Puzzling & Herb Gardening | Soft, Sleepy Chat for Insomniacs

In this calming episode of The Insomnia Project, hosts Marco Timpano and Amanda Barker wander through a pair of quietly delightful topics: puzzling and herb gardening. Their gentle, meandering conversation begins with listener-suggested topics and drifts into the curious world of puzzles. While neither host considers themselves an avid puzzler, Amanda reflects on why puzzles never quite captured her imagination, while Marco introduces a whimsical concept for a puzzle game he calls “Poozle,” sparking a light and playful discussion.
From there, the conversation slowly shifts into the soothing territory of herb gardening. Marco and Amanda share their experiences growing herbs, discussing the small pleasures and mild frustrations that come with tending a garden. Along the way, their chat unexpectedly wanders into Madrigal songs and the quirks of basil cultivation, creating the kind of relaxed, winding conversation that listeners of this sleep podcast have come to love.
Marco even shares a few simple herb-gardening tips for listeners who might want to try growing their own plants at home. Whether you’re listening in bed, winding down after a long day, or quietly playing the episode while working to ease anxiety, this gentle episode is designed to help your mind slow down.
The Insomnia Project is one of the top sleep podcasts and sleepcasts for people looking for calm, quiet conversation that can help ease insomnia and guide listeners toward rest.

​Puzzling & Herb Gardening

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm, uneventful, unimportant, uninteresting conversation that you do not have to stay till the end of it. If you drift off within six minutes, that's perfectly fine.

Amanda:   But we invite you to stay if you want, of course.

Marco: I'm your host, Marco Timpano.

Amanda:   And I'm the other hostess, Amanda.

Marco: Uh, thank you for, uh, joining us today, Amanda. We're going to go back to listener suggestions because we only got through one.

Amanda:   Well, that's the way we. That's how we do.

Marco: That's how we roll.

Amanda:   Yeah.

Marco: So one of our listeners asked us to talk about puzzling as a topic of interest.

Amanda:   Dear God.

Marco: Amanda is not.

Amanda:   Are you there? It's me, Amanda. Uh, I don't like puzzles.

Marco: You don't like puzzles?

Amanda:   I like Judy Blume, but I don't like puzzles.

Marco: Not even the crossword puzzles or Sudoku puzzles?

Amanda:   You say Sudoku.

Marco: Sudoku.

Amanda:   I thought Sudoku.

Marco: Oh, maybe it is.

Amanda:   I don't. To be honest, I've never done one.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda:   I've never done a. The aforementioned puzzle.

Marco: Yes, I've done them. I like them.

Amanda:   Yeah. If I got you a book of them, would you be like, happy?

Marco: No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't do a book. But sometimes when I'm on the plane.

Amanda:   Uh-huh.

Marco: If it's in the newspaper, I have. I'll do it.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: And if I was on a bus, I might do it.

Amanda:   Your mom likes a good word search. Is that a puzzle?

Marco: Yeah, my mom likes a. Good work at word search. We bought her plenty of word searches.

Amanda:   I bought her a massive book of word searches in Italian.

Marco: And she, she, she tears through them.

Amanda:   Yeah, she does.

Marco: So she's, she's very good at that. You and I are not Jigsaw Puz.

Amanda:   Now. We're also not working out, people. And sometimes I wonder, and not to change the topic, but I wonder, is this a collective thing that we've an unspoken agreement that we've just decided that's not who we are as a couple?

Marco: Right.

Amanda:   Because would you be doing Jigsaw? If I was into Jigsaw, would you be like, yeah, great, we're gonna dig into one?

Marco: I might. Here's what I've been wanting to do with jigsaw puzzles. So I know that you and I like. I wanted to do board games. And you were on board for it. And we've gotten into board games.

Amanda:   Every pun intended. Yeah, I was on board.

Marco: Oh, on board. I see.

Amanda:   Get it?

Marco: No, I didn't get it in the moment, but I do now. Um, and so we've played puzzles. I mean, we've played puzzles. We've played board games.

Amanda:   Playing puzzles. I think I want to normalize that phrase in the vernacular. I'm gonna go play puzzle.

Marco: Play puzzle. And, uh, that's been. Our puzzling thing has been board games. And we've talked a lot about them. We played one earlier today.

