In addition to a love of plants, my sweet southern mother passed on her love of cooking to me.  I've recently been able to combine both of my loves by growing many of my own spices.  

I used some leftover white pine plywood from another project to create a place to grow my spices. I also added a few hooks and twine to give my fresh spices a place to dry out, and just for grins and giggles I added a few labels to keep things organized. You can see the finished product below. 

Having my own spice garden encourages me to be more adventurous with my cooking. I get geeked up every time a recipe calls for a fresh spice that I actually have. Basil? Check. Rosemary, Check. Check. 

Planting a seed and seeing it grow into a beautiful leafy plant is something that brings me indescribable joy. My indoor urban garden is my way to connect with nature on a daily basis.  

I also have an ever growing collection of purchased spices.  My favorite place to get them is the Dekalb Farmer's Market .  The prices are incredible and the selection is great. However be warned, that wonderful mecca of fresh food can get pretty crowded.

 I made the mistake of going on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  I knew I was in for an adventure when it took me 10 minutes just to find a park. I walked in and fell in line with the sea of slowly moving people and began navigating my way to fruit section. As I was innocently eyeing the fresh mangoes, I was goosed by the stranger next to me, or so I thought. I angrily turned around, fists clenched ready to defend my honor. I looked up only to see the stranger now crimson faced profusely apologizing.  He wasn't the guilty goosing party, it was the overly friendly rutabaga sticking out of his basket. I'd just been poked in rear end by an organic root vegetable! Gives new meaning to the term fresh vegetables doesn't it?

Cooking with various spices doesn't have to intimidating, and remember, a little goes a long way! I started with flavors that were familiar to me, like cinnamon, and moved into similar flavors like nutmeg, cardamom and allspice. The sky is the limit.  Let the adventure begin!