My father was friends with Leah Chase and used to enjoy going to her special Holy Thursday gumbo Z’Herbs lunch. I regret that I never was around to join him for this event. In fact, I’m not sure I have ever even had gumbo Z’Herbs. I had an idea of starting a small Gumbo Z’Herbs garden which the hope everything would (somehow) be ready for Holy Thursday and I could try to cook up a batch of green gumbo.

I found a good pack of seeds on Amazon with 20 different herbs that matched well to Leah Chase’s recipe. The only thing missing was carrots for their greens. I have since learned that there is lots of improvising in these sorts of dishes and the measurements and even the ingredients aren’t necessarily strictly followed.

My original plan, perhaps born out of laziness, was to mix all the seeds together and spread them in my planter. The more I though about it, the planter seemed a bit small for all of this, so I reclaimed a few pieces of the yard that werent in use, including a patch when my large rosemary bush died in the recent freeze. I actually planted the seeds in separate groups. We will see how this all turns out. Will post a picture of the final gumbo if all goes well.