Amanda:   Yeah, we did. That's true.

Marco: But I do like to do a puzzle every once in a blue moon. We have friends like Daniela Lascalic and Joel like to do puzzles, and they even have that mat that when you're not done, you roll up the puzzle in the mat so it stays where you want it.

Amanda:   I get it. I get that. Because that's a real thing, right?

Marco: Yeah. But here's what I wanted to do.

Amanda:   Okay.

Marco: So we had a yard sale not too long ago. Some people call them garage sales. Car boot sales.

Amanda:   Car boot sales.

Marco: That's what they say in the uk.

Amanda:   Really?

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda:   Oh, okay.

Marco: The car boot is what we refer to as a trunk.

Amanda:   I know. And I've heard trunk sale, although I never really thought of it as a car trunk. I always thought it meant like. Like an old timey trunk like that you came over. Oh, a trunk like that on Ellis island with.

Marco: I see you like a white elephant sale. You always talk about white elephant.

Amanda:   My grandmother was into white elephant sails. And it's one of the stories passed down that she loved a white elephant sale at the church that she would. My mom. My mom always laughs because apparently my grandmother loved to volunteer at the church. And it had nothing to do with the church. It had everything to do with the fact that she liked to have first dibs on the white elephant sale. And I respect that.

Marco: Yeah. And we. We went to a 1. What do you call those kind of shops that. That resell consignment? No, not consignment, but donation shops, I guess.

Amanda:   And they, ah, vintage shops or um,

Marco: a little more casual than that, you know.

Amanda:   What is that, like a.

Marco: You had a coupon for it? Just a donation center. Right? Like a secondhand. Secondhand store. That's it. So we went to the secondhand store and I noticed a bunch of puzzles. And I know you and I don't do puzzles, but here's.

Amanda:   We don't play puzzle.

Marco: No, we don't play puzzle, but here, hear me out.

Amanda:   I'm hearing, I'm listening.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda:   That's my half of my job today.

Marco: What I'd like to do is get a puzzle. Right?

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: Picture a seascape.

Amanda:   Okay. I'm picturing it.

Marco: Sailboats, seashells, people frolicking on the beach. Thousand, thousand piece jigsaw puzzle.

Amanda:   Oh, my God. Nightmare.

Marco: Okay. So I would put it in a box that doesn't have the picture on it.

Amanda:   Okay.

Marco: And then I'd put three envelopes that give clues to the puzzle you're about to do.

Amanda:   Sure.

Marco: And then we give it to a friend and they have to put it together.

Amanda:   I feel like this is a totally new thing that you would really enjoy. And there'd be a glint in your eye.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda:   Uh, I don't know about seascape. I'd like it to be a funny, wacky reveal of a photo versus kids frolicking in sand.

Marco: Okay, well, whatever. That was the puzzle I saw at the secondhand shop.

Amanda:   I like it if it's. You put it together and then once they get the puzzle together, there's one missing piece and they have to go find it. And then they find the missing piece and it's like, we're taking you on a trip to, you know, Grenada. Okay, well, this is my. The gift I like. That's pretty cool, because at the end of it, I get a trip to Grenada.

Marco: I see. Well, that's not gonna happen with my idea.

Amanda:   Your idea is I get a puzzle, and the reveal is it's a puzzle.

Marco: You have to do it without. Without using any sort of guide. Like you have no idea what the picture is, and it unfolds as you go.

Amanda:   Why is this fun?

Marco: Because it's a surprise. I don't know. That's what I was thinking.

Amanda:   I don't see. The joy in your eyes and in your voice of describing it is one of the things I love the most about you. So I aim not to crush that joy.

Marco: You're really good at crushing the joy.

Amanda:   I'm exceptional at it. But I don't understand it. I don't understand the root of it. So I love it. I appreciate it. I. I appreciate that you love it. I don't want to have any part of it.

Marco: I'm not saying I would give it to you, but I would give it to friends and say.

Amanda:   And I'd say, I don't understand it either. Marco's idea. Please enjoy. And we would have friends who would love it, like Michelle or Dale, who would probably love it.

Marco: Right.

Amanda:   Because I think they think more like you. And there's just things I don't understand in this world and puzzles are one of them. Because you're creating a thing to tear it down. I don't know.

