At Your Convenience

Right outside my kitchen I keep herbs and greens handy. I have mizuna, bok choy and tatsoi in window boxes so I can drop them into hot ramen or add last to stir fries. There's container celery to flavor soups and salads, "Red Sails" lettuce for sandwiches and salads. Two kinds of mint: spearmint for mojitos and peppermint for, well, whatever. Of course, there's the ever-perservering aloe plant, loyally braving the Volcano cold so that I'll have it ready for those occasional burns when I'm a klutz around the Wedgewood stove, and for sunburn when the beach fries my brain and I bask too long in the sun. Sweet allysum and petunia are there on the deck...just because. Oregano -- Greek and stick -- rosemary, and Thai basil are also among my grab-and-go potted favorites.