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In Our Garden: Rosemary

We have always had rosemary in our garden, no matter where we lived. When we first got married we were living in rental houses, and dragged pots of herbs with us. Once we got our own house one of the first things Country Boy did was to plant a whole hedge of it on either side of our front path. As we walked past it into the house, we would often brush it with something and release its beautiful fragrance.

These days we have a few rosemary bushes just around the corner from the back step. Again they get brushed past regularly, releasing their perfume. We also have a pot of it sitting on our front veranda.

Growing Rosemary
Rosemary grows pretty easily. It prefers well drained soil, and full sun  – think a Mediterranean style climate. They are meant to be drought resistant which, for us, is a bonus. We really do just whack it in the ground and leave it to grow. It does need to be pruned from occasionally to keep the stems soft and the plant bushy. Pop it in a pot and it will look fabulous too.

When picking rosemary for cooking look for stems that are green and relatively soft (though not floppy), and leaves which are green without any brown marks.

Cooking with Rosemary
We use rosemary a lot in cooking. It’s so easy to just run outside and snip a few sprigs off when we need them.

One of my favourite ways to use rosemary is with lamb. Because lamb! Roughly chop a bunch of rosemary together with half a dozen cloves of garlic, a lemon (zested and juiced), a little ground cumin, and of course, salt and pepper. Use a little olive oil to make a rub. Rub it all over a butterflied leg of lamb, wrap it tightly in foil and slow roast for several hours. It’s one of my go to dishes when we have guests because it is quick to prepare, and so delicious.

We use rosemary on our potato and rosemary pizzas, and I often stick a sprig or two into casseroles or even spaghetti bolognaise to add it’s flavour to the mix. The flowers add a pretty and tasty touch to salads too.

I love this recipe for lamb shanks which are cooked with rosemary (though you will have to excuse the photo which is appallingly bad). The shanks are to die for and it is so easy to make!

Another way we use rosemary is to pick the long woody stems, strip off the leaves (keep a few on the tip), and then use the stems to thread meat or vegetables on  like skewers. Pop them on the BBQ for a bit of infused goodness in your kebabs.

Rosemary adds a strong flavour to food, so generally you don’t need to use a lot of it. Because the leaves are quite chewy, it is important to chop them finely if you want to actually eat the leaves.

Do you grow rosemary? Got a great recipe that use rosemary?. We have so much of it growing.

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Comments

  1. Karen Thompson says

    September 20, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    I grow rosemary in a box hedge around my rose garden. It keeps the aphids off the roses and provides a sturdy hedge. That way I always have heaps of rosemary for the kitchen! It's also nice when it flowers to just pop some in a vase, smells great.

    Reply
  2. Jo@Countrylifeexperiment says

    September 19, 2014 at 2:10 am

    It looks so good in a pot too, doesn't it?!

    Reply
  3. Jo@Countrylifeexperiment says

    September 19, 2014 at 2:09 am

    We love it with roasts – sooooo good.

    Reply
  4. Jan says

    September 19, 2014 at 1:56 am

    I forgot with baked veges and garlic. Well worth doing.

    Reply
  5. AN B says

    September 19, 2014 at 1:10 am

    We have a long hedge of rosemary down our driveway and so are always looking for ways to use it. The main way for us is on roast vegies.

    Reply
  6. Jan says

    September 18, 2014 at 11:55 pm

    I love rosemary too and like you use it with lamb or potato pizza. I had a big bush of it, but now in a unit I have a pot on the balcony.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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