Marco: But they're also good for mental stimulation, apparently. And relaxation. Some people find a great deal of relaxation in it.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: My niece likes to do a puzzle.

Amanda:   I respect them. I just, I don't know, I just can think of other things that I would enjoy at the end. More like cleaning a bathroom.

Marco: Sure, okay, fair enough. Between you, your brother who's never been on the podcast, and your sister who has been on the podcast, um, who would more likely be the one to do a puzzle?

Amanda:   My sister for sure.

Marco: Is she a puzzle type person?

Amanda:   Yeah, I think we used to do them. I think she used to do them. Yeah. My brother I think is more wired like me. If it doesn't have a productive result at the end, he's less inclined to spend his time doing it. Oh, my sister enjoys a pursuit for pursuit's sake. She is at her heart an academic. And I would say that my brother and I are not. He's a very hands on, practical person. He likes to build things. So he enjoys the puzzle of trying, of having a challenge.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:   In his job, in his life, uh, of we need this thing, but we don't know how to make it happen. We don't know how to create it. That for him is a puzzle and he gets to create it. And I would say in one of my many jobs, I actually work at a place that is named after a puzzle. And the reason it is named as, uh, such is, is because casting. It's a casting job where I help cast actors and commercials. I think I'm allowed to say that, um, it is a puzzle.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:   Because there are certain things that, you know, in any commercial, for example, or any role in any film, the commercials are even more of a puzzle. I think because you have many different people who have different agendas and really what you're trying to do is to meet the needs of all of those. The director to the advertisers themselves to the in between. People at the agency who created an advertising, uh, concept that they want executed. And you really have to make all those people happy. And you put ahead. Here are some options of people that could take it to the next level.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:   And execute your vision. And oftentimes, you know, most commercials are more than one person. So you really have to fit a family together, for example, a group of friends together. And that is a puzzle.

Marco: And.

Amanda:   And that's why we call it the name that they call it. So puzzles in my day to day life, in terms of creating, my brother and I are like that. But a pursuit for pursuit's sake is not your thing. I somewhat wish it was.

Marco: Here's the thing. If I could contribute one thing to the puzzling.

Amanda:   Please. Because I want to appreciate them.

Marco: Yeah. If I could contribute one thing to the puzzling community, it would be to change the pronunciation of puzzle to poozle.

Amanda:   And what would the benefit of that be?

Marco: I just think it sounds funnier. You want to do a poozle?

Amanda:   Well, perhaps you could make a type of puzzle called a poozel.

Marco: Oh, yeah.

Amanda:   And maybe it's a puzzle where you don't have the picture at the end.

Marco: Oh, I like that.

Amanda:   Like a secret poozel.

Marco: That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do that for a friend and I'm gonna call it a pool.

Amanda:   No, I think you pitch this and I sell it to and go to Shark Tank. See, this is where it becomes not a pursuit for pursuit's sake, but, uh,

Marco: uh, not an academic.

Amanda:   Yeah, and that's part of my problem. I'm too wired to make things into a business.

Marco: Well, let me see how you feel about our next topic. So I think puzzling or poozling came to us from Emma, and this next one comes from T, who messaged us on our Instagram account. And T wants us to speak about gardening and herb usage. Or herb usage.

Amanda:   Are we done? Was that our big exploration of puzzles? Yeah, that was it.

Marco: Yeah.

Amanda:   I thought we were just getting started.

Marco: You're not a fan of puzzling.

Amanda:   I know, but I want to be. So keep making the case for it.

Marco: Well, we'll come back to it. We're halfway through, so I want to cover.

Amanda:   I would like to change. If there's one thing I could do, it's change gardening to goudening.

Marco: And what would that encompass? Gouding.

Amanda:   It's like a garden, but you plant seeds and you have no idea what you've planted. And then they come up and it's all a reveal.

Marco: I would See, here's the thing. I would love that. Imagine someone gave you a bunch of seeds at the beginning of the season and. And said, plant these and it'll be a surprise.

Amanda:   Perhaps.

Marco: I would love that. You would hate it.

