Red Beans And Advice For Monday, Sept. 26

What to do with your herbs

My brother texted me this photo last week, on the morning I returned from Michigan. I wish I had brought some of this frigid air with me. It’s still in the 90s in New Orleans, although it is supposed to cool off into the 80s at the end of the week. (We are also watching Tropical Storm Ian, but I refuse to obsess about it - yet.)

Temperatures in the 30s elsewhere mean the possibility of frost, and frost means farewell to tender plants, such as annual flowers and especially herbs. Everyone who grows basil in a northern place knows the disappointment of finding a previously lush plant blackened and withered.

Before that happens, you need to act, while your garden is still lush, as mine was at this time last year. Here are some ideas for using your more-vulnerable herb plants. (Hardy ones like Rosemary ought to withstand a first frost, but if you are harvesting, you might as well do it all simultaneously.)