Basic Herbs

Practically everyone who grows herbs has her own basic list, and you will not be long in finding yours. However, to start with, try these:

Sow seeds of: Sweet basil, Parsley, Dill, Sweet marjoram, Chervil.

Get roots of: Spearmint, Lemon balm, Peppermint, Chives (bulblets)

Get plants of: Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender

The Culinary Seeds
Although when we speak of using herbs, we generally refer to the leaves, there are some which are better known for their seeds. Of these the most popular are: Anise, Coriander, Mustard, Caraway, Cumin, Poppy, Cardamon, Dill, Sesame, Celery, Fennel.

Since the leaves as well as the seeds of fennel, mustard, dill, anise and caraway are used in cooking you may want to include one or all of them in your herb garden. However, herbs grown for their seed alone are scarcely worth the space and bother. The crop is too small to be of value, and you can buy fresh seed inexpensively packaged at any grocery store.

Ten Perennials to Buy
To start with, you will have to buy some plants. After they are well established, you can propagate your own. Some will spread by themselves.

Chives are a "must" by the kitchen door. Your clump of chives will send up green spikes even before the snow is gone. The purple heads of their flowers are pretty among the long green leaves. Chop the leaves into anything which will take an onion taste.

Hyssop makes a good small hedge. It may be used sparingly in stews.

Lemon Balm spreads so rapidly and grows so fast that you will find it escaping to far parts of the garden. Its strong lemon flavor is good in iced drinks and hot tea, and it is a fragrant addition to sachets and potpourris.

Lovage grows to more than 6 feet tall. It is especially good in soups and makes a nice background plant.

Mint, whether it be spearmint, peppermint or applemint (sometimes called wooly mint), is easy to start from a root or cutting, but it must be confined, or it will pop up in every corner of the garden.

Rosemary is an evergreen. Plants are difficult to obtain, but if you can buy one about a foot high it will grow to 4 feet. You must take it indoors for the winter.

Sage, that well-known seasoning of poultry dressings, makes a pretty grey-green plant in a corner of the garden. I can never resist hanging a few sprays in the kitchen. It is nice both to smell and to look at.

Summer Savory is better than Winter Savory as a culinary herb. Since it is delicate, it may be safest to pot a plant or two for the indoor garden, unless you live in a part of the country where the winters are mild. The savories are especially good with fish and green beans.

Sweet Cicely is a giant chervil. This decorative plant has graceful, fernlike leaves and white flowers. The whole plant-leaves, roots and seeds-is anise-flavored.

Tarragon is best known for its use in vinegar and also gives a flavorsome accent to chicken and fish. Tarragon is a good herb to know about, but don't bother too much about having it in your garden. You can buy a bottle of tarragon vinegar much more easily than you can locate a plant.

Thyme is hardy, but it will do no harm to give it a thin covering of leaves for the winter. Thyme vulgaris is the one which you will want for cooking.

Ground Covers
There are several herbs which make good ground covers. Thyme serphyllum is one. Other old-fashioned herbs, well known to gardeners of Colonial days, are camomile (English), sweet woodruff and germander. Sweet woodruff will grow in the shade, but the others, including thyme, prefer sun.

Although the dried herbs which you can buy are good} their flavor cannot compete with your fresh-from-the-garden seasonings. Once you have plucked a fresh leaf of basil and dropped it in the stewed tomatoes, or smelled the tang of thyme as your foot brushes it on the garden path, you will never again be without your own garden of herbs.

My Links : Grape Nutrition Flowering Tea