Q: What herbs are available now that spring is here?
A: We’re unique, actually, in the sense that most of the herbs we offer are available year round. So we have the same fresh-cut herbs available today as we do during the winter and later in the summer.
Q: What will change as the warm weather continues?
A: In the spring you’ll notice that our emphasis is on selling plants for people to put into their gardens. As the summer progresses and the planting season passes, we’ll start selling more cut herbs than plants. The seasons don’t change the types of herbs that are available, but they do affect the plant/cut herb mix that you’ll see on our tables.
Q: What’s your favourite use for herbs?
A: You can make a fantastic French sandwich with roasted peppers, sliced hard boiled eggs, tuna and olives, with fresh herbs, Dijon mustard and pesto on herb bread. You can also make really great drinks with the wide variety of mints we grow. One of my favourites is pineapple mint-rosemary lemonade.
Q: What’s your bestseller?
A: There’s no doubt that basil is the king. We sell more basil than anything else.
Q: What about an underrated herb?
A: We have pretty sophisticated customers, and they ask for and buy all sorts of differentherbs. Actually, I’d say people are a lot more adventurous with things they’d eat than they are with their garden plants.
Q: Do you have any tips for storing herbs properly?
A: The key is to keep the bag sealed and cold. Unless you’re storing basil. Your fridge is too cold for basil—the cells start to breakdown immediately once you put it in the fridge. Ideally, you should store your basil in a cool place like a cold storage room. The temperature you’re aiming for is about 8 C or so, the same temperature that you should keep tomatoes at for them to keep their best texture and flavour. That’s a good way to remember that, actually, since you cook with them together so much, you should store them together, too.
Q: What would you tell people about how to incorporate herbs into their cooking?
A: The key is to buy what you cook and plant it close to the kitchen. Then it’s just a matter of stepping out the kitchen door, snapping it off the stem and firing it into whatever you’re cooking. It’s that easy. And it’s delicious.
Find Riverview Herbs at the Halifax Farmer’s Market, or travel to their greenhouses in Maitland, exit 10 off Hwy 102, for their open house at the end of June.
This article appears in May 25-31, 2006.