Herb Gardening

MANY of the plants we grow such as annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees are herbs in the true sense of the word. With increased interest in recent years in continental or gourmet cooking the word “herb” is nearly always thought of by home gardeners to mean the “culinary” herb.

Herb gardening is going more and more popular each day, and for a good reason. Herbs have practical value, serve an aim, and with herb gardening you may really use your plants. When many people think of herb gardening they automatically think of cooking, but herbs are also produced for their pleasing fragrance and their beauty.

One significant part of herb gardening is drying out the herbs for consumption during the wintertime months, particularly whenever you plan about cooking with them. First the tops of leafy herbs have to be cut, washed, and hung up for the water to vaporise. Then, tie stems together and hang up in a paper bag to dry. After two to three weeks they must be removed; break down the leaves, dry them out in the oven, and store in a glass jar.

One of the most common herbs gown in herb gardening is basil. “Dark Opal” and regular green basil are beautiful additions to any garden and frequently used as decoration. Dark Opal has light pink flowers and dark red leaves. Basil isn’t just used for its looks; it is used for extra flavor in tomato juices and pastes.

Chives are very small looking and resemble a blade of grass. They are much stronger than they appear, however, and will grow well through a drought and a drought. Their toughness and sturdiness makes Chives a perfect plant for herb gardening, particularly whenever the gardener doesn’t wish plants that need a lot of hassle. Chives are good used in salads, egg dishes, and many different sauces.

Mint is likewise very simple to produce and is good to use in mint jelly, mint juleps, lemonade, and any other sort of fruity drink. Mint is as well good in herb gardening for its specific minty smell. Two herbs that seem in almost everyone’s herb garden are thyme and sage. Both of these herb gardening favorites are used for seasoning soups, chicken, turkey, pork, and other sausages. Sage is as well produced occasionally for its beautiful blue spiked flowers.

Lavender is probably the best smelling herb in all of herb gardening and is frequently used in candles, as a aroma scent, and to improve the smell in linen chests. The light purple flowers smell absolutely adorable.

Another forms of herbs often produced in herb gardening include borage (used in salads), chervil (used in egg dishes), sweet marjoram (flavors lamb, fish, salad, and soup), sesame (flavors crackers, cookies, and bread), and dill (flavors meats and used in pickles). Herb gardening provides gardeners to use herbs from their own garden for cooking, looks, and smell. Herb gardening will produce much fresher herbs with more flavor than store-bought herbs, and are a lot cheaper.