Every last bit of the garden
- Karen Arellano
- Jul 21
- 2 min read
One of the things we love most about growing our own herbs is seeing just how much they can give us.
When we're out in the garden picking herbs for No88, we come back with beautiful handfuls of leaves, but also plenty of stalks and stems that still have so much flavour left in them. Rather than seeing them as leftovers, we see them as another ingredient waiting to be used.
Making green oil has become one of those little jobs we love in the kitchen.
We gather all those herb stalks and trimmings, blend them with oil and then strain them slowly. It's such a simple process, but the result is always amazing—a vibrant green oil that's packed with the fresh flavours and aromas of the garden.
We use it in so many dishes at No88. A wee drizzle over freshly landed Shetland seafood, a finishing touch to vegetables, a splash into our sauces. It's one of those background ingredients that ties everything back to the garden.
For us, this is about much more than reducing waste. Every herb has been planted, looked after and harvested by hand, so using every part of it just feels like the right thing to do. It's a small way of respecting the ingredients and the work that goes into growing them.
The video we've shared is a little peek behind the scenes at one of those everyday kitchen jobs that guests don't often get to see. There's nothing complicated about it, but it's a lovely reminder that some of the best flavours come from making the most of what you've already got.
We hope it inspires you to do the same at home. Next time you're left with a bunch of herb stalks after cooking, don't throw them away. Blend them with a good oil, strain them, and you've got something that brings a little taste of the garden to almost any dish.
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