Seed-swapping with some lovage

I wasn't looking for lovage. It found me—at the hardware store. The drawing of a bloody mary on the seed package was what caught my eye. Before that, I'd only known Lovage as an album by Dan the Automator. Suddenly the world seemed new again as I discovered that lovage could be something even more biodynamic and fragrant, a sweet herb that "Adds warmth to soups, stews, and salads." With the right kind of lovage, I could just kick back and be silly, using its hollow stalk instead of crazy straws in my favorite cocktail.

I spent days dreaming of how I would plant seeds of lovage in my window box and watch them grow. But along came the Pirate Seed Swap at the Bull Moose Hunting Society warehouse on Thursday night, and just like that, I decided to spread the lovage, laying my envelope on a long, thin table along with the offerings of seed enthusiasts, young farmers, and food-minded friends wandering about the room. We ate wild boar that the hunting society had, um, hunted, along with bruschetta and sprinkles of fennel pollen. Severine of The Greenhorns and Gordon of Slow Food Nation gave some nice speeches and thank you's and I met many happy, sunburned people who had traveled here from other states to join in the Slow Food festivities. Saveur magazine wrote up the event on their site.

Now I have an unmarked envelope filled with just a pinch of lovage, but also seeds of shiso, cucumber, lettuce, peas, parsley, beans, and a whole bunch of things whose names I've forgotten. I'm going to plant them in the window box, add water, and hope that a magic salad sprouts up to feed me one day.