Week 14

Plant and use fresh herbs in your cooking. 

 

 

Everyone can do this no matter where you live! I have fresh herbs in pots and in my garden and in my flower beds around the house. If you do not have a yard, or you do not maintain your yard organically, grow your herbs in a pot on a patio or in a very sunny window.

 

 

In this pot on my porch, I planted rosemary and thyme in November so that I could easily harvest some when it was cold out this past winter.  I recently added some peppermint and chives.  The rosemary is still quite small because it gets a regular trimming since I use it so frequently!

 

In north Texas, many herbs will grow year round, and they require very little attention.  Most herbs like minimal water and not very rich soil, so one typically kills herb plants with too much care, rather than not enough.

 

The herbs which I recommend everyone has on hand are rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley and basil.  Rosemary, oregano and thyme are perennial; parsley is biennial; and basil is an annual but basil will come back yearly from seed in this area if allowed to flower and drop seeds in the fall.  Cilantro (known as coriander in England) is another great annual that is an early spring herb in north Texas.  I bought one small plant several years ago and allowed it to bolt and flower and then go to seed.  I scattered the seeds about in the garden.  Each year since I have had wonderful surprises in my garden with volunteers emerging.  These cilantro plants this year have come up at the edge of a compost bin (I keep my compost bins in my garden).

 

 

It is very expensive to buy fresh cut herbs for cooking at the grocery store, so buy a plant for about the same cost and plant it in a pot, and you will be saving a lot of money.  You can start trimming off little bits immediately for use.  If you plant your herbs outside, once they get larger, you can take larger cuttings and place these in a vase with water in your kitchen.  Most herbs will stay fresh and usable for at least a week.  In fact, basil will start to root.

 

Start with an herb that you know you like and will use.  For the baked chicken you need rosemary.  For the healing chicken soup you need basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme.  I love to use herbs in my landscape; most are beautiful plants.

 

Growing herbs in your garden is also a great organic pest control because their strong aroma helps confuse and deter pests.  I always have many herbs and a few flowers intermixed in my garden.  Even in my small yard that I had before moving to the country, where I did not have a large garden as I do here, I had numerous herbs.  At one point, I had forty different herbs growing including a bay leaf tree!

 

 

My lavender plant  has survived many years, is beautiful in bloom, and I love harvesting it.  This photo shows lavender, germander (not used in food), and thyme all in bloom last June.  We enjoyed lavender ice cream while visiting a lavender farm on Whidbey Island in Washington, but I have not tried it in food yet.  Lavender is great to use in sachets in clothing drawers and it lasts all year in dried flower arrangements.  Here is one I have enjoyed at my kitchen window since last June!

 

You can purchased fresh herb plants from most nurseries and at some grocery stores.  The basic herbs are available at Whole Foods and Sprouts (just outside the front door) and their prices are reasonable and their plants are typically very nice.

 

A few tips to get you started.  Basil is killed at 40 °F, so it is a little too soon to plant it outside.  Peppermint has runners, is aggressive and will take over, so I only plant it in pots.  Lavender likes a very, very dry, sunny spot.  Cilantro is an early spring herb and does not make it through our hot summer - it will start to bolt in May.

 

I hope you enjoy this challenge and get your hands a bit dirty doing it.  Not only will you benefit from using the herbs in your food but did you know that studies have been done that show there are actually health benefits from working in healthy soil (soil that has not been contaminated with herbicides and pesticides).  Some of the benefits from contact with good bacterium found in the soil include: improved cognitive functioning, boost to the immune system fighting cancer and digestive disorders, help against depression by producing serotonin and reduction of anxiety.  WOW - no wonder I feel so relaxed after pulling weeds by hand or planting seeds in my garden. I love being outside working in my garden!

"The people of Israel called the bread manna.  It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey."  Exodus 16:31