL COURT - 6 LARGE LOTS -
ALL MORE THAN 1/3 ACRE

Minimum Acceptable Price: $270,000 - $282,000

Sealed offers must be submitted by 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday, March 15, 1994

Information packages are available for pick-up at the
District of North Vancouver ANNEX, 253 East 14th Street,
North Vancouver, B.C.
or phone the Land Department at 987-7131.

THE HIGHEST OR ANY OFFER WILL
NOT NECESSARILY BE ACCEPTED

“PETER SPECK

In celebration of our 25th Anniversary,
» Publisher Peter Speck's Speckulations’ column: -
returns for a once a month limited engagement.
Reflecting on the past quarter-century, and
commenting on the next, Speckulations will
- appear in the Lifestyle section on the second
Sunday of each month during 1994.