Salad Herb Garden: arugula, chervil, chives, dill, dwarf basil, red basil, flat-leaf parsley, mustard, nasturtiums, sorrel, summer savory, and tarragon.

Italian Herb Garden: arugula, basil, bay, dill, fennel, garlic chives, marjoram, flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme.

French Herb Garden: basil, fennel, lavender, marjoram, rosemary, sage, summer savory, and thyme.

Mexican: annatto, bay, chile peppers, cilantro, garlic, Mexican oregano, and thyme.

Thai: basil, cilantro, chile peppers, garlic, lemon grass, ginger, mint, and tamarind.

Moroccan: cardamon, cassia, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, and saffron.

Fish Herb Garden: bay, dill, fennel, lemon basil, lemon grass, lemon thyme, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, and tarragon.

Salt Substitute Herb Garden: basil, bay, dill, lovage, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme, and tarragon.

Dessert Herb Garden: anise, caraway, lemon balm, lemon verbena, nasturtiums, orange and pineapple mint, spearmint, scented geraniums, and violets.

Herb Tea Garden: angelica, bergamot, borage, caraway, chamomile, hyssop, lemon balm, lemon geranium, lemongrass, lemon verbena, lovage, marigold petals, marjoram, mint, pineapple sage, rosemary, sage, thyme, and sweet woodruff

Kate

I am glad that you are making steps to have a better diet. A lot of herbs have healing powers and work miracles in our kitchens. They can make a simple dish taste great!

I do have a lot of herbs that I grow, most of them survived the freeze but the basil. Time to start new ones.

Silvia

Kate, your mint more than likely will come back and I have soem Thai basil that has refused to die. It is spreading all over my garden and yard but smells heavenly when the lawnman mows the lawn. I adore basil and I utilize a numerous variety in my food especially salads. Ted says I should write a cookbook on my salad combinttions that are complete meals. Linda

Asian: Cook with garlic, fresh ginger, lemongrass, and scallions using peanut oil and/or a drop of dark sesame oil. Spice the dish up with cayenne pepper and add additional flavor with Thai fish sauce, soy sauce, rice-wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, and Sambal Oelek. Finish with chopped cilantro or chopped scallions.

French: Cook with garlic, onions, or shallots in olive oil. Add fresh herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or tarragon. Stir in wine, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Finish with fruit-infused wine vinegars and/or Dijon mustard.

Hungarian: Cook with garlic, onion, and/or bell peppers. Season the dish with Hungarian paprika, caraway seeds or dill seeds, and freshly ground pepper. Finish with plain nonfat yogurt and/or a splash of red wine vinegar.

Indian: Cook with garlic, fresh ginger, and onion in olive oil. Season the dish with ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika, or turmeric. Spice it up with cayenne pepper. Stir in tomatoes. Finish with plain nonfat yogurt, lemon juice, chopped mint, and/or chopped cilantro.

Italian: Cook with onion and garlic in olive oil. Use plenty of herbs: basil, marjoram, oregano, and rosemary. Spice it up with cayenne pepper. Stir in tomatoes, wine, and bay leaf. Finish with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and more fresh herbs.
Latin: Cook with garlic, onion, and fresh chiles. Season the dish with Mexican oregano, ground cumin, allspice, cinnamon, and/or chili powder. Stir in fresh lime or lemon juice or white wine vinegar. Finish with chopped scallions and cilantro or a bit of low-fat melting cheese.

Middle Eastern: Cook with garlic, onion. Season the dish with turmeric, ground cinnamon, ground cinnamon, and/or ground cloves. Spice it up with cayenne pepper or ground chiles. Finish with plain nonfat yogurt, lemon juice, fresh mint and/or fresh dill.

Bay leaf - primarily used for flavoring soups, stews, and marinades

Basil -- use in tomato dishes, poultry, eggs, and vegetables

Dill - best with seafood, potatoes, chicken, carrots, tomatoes, eggs, and breads

Oregano - use with lamb; pork; beef; chicken; beans; Italian, Greek, and Mexican dishes, tomatoes

Rosemary - best with lamb, poultry, pork, grilled meats, vegetables and potatoes, marinades, breads

Sage - best with bread stuffings, game, vegetables, pork, veal

Tarragon - use with seafood, poultry, veal, fruit, marinades, vinegars

Thyme - best with chicken, veal, vegetables, marinades, soups, Creole dishes

The basic spices that you most likely have:

Black pepper - grind it fresh over most everything

Cayenne - add with care to anything when you want "a little heat'

Cinnamon - use in breads, desserts, chicken, pasta and rice, cheese and egg dishes

Cumin - Mexican, Tex-Mex, Indian dishes (I also like it inside my turkey and in the stuffing. It is great in butternut squash soup)

Curry powder - Indian and Asian dishes, soups, rice salads, meats, poultry

Nutmeg - use in desserts, stews, soups, poultry, beef, pork, beans, lentils, noodles, rice

Paprika - meats, poultry, vegetables, pasta, grains, dried beans, cheese and egg dishes (smoked paprika is even better and offers another taste element along with hot hungarian paprika - try one of them in mac and cheese)

I do have a nice assortment of basils here, if anybody is nearby the Fort Lauderdale area. Also planning to go to Ricky's Spring Swap-a-Que. Basils are easy to start from cuttings; I'll try and start some if there's any interest. Or maybe a trade, of several young herb plants?

girlsaylor

I want to thank you for your wonderful ist of herbs for different areas and their uses. You have saved me hours of research and refreshed old memories. Just wish your garden was next door to me. Nothing more beautiful to both scent and feel than a bountiful herb garden.

Lost my garden to last years drought, too much rain and then this years freezes as I was busy taking care of family. Now getting ready to rebuild.

My most heartbreaking loss was the starfruit that was just getting big enough to produce. Carol

I would love to take you up on your offer! Thank you so much. The kids are in NE Ohio, and I am in South FL, as you would know, lol. Many herbs can over-Winter up North outdoors. Others, I can start from cuttings here and mail to them. And of course, seeds can be mailed any time.

Their USDA planting zone is 5, if memory serves me. I have one of those little Netbooks, and can't see the zone map very well. They are in the Akron/Canton area, if that helps. I think the last frost date used to be around May 10th. Wonder if a May Day celebration might be in order, lol.

Your chocolate mint sounds yummy! I have the lime, lavender, grapefruit, and banana mints here, but no chocolate mint (wah). Would love to increase the variety. I can start snips of those for the girls. My basils include Holy Basil, Lime basil, Thai Basil, Christmas Basil, Opal Basil, African Blue Basil, Blue Spice Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Green Pepper Basil. I have seeds here for some others, can't recall which ones I have. Can you tell I like basils?!

I'll send you an email, and thanks again!
Randy

French Tarragon rarely sets seed,and much of the seed is sterile. It is generally propagated by stem cuttings, taken in early spring.

You can distinguish French Tarragon (as opposed to Russian Tarragon or Winter Tarragon) in a taste test. When you taste the leaves of French Tarragon, you get an astonishing tongue-numbing effect.

Russian Tarragon is very similar to French Tarragon in appearance, but it has a dubious sort of flavour, and it self-seeds readily, and can become a weed in no time flat. It's also taller than French Tarragon.

Winter Tarragon is Tagetes lucida, also known by many other names including Mexican Marigold Mint, Cloud Plant or Yerba anis. It makes a reasonable flavour substitute for French Tarragon, but the tongue-numbing effect is considerably reduced. The leaves of this plant are greener than the green-grey colour of French Tarragon. And it's easier to grow in warmer climates.