Growing Your Own Herbs
Growing your own herbs can be easy and add great flavor to foods. There is a special satisfaction when you go outside and select fresh herbs to add to your cooking. It simply isn't the same to purchase herbs. Fresh herbs have more flavor than dried seasonings and you can create an herb garden in a small space that will provide you all the variety of flavors you need for creative cooking. You'll also love sharing your freshly cut sprigs with friends and neighbors.
An herb garden doesn't have to take up a lot of space. A plot that is only four by six feet will grow all the plants you need. If space is at a premium, even a smaller plot can grow enough of your favorite herbs to meet your needs. Many city dwellers even grow a small garden of herbs in window boxes, flats or in a collection of pots.
Your herb garden can provide dried seasonings for use during the winter. Just hang the sprigs of cut plants upside down in a paper bad until dried. Then seal in a plastic bag or glass jar, airtight, which you've labeled with the name of the contents after completely dried. Place your dried seasonings in a cool, dry place and open as needed for use. They will keep all winter.
Sweet basil, either green or red, is a beautiful herb for your garden that can be grown from seeds. These plants look pretty as borders along walkways or in a solid planting. Season tomato dishes and juice as well as meat with this tasty herb.
Borage, used for seasoning salads and other foods, has pink blooms that turn blue and is an annual. Plant the seeds in late April or early May, spacing the plants about ten inches apart. This is an annual plant and has a unique flavor many people simply love.
Add chives to your herb garden by planting the seeds in early spring. These spear-like plants look similar to grass and grow to about one foot in height. This is a hardy herb that does will in almost every location. Add to potato dishes, salads and egg dishes. Sprinkle some on vegetables and in sauces. Chives also do well in pots on sunny windowsills so that during winter you can continue to have fresh, tasty additions to your foods.
Dill is a feathery foliage herb that grows as tall as two and one-half feet in height. Grown from seeds, these plants should be placed about four inches apart. The mature herb will have tiny blooms of pale yellow. Use dill from your herb garden to add to meat and vegetables and use it in pickling. Dill will reseed itself and reappear each year in most areas.
Sweet marjoram has a delicate flavor and is wonderful when used to season lamb, fish and other foods. Plant the seeds in your herb garden and thin to about six inches apart then watch the plants grow to about one foot in height. These plants grow well in pots during the winter. In the south they are perennial but in the north they are annuals.
Mint, quite literally, grows like a weed. It does will almost anywhere and spreads by root stolons. It can grow to two feet tall and sprawl if not controlled. Pick fresh mint from your herb garden for making jelly, add to lamb dishes, various types of drinks and teas. You'll be able to give starts of this herb to friends because it spreads so quickly.
Plant some sage in your herb garden for flavoring meat dishes. Space the plants about one foot apart. The pretty foliage and bluish flower spikes are attractive and herb is quite hardy.
Thyme is another hardy addition to your herb garden that can be used for flavoring poultry dishes, sauces, and various other foods. Grown from seeds, these hardy perennial plants can become almost shrub-like if you let them grow to this thickness and height. Thyme prefers rich soil.
An herb garden is simple to create and care for and lots of fun. You'll enjoy the spectrum of flavors available. There are many other types of herbs you can plant in your garden and many of the plants can be purchased in pots and transplanted if you do not wish to grow them from seeds. Enjoy planting and harvesting fresh herbs from your very own herb garden.
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