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ninjabut

Culinary Herb Choices?

ninjabut
15 years ago

I'm posting this here instead of the "herb" section because there are a few herb "snobs" (whoo boy, am I going to get slammed!) who aren't very helpful to newbies in the herbal dept.

I have, planted here and there:

Rosemary (a shrub in this area)

chives, parsley, basil in the tomato garden, thyme.

I have a fairly new potager type garden, raised beds, and have dedicated 2 3x3' for cutting herbs.

Can anyone help me expand my culinary herb garden and use of herbs?

I LOVE the KABOOM that fresh herbs give to cooking.

TIA Nancy

Comments (16)

  • diana63
    15 years ago

    I love sage, and there are a few to try for different looks and flavors- purple sage is stunning and delicious, regular sage is beautiful and a staple for me, and pineapple sage is very sweet flavored- it could be grown for its stunning flowers alone if it didn't taste so good also! The hummingbirds and beneficial insects love sage flowers. I've always kept these in pots, so they might get a little bigger in your plot than they do for me- in pots they take up about a square foot, but get much taller- 3 feet give or take... Easily cut back to the size you prefer. Great for stuffing, mixed with grains, pineapple sage tastes great fresh with tomatoes and parmesan cheese and other places that you'd use basil.

    Take great caution with lemon balm because it spreads and reseeds vigorously (seriously) but I love its flavor and versatile uses- cooking fish, chicken, making tea, potpourri and so much more. The bees love it! Even if kept in a pot it can easily reseed all over the place. That said, I couldn't do without it. I have heard that lemon verbena is a better choice for this flavor, but haven't tried it yet.

    Oregano is lovely and tame and is available in different varieties that are all fun to try. It preserves easily and smells so good just sitting there. Cooking with it is a delight. Marjoram, a relative is also extremely useful.

    French tarragon offers that unusual but subtle hint of incomparable fragrance and flavor to your sauces and vegies. My poor tarragon hasn't had a chance to grow bigger than about 4 inches tall in all the years I've had it because I use it so much. It is perennial and a very pretty plant. I love it in chicken kiev with a little parsley and chive.

    Cilantro is so useful, just get some seeds rather than starts and plant about twenty seeds every few weeks to keep it going because it is short lived, but fast growing, pretty and easy. You could keep lots of cilantro going in a 1 square foot area or less. It can be grown pretty close together and replanted in the same spot, just clip the tallest ones as the younger seeds are coming up.

    Then there are the lovely lavendars and catmints... edge everything with lavendar and catmint- mix them in your rose garden...oh no! It's too easy to get carried away, I'm obviously obsessed :)

    Hope these few of my favorites are helpful to you.
    Diana

  • jodifromoregon
    15 years ago

    Thanks to you both... I've learned and been inspired by your posts! :-) This is my first year with edibles, and I only planted rosemary and basil so far (although I tried to seed some cilantro indoors in early spring but it never did sprout). Next year, I'll definitely be adding a few more yummy herbs (including trying cilantro again)!

    Happy gardening,
    Jodi

    Here is a link that might be useful: Simplifying in Suburbia (My Blog)

  • jodifromoregon
    15 years ago

    Forgot to mention; would LOVE to see photos of your gardens! :-)

    Jodi

  • diana63
    15 years ago

    LOVE your blog Jodi!
    Beautiful photos! Your strawberry is so luscious and you have every reason to gloat! I'll bet it tasted better than anything ever! Your raised beds are beautiful and it looks like you've applied loads of knowledge, red tomato mulch things, etc.... Congratulations on a beautