{"id":4033,"date":"2017-05-23T18:33:16","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T18:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/?p=4033"},"modified":"2020-05-30T16:59:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T16:59:23","slug":"herb-gardening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/herb-gardening\/","title":{"rendered":"Herb Gardening"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"827219ce0a87fa193c09e84c4c9a0f12\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:20px 0 20px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- MOINSBD Link Top -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4387862990858706\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"6762903103\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"link\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4034 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/herb-planterWM1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/herb-planterWM1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/herb-planterWM1-300x213.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Herb gardening has become a very popular past time with youtube videos available to newbies and a host of websites educating visitors on their history and importance, to offering advice on how to grow, how to care for, how to use for culinary, spiritual and medicinal applications.<\/p>\n<p>For our purposes, we&#8217;re going to focus on their ornamental and culinary value.\u00a0 Culinary Herbs can be perennial, for example Thyme and Lavender, while others are biennial, e.g., Parsley, annuals e.g., Basil, shrubs e.g., Rosemary and even trees, like Bay Laurel.<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s herb garden definitely need not be relegated to a small windowsill.\u00a0 Herbs are excellent additions to containers, borders and vegetable patches.\u00a0 In fact, especially when space is a factor, feel free to grow perennials, annuals, herbs and veggies all together.\u00a0 There&#8217;s no need to mull over garden design plans for months, unless you want to and it gives you pleasure, since there&#8217;s no <em>wrong<\/em> way to garden.\u00a0 It&#8217;s very personal!<\/p>\n<p>You don&#8217;t require much space to grow herbs and you can enjoy doing so indoors or out.\u00a0 Growing indoors may be easier (no weeding) but outdoor grown herbs will be healthier and tastier.\u00a0 In most cases, fresh herbs or more flavourful than dried ones and they add colour and fragrance to your garden.\u00a0 If you&#8217;re restricted to a small plot or balcony &#8211; not a problem.\u00a0 A strawberry jar-type container, window box, small individual clay pots or a simple wooden crate lined in ground cloth will suffice.<\/p>\n<p>Herb gardening is easy and rewarding &#8211; all they&#8217;ll ask for is sunshine and well-drained soil.\u00a0 To get you started, let&#8217;s discuss the Top 10 easiest to grow Herbs for ornamental value and for use in the kitchen (in alphabetical order):<\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0 Basil &#8211; the ultimate compliment to tomatoes (see Mighty &#8216;Mato Tomatoes under Gardeners Resources), onions, olives and garlic.\u00a0 There are dozens of types available to suit any palate but the dark-leafed ones are especially ornamental. The leaves are the best part of the plant for cooking; thick stems are bitter.\u00a0 The flowers should be pinched to allow more leaf growth but they are also edible.\u00a0 Basil has a lighter flavour so use with Oregano, Rosemary and Sage so you don&#8217;t overpower it.\u00a0 Use at the end of the cooking process or use fresh, uncooked on <a title=\"Bruschetta Recipe with Basil\" href=\"http:\/\/simplyrecipes.com\/recipes\/bruschetta_with_tomato_and_basil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bruschetta<\/a> or home-made pizza.\u00a0 Grow in full sun.<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0 Chives &#8211; a subtle onion flavour best known for their tubular stems topping off a baked potato with sour cream but can be used in so many other ways in the kitchen.\u00a0 A replacement whenever onions are called for and a flavourful and attractive topping to corn on the cob, garlic bread and pasta dishes.\u00a0 The flowers are also edible.\u00a0 Pretty enough to be grown anywhere in the garden and beautiful in containers.\u00a0 Grow in full sun and dead head spent flowers to prevent self-seeding.<\/p>\n<p>3.\u00a0 Dill &#8211; the smell of dill conjures up images of pickles, where the seeds are used.\u00a0 The plant produces two herbs, dill seed and dill weed.\u00a0 Use the seeds (just as they ripen), flowers (just as they open) and leaves (as needed) to season food.\u00a0 Excellent sprinkled on barbecued fish and as an addition to dips.\u00a0 Grow in full sun.\u00a0 If the seeds are allowed to ripen on the plant, they will self-seed.<\/p>\n<p>4.\u00a0 Garlic &#8211; try growing it near roses where it reportedly repels aphids.\u00a0 Cooking with Garlic:\u00a0 the finer the chop, the stronger the taste, cooked garlic is sweeter and less strong tasting, and it mellows the longer it is cooked.\u00a0 After a gastric feast that includes lots of garlic, see Parsley below.\u00a0 Plant cloves in late summer, mulch and harvest the next year.\u00a0 Grow in part shade or full sun.<\/p>\n<p>5.\u00a0 Lavender &#8211; the flowers provide nectar to bees which results in high quality honey.\u00a0 Used in aromatherapy, to add fragrance to perfume, soaps and cosmetics as well as medicinal purposes.\u00a0 For culinary use it provides a sweet, floral flavour with a lemon\/citrusy taste.\u00a0 Excellent addition to sorbet and can be used as a substitute for Rosemary in many culinary delights.\u00a0 Caution:\u00a0 a little goes a long way.\u00a0 Adds a wonderful fragrance to your herbal or flower gardens and is lovely dried.\u00a0 Full sun and well-drained soil is a must.<\/p>\n<p>6.\u00a0 Mint &#8211; Chocolate, Orange, Apple, Pineapple, Spearmint, Peppermint and the list goes on.\u00a0 Spearmint isn&#8217;t quite as strong so is the most widely used in cooking:\u00a0 added to sauces, marinades, dressings and as a garnish.\u00a0 Wonderful as a ground cover but keep it contained or it will take over its less vigorous neighbours.\u00a0 Excellent in containers.\u00a0 Prefers partial shade but will tolerate full sun in cooler regions.<\/p>\n<p>7.\u00a0 Parsley &#8211; highly nutritious and excellent when used as a garnish or as a breath freshener, after you&#8217;ve consumed too much garlic.\u00a0 There&#8217;s curly and flat forms &#8211; the flat (Italian) is more flavourful and is used more often in cooking because it can retain its essence through the cooking process and the curly having a milder flavour is used in salads, soups and as a garnish.\u00a0 Grow in full sun to partial shade.<\/p>\n<p>8.\u00a0 Rosemary &#8211; you can choose upright or trailing forms that require hot, dry sunny locations to thrive.\u00a0 The trailing form is especially nice in containers.\u00a0 Most often considered when cooking lamb but also excellent in a marinate for chicken and pork.\u00a0 Like Lavender, Rosemary has a strong flavour, so a little goes a long way.\u00a0 Use in sprigs for roasting or barbecuing or sprinkle the flowers over ice cream.<\/p>\n<p>9.\u00a0 Thyme &#8211; always a favourite in the garden and in the kitchen.\u00a0 It forms an excellent ground cover, is used extensively between paving stones and provides colour to the summer garden.\u00a0 One of the most versatile herbs in the kitchen, it is a staple in Middle Eastern cooking emitting a woodsy, warm flavour to dishes.\u00a0 Most often used in soups and stews, it is a welcome addition to grilled and roasted vegetables and meats.\u00a0 Best when grown in full sun.<\/p>\n<p>10.\u00a0 Oregano &#8211; native to the Mediterranean Region, this herb is widely used in tomato-based sauces, meats and salads but is best known as the spice of choice for pizza and spaghetti sauce.\u00a0 There are several varieties available and they vary in flavour with Greek being the most intense.\u00a0 You&#8217;ll find\u00a0 up to eight species of culinary Oregano available and many more attractive and useful varieties for the garden.\u00a0 To use fresh, select stems before flowers open and refrigerate for up to a week.\u00a0 Easy to dry or can be frozen.\u00a0 Grow in full sun.<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy!<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; 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For our purposes, we&#8217;re going to focus on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardeners-resources","category-herb-gardening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4033"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11262,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4033\/revisions\/11262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.perennials.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}