Herbal Kitchen Gift-Giving: A Large Stainless Bowl

I’ve asked five blog contributors to share their favorite herb-related gift ideas.  HSA’s blog will be running one per day during the first week of December.– Paris Wolfe, Blogmaster

By Peggy Riccio, member, Potomac Unit of the Herb Society of America

When I was studying horticulture at Virginia Tech, I was required to complete an internship. I spent the summer with a young married couple on a Maryland farm. The land came from the husband’s side of the family and the wife, armed with her masters in horticulture from Virginia Tech, was determined to turn it into a successful produce farm. Although they had help from the local high school kids, I was their first college intern.

At the end of the summer, they thanked me by giving me a large metal bowl. Thirty-six years later, they have a very successful produce farm and I use this bowl almost every week. It is the perfect size and weight for washing herbs. Although I do not spray my herbs, I always soak them in cold water after I cut them. Inevitably, something crawls out.

The bowl is heavy enough to be able hold the weight of the water and large enough for handfuls of green herbs. I have also learned that cheap plastic bowls are flimsy and collapse under the weight of the water. To anyone growing herbs, I recommend purchasing a large metal bowl to wash your herbs regardless if you spray or not.

Author Peggy Riccio gardens in a typical suburban Northern Virginia home. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a horticulture degree and has been involved in horticultural communications for more than 20 years. Currently, she is a member of the Garden Writers Association and the Potomac Unit of the Herb Society of America. Riccio produces pegplant.com, a local gardening website for the Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC metro area. Pegplant offers local gardening news, resources, and information about gardening, gardens, and plants.