I promised myself to go out each morning and take a walk around the homestead with a basket in hand. No plans, no distractions, just a nature loving girl seeing what there is to collect in the garden, the field, and the wildlands beyond.

Today's stroll into the forest just across the creek from my house yielded a surprising find: algarroba pods, or as it is also known as: mesquite. I also stopped by my herb garden to grab a few things for a recipe I had in mind, and a zinnia flower to beautify the photo. I present you with my basket of the day:

Once, finding algarroba strewn across the ground under the various algarrobo trees who live in the forest was a common sight. Now that we have a horse living and grazing here full time these little pods are hard to come by. Both algarroba and mesquite are very sweet and a sought after treat amongst four legged friends. They are also edible and nutritious for humans. So I collect them every year.

Here in South America this pod is traditionally used in many different foods and medicines. From Algorrobina which I first tried in Peru, to Arrope (syrup), to a dry little cakes called Patay that are common in this area of Argentina. In years past I have made Arrope with the pods and I just may be able to forage enough to give it a go this year too.

Here is the mare in question, Tila. I saw her grazing on the lawn and took the opportunity to go searching the forest where I found this basket full of pods. Searching in hard to reach places - steep edges by the creek, underneath thorny bushes yielded some success.

As most of the pods had been laying on the ground I chose to wash them off and dry them in the sun. I am not totally sure if I have enough to warrant the hours and hours it takes to cook down the syrup. So, I will certainly go searching in another horse-free area and see what I find. If not I may just dry & toast them to make a "Chai Serrana" or "Mountain Chai" tea for winter-y mornings.

Then I went to the garden ...

Making Herbal Pesto ~

As an herbalist I try my best to add medicine to our meals. One really simple way to do so is by making sauces and pastes with herbs. At the moment the days are warm and rains falls often so the basil plants are doing well, but, I like to mix up the classic pesto recipe by adding other herbs.

Assisted by my feline helper I gathered rosemary and oregano from the herb spiral and sage from the entrance to the garden gate. As these herbs are hardy to bird and horse I don't feel a need to fence them off or cover them with nets like the micro-greens and the more delicate herb garden. In fact, Tila does a great job of keeping the grass low in this area and I no longer need to weed - I may even reward her hard work with an algarroba pod later :)

All three of these plants - rosemary, oregano, and sage have many, many medicinal properties and are my go to herbal remedies for common ailments. All three are very easy to grow and don't need irrigation, at least where I live. Both the Rosemary and Sage came from cuttings from a friend and the oregano was a single plant, four years ago, and has now covered part of the herb spiral and a garden bed. They are prolific and so I add them to lots of dishes from meat to veggies to pesto!

The day before I had soaked half a cup of sesame seeds for this very purpose and toasted them on a cast iron pan. The rest of the herbs totaled about 2 cups of fresh leaves between basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, and a couple of yarrow leaves too. I actually wrote a more indepth post yesterday with the entire process and pesto recipe if you are interested in trying it out yourself.

Last night as well as today for breakfast we snacked on herbal pesto atop some little cassava flour rolls that I often make. This would go great with cheese as well. What I really enjoy about herbal pesto is that it contains so much flavor that I often include this in charcuterie boards as a cheese alternative for vegan or lactose-intolerant friends. I am neither but I think it is a nice gesture to include other people's diets whenever possible.

Well, I must be going. The pump for the well is broken and the garden & horse are asking to be watered and there is a pile of dishes in the sink that await me. Lots of bucket carrying in my day ahead. Thank you for reading and happy homesteading everyone!