Amanda:   Perhaps it's time to talk about the very, very, very first time I ever met Marco, he sat down at a table full of people I was hired to Do a job. He had been part of that cast for a long time. And he sat down with the same joy in his eyes and was very excited because he had just gotten a bunch of seeds and he had planted them in his mother's backyard. And she, in the spring was going to find all these flowers coming up and not know where they had come from.

Marco: Yeah. She was unaware.

Amanda:   Brown Eyed Susans, I think.

Marco: Brown Eyed Susan.

Amanda:   And so you were very excited. And I was like, who is this man that has such a relationship with his mother? Like, the whole thing was very foreign to me, but it was intriguing. That's the first time I ever met you.

Marco: Listen, if you can plant seeds in your mother's garden without telling her, and all of a sudden a bunch of flowers she doesn't expect come up, I think that's hilarious. Even though I might not be there for the reveal, I think that's a very funny thing.

Amanda:   And what happened? I never heard how that story ended.

Marco: Uh, I think either she pulled them out before they became brownhouse Susans, which is.

Amanda:   That's what my mother would say. I don't know what this is.

Marco: Yank, Yank. Or they came up. She liked them and.

Amanda:   Oh, we'll never know.

Marco: And we'll never know. But getting back to gardening and herbs.

Amanda:   Goodening and herbs.

Marco: Do you say herbs or herbs?

Amanda:   I've never. Herbs with, uh, the pronounced H. Never once. And it falls funny on mine ears. My American ears.

Marco: Fair enough. Well, we do have some herbs growing in our backyard.

Amanda:   We do, Yeah.

Marco: I planted. So I had an issue with basil this year because basil was very expensive for some reason in our gardening store.

Amanda:   A personal theoretical issue with basil.

Marco: That's right. Yeah, that's right. So I was like, I'm not planting basil. I'm not. Sorry. I'm not buying basil.

Amanda:   When most people say I had an issue with basil, it means I tried to plant basil and it didn't come up. Your issue was not that.

Marco: No, my issue was it was expensive. And so I got seeds.

Amanda:   The basil industry was, was, was plotting, uh, against me. It was. And you wanted to take it in your own hands.

Marco: So what I did was I got some seeds.

Amanda:   Basil economy.

Marco: And I planted some basil in pots.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: And they're slowly now they're starting to look like basil. But I should have done that back in April.

Amanda:   We will have our basil in October, friends.

Marco: We will have basil. But it won't be.

Amanda:   And then we'll have a lot of it.

Marco: It won't come at the same time that tomatoes are ripe. When it should. It'll come just after that. But basil's coming. I planted, uh, sage.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: Rosemary, thyme. Mhm. Chives. And they're all doing lovely.

Amanda:   They are. They look beautiful.

Marco: And we've been harvesting, uh, it.

Amanda:   Yeah.

Marco: Having a good time, enjoying it.

Amanda:   We've made pasta with buttered sage.

Marco: And Amanda picked up just yesterday 10 pounds of scapes.

Amanda:   So let's talk about scapes.

Marco: Let's talk about scapes.

Amanda:   It's Scapegate 2023. So somebody, uh, on one of my community groups said, my husband and I run a small farm up north. We have a lot of scapes. So what is escape? It's not something you normally eat. Let's make sure we're all on the same page with what escape is.

Marco: Sure. Escape is a rope, like growth from garlic.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: Before the garlic bulb blooms underground, it produces a stem, if you will, that kind of ropes around kind of like, you know how an onion has the green of the onion, like a green onion. Like a green onion.

Amanda:   Or even called a scallion.

Marco: Or even the onion, like a proper onion, shoots up the green leaves that you pull.

Amanda:   Yeah.

Marco: Those green leaves that come from a, uh, garlic.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: Those leaves do come up, but then escape comes up, which is more like a rope texture.

Amanda:   It's thicker. Yeah. It's a cylinder. Yeah, it's a cylinder that has to.

Marco: I wouldn't say it's a cylinder. Cylindrical.

Amanda:   Okay. Cylindrical. Yeah. And it has usually a little, um,

Marco: like flower on the end of it, that wood flower. And that's where the seeds would be if you let it grow.

Amanda:   Yeah. Which we have tons of those. So if you want garlic seeds.

Marco: We do.

Amanda:   Well, we have the scapes.

Marco: No, but it has to mature.

