by Jeena Tau

Created on: November 28, 2009

I've always loved the smell and taste of rosemary. The deliciously pungent aroma just brightens up my day, whether I'm using it in food, or just brushing past it in a garden.

I'd always associated rosemary with cooler, temperate countries, certainly not one as hot and humid as Singapore. So when I moved here several years ago and spotted some in my local air-conditioned supermarket, I was very skeptical. I didn't want to have the air conditioner running full blast in my home just to keep a rosemary plant happy.

A few weeks later, I saw a few very healthy rosemary plants in the outdoor market under the blazing hot sun. The stall owner wasn't worried about he plant at all, and even told me that the plant likes full sun and should only be watered twice a week. Too much coddling is bad for rosemary.

The rosemary was cheap - only 10 Singaporean dollars or 7 USD for a foot-high plant, compared to 8 dollars for a much smaller one in the air conditioned supermarket - you have to love these outdoor "wet markets" and their amazing deals and ultra fresh food. Anyway, I got a plant, repotted it in some fertile black soil, gave it a good watering down, and left it alone like the lady at the market had told me to.

Over the next few weeks, I forgot about the plant, as I was incredibly busy with work and other concerns. I'd left it outside in my garden, and in Singapore, that means rain at least every other day or so, so I didn't even have to worry about watering it.

The next time I looked at the plant, I got a shock. It had sprouted several new leaves and was probably at least 6 inches taller and quite a bit fatter than when I'd originally bought it. It even had a few flower buds on it, which eventually opened into light blue flowers.

I snipped a few leaves and used it to flavor my roast potatoes and a nice leg of lamb. The feeling of harvesting something I'd grown, albeit with little effort, and the knowledge that the rosemary would be around for yet more harvests to come, made my frugal soul extremely happy.

Growing rosemary is extremely easy to do. Even someone like me, with black thumbs that can't be trusted to grow anything besides the hardy cactus, can make it grow. And in the tropics too! Don't water the rosemary too frequently, and even let it dry out a little in between waterings, and you'll have one happy plant that you'll be able to take snippets from for many years to come.

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