Amanda:   Oh, it does.

Marco: Those aren't mature. Yeah, you have to let them go for the season. And then that would be seeds.

Amanda:   Oh, I didn't realize that. M. Okay. So in any event, we have the scapes. And it was $10 for a five pound bag. I thought that sounds good. A five pound bag, friends, is a very, very big bag of scapes. So everybody in our lives are getting individual bags filled with scapes.

Marco: Who have you given scapes to so far?

Amanda:   Right now, just Dale tonight. And I have a bag ready to go out to my friend Lois who

Marco: was on the podcast not too long ago.

Amanda:   Yep. She's gonna, uh, it's her daughter's graduation from junior high and so she's going to go ahead. Well, that's not her grad present. Don't worry. But I Have a proper grad present for her daughter.

Marco: But I, uh, think scapes is a great present for everything. You're getting married. Happy marriage. Here's some scapes.

Amanda:   Here's something that's like, uh. Scape is like garlic and an onion. Had a baby.

Marco: That's a rope, baby.

Amanda:   A rope.

Marco: God. And it's delicious. That's what Wonderful.

Amanda:   Delicious and easy to cook.

Marco: How would you cook a scape?

Amanda:   An easiest way is you just saute them, same as you would a green onion or garlic.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda:   But they're heartier. They're thicker and heartier than green onions. Um, but they're green, unlike your normal garlic. If you mince it or chop it, whatever.

Marco: So great with eggs.

Amanda:   Yeah, wonderful with eggs Anywhere you would use green onion or garlic. You could use escape, but. And so much more.

Marco: You can make pesto out escapes, we were told.

Amanda:   Yeah. So we might do that. And I have a feeling we're going to be making pesto in the fall with all this basil that is slowly making its way into the world.

Marco: That is not a problem for me.

Amanda:   We're taking on the basil industry.

Marco: We are taking on the basil industry. Although I have to say, this year the sage has done very well. It's like we can't keep on top of our sage.

Amanda:   For me, we have more knowledge. I wonder.

Marco: Oh, I hope so.

Amanda:   We are wise. And sage, like, the sage has been great. And we had it with pasta, with ravioli. I had made like just big leaves, fried buttered sage with pasta.

Marco: So good.

Amanda:   So good.

Marco: And, uh, so we have a little. What's called a strawberry pot. Even though Amanda doesn't like strawberries.

Amanda:   I don't.

Marco: It's a clay pot that allows you to grow herbs.

Amanda:   And I want to hear from all my people that don't like strawberries, because so far in my entire life, I've only met one.

Marco: Okay, so you stand. You don't stand alone anymore.

Amanda:   It's me and a woman who did my hair for a movie once.

Marco: Okay. So I'm at Costco and I see a bunch of herbs for sale.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: So I text Amanda. I'm like, what herbs should I get? And she's like, think of the Simon and Garfunkel song.

Amanda:   Right. Which is the old English folk song. They didn't write that song.

Marco: Oh, it's an old English folk song.

Amanda:   Oh, you didn't know that?

Marco: No.

Amanda:   Yeah, it's like, um, a madrigal. I think it is a madrigal because it's like, um, in Canada, they always talk about the Friendly Giant in that song. Early one morning Just as the sun was rising.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda:   That I knew that song, but that it was just used as a theme song.

Marco: I thought it was a theme song. This is the first time.

Amanda:   I know. It's a really well known song from the turn of the century.

Marco: Okay.

Amanda:   Uh, I knew. I think it was in Pollyanna, but I, I always knew that song and always sang, um, was actually a good vocal warm up song.

Marco: The copyright ran out on it, so they.

Amanda:   Yeah, so they used it. So same with. But this. I think it's older. Um, Scarborough, uh, Fair. Scarborough, England.

Marco: Right, right, of course.

Amanda:   Yeah. So it's. It's. Yeah, it's not like Scarborough, the Bronx or whatever.

Marco: Sure. Or Scarborough in Toronto.

Amanda:   No, I know, but Simon and Garfunkel, they were from Brooklyn, I think.

Marco: Sure, sure.

Amanda:   Um, yeah, no, that was. That's an old English. I think it might be a madrigal.

Marco: Oh, wow.

Amanda:   Yeah.

Marco: Well, Amanda said, think of that song. That's what you plant in the. In the strawberry pods.

Amanda:   So again, we're just talking about our, uh. I don't need to sing it, right?

Marco: No, but what, what are the. What are the herbs that are in that song?

Amanda:   So sing it with me. Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Go for it.

Marco: Rosemary, thyme, delicious chives. What is it?

Amanda:   It's not how it goes.

Marco: Well, what are the.

>> Speaker A: What is.

Amanda:   I like that person. It's parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. But I really wish they could rewrite it and get cilantro in there because I have wanted some cilantro this summer. And we've been out,

Marco: so we have chives though as well.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: And I bought a head, a vase head. I don't know how you would describe it. So we went to the museum and saw this beautiful art exhibit of Cassatt. Mary Cassatt.

Amanda:   Mary Cassatt, yeah. Just the Art Gallery of Ontario for anyone following along.

Marco: And Helen McNicol.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: Two impressionist painters who never knew each other. One was Canadian, one was American, one moved to France, one moved to England.

Amanda:   Very interesting women, both of them.

Marco: And wonderful artists. Beautiful paintings. So we saw that. And when we went to the little gift shop upon the exit of the exhibit, there was a bust of a woman from the neck up.

Amanda:   Mhm.

Marco: And in her head you could plant a plant.

Amanda:   Yeah. To me it almost looks like. I don't even think it was a woman, but I guess it is. Almost looked Roman to me.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:   Like a Roman. You know, sort of, uh, urn, or whatever. But yeah, you can the plant grows out of the head of the. Of the head.

Marco: So when I showed Amanda, she's like. Amanda was like, that's what it's gonna look like. They had an example of a. Of a flower coming out of fake

Amanda:   flowers coming out of the house.

Marco: And Amanda was. I could tell Amanda was not impressed with it, and I thought it was hilarious.

Amanda:   Things that are Roman or Grecian in people's normal houses, I'm not normally for

Marco: sure that's not your thing.

Amanda:   It's not. But in a garden, it can be nice.

Marco: Sure. In a home, it can be nice. It's just not your aesthetics.

Amanda:   Fair. Very fair.

Marco: So I bought the head of this woman, this bust of a woman.

Amanda:   We should give her a name.

Marco: McNichol.

Amanda:   Perfect.

Marco: Because I like McNichols better than Cassatts.

Amanda:   I know. She won.

Marco: She won for me. It was never a competition. It's just. I gravitated more towards McNichols because I don't want to make two great female impressionist painters a, uh, competition between each other.

Amanda:   And what did I say it was like? It was like when they got J. Lo and Shakira to do the Super Bowl.

Marco: Right.

Amanda:   Both amazing artists in their own right. Both should have been able to just have and own a Super bowl show on their own.

Marco: Right.

Amanda:   But for some reason, they decided to mush them together. That's what I thought it was like.

Marco: Yeah. Amanda was a little bit upset by that, and rightly so.

Amanda:   That's what I thought would be the JLo, just in case you were wondering.

Marco: Okay. So I'm more of a Shakira impressionist person. I bought the head of this, and it has. The head doesn't look like either of the two artists. It's just a random.

Amanda:   I don't know why it was there. I think it was just sort of in the style. Ish. Of a woman. I mean, they were.

Marco: I don't know.

Amanda:   It was there, a loose net of, um, women things.

Marco: So I'm going to plant cilantro in the head of this woman in this McNicol pot that I have.

Amanda:   It's gonna be great.

Marco: And we'll have cilantro. How long does cilantro take to grow?

Amanda:   It's like parsley.

Marco: Okay. So it should grow.

Amanda:   It should go quickly.

>> Speaker A: Yeah.

Amanda:   Uh, do you want me to pick up some time?

Marco: No, I'll do that while you're driving

Amanda:   up to the Graduate. The big graduation.

Marco: The big graduation. So. Yeah. So, um, that's some of our. We kind of didn't talk about our gardening Experiences. But we certainly talked about the herbs that are in our garden.

Amanda:   Well, we can pick up where we left off next time and go right into gardening.

Marco: Sure, sure. But we'll probably have other topics. Uh, we have some listeners that gave us a few topics, so.

Amanda:   I know, and we are getting through them and we love them and, uh, we will get there. Listen, we're on our own time.

Marco: We are grateful for the suggestions.

Amanda:   We need them, which is so awesome.

Marco: Yeah. Is there any herb that you would never need in your garden?

Amanda:   Oh, um, not. Is there one that you have? Because I don't have any off the top of my head. I don't do a lot of coriander seed, I have to be honest. Oh, you know what? Caraway.

Marco: Caraway is not your thing.

Amanda:   It's a seed.

Marco: Right.

Amanda:   So I don't know if it really counts, but I think I have some stomach aversion to caraway seeds. Anytime I have them, which is, you know, pretty rare. Sometimes they're in rye bread. I always have a stomach ache.

Marco: You don't love them.

Amanda:   Yeah.

Marco: Now, it says here to share tips for beginners and highlights of low maintenance plants. I'll say this. Um, just plant them, see what happens. Don't worry too much, Water them, put them in sun. If they grow great, snip them with a pair of shears, put them in your food, have fun.

Amanda:   I mean, we are. We're city people for the most part and have a container garden for the most part. So in the world of container gardening and in the world of herbs or herbs, what would you say is the easiest of all to learn?

Marco: That's a great question. So the thing with. Okay, great. So the thing with basil is it needs sun and it needs water and it doesn't like drafts. If it gets cold, it'll die. So, you know, when we start to get towards fall, you want to really eat up your basil.

Amanda:   It's a true Italian. It doesn't want to get a little wind on its neck.

Marco: No, it doesn't. That basil is a little bit sensitive like that. Now, sage is the kind of thing that's hardy and it likes cold weather. Like, it's not, it's, it's not gonna, it's not gonna wilt on you or dry up on you if it gets

Amanda:   back and it comes back. Yeah. It can be an annual.

Marco: You can plant it in your front garden, too.

Amanda:   A, uh, perennial, rather. Yeah, yeah. Which we did.

Marco: I think we had chives that came up for a couple of years in the front, front of our house.

Amanda:   We had sage, too.

Marco: We had these, like. We just planted some herbs in our front with our roses and our other flowers, and they'd come up and they were kind of hidden, so you couldn't really tell. I've never had success with lavender.

Amanda:   And you try it every year.

Marco: I don't think we have the sun for the lavender. Lavender likes a lot of sun and it likes sand. Yeah.

Amanda:   A sandy, you know, like the south coast of France.

Marco: Yeah. And our front is certainly not the south coast of France.

Amanda:   No.

Marco: It's many things, and that's not what it is.

Amanda:   It's not even the north coast of France. Not even Normandy.

Marco: No. It doesn't resemble France in the least. So that's, um, two herbs. I'm trying to think of the other ones.

Amanda:   I'm going to say this.

Marco: Yes.

Amanda:   If you want to plant one herb, one fun herb, and that's all you have, is mint.

Marco: Mint.

Amanda:   Mint is so hearty, and there's so many different versions of mint, and you don't think you need it much, but you find interesting and creative ways to incorporate it. Like mint, beet and goat cheese salad is delicious.

Marco: Sure.

Amanda:   Or any version of that. Um, obviously, mint in cocktails is a lovely, lovely piece of heaven.

Marco: Hot water. Throw some mint in it.

Amanda:   Yeah. Mint tea, for sure.

Marco: You have a soda, you want to spice up. Throw a little bit of mint in it.

Amanda:   It's just so hearty. Now, the only problem is, uh, I

Marco: was gonna say there's a warning with mint. It's best grown in a container, because mint is like a weed. It will take over, it will come back the next year and it will spread. So you want it contained, because if you just plant it in your garden, it's going to be like the blob. It's just going to take over.

Amanda:   And our mint has just been in a simple container. We didn't put anything over it, I think all winter. And it's coming back.

Marco: I was really surprised it came back, to be honest with you. I didn't think it would.

Amanda:   We're not particularly lovely to our herbs.

Marco: No, we're not. But that's. That's. That's the road you take. Yeah.

Amanda:   You get.

Marco: When you're an herb, that's the road you get. And speaking of roads you get, that's the road you got for today. Today's episode. I hope you enjoyed puzzling poozling and gardening and herbs until next week. We hope you were able to listen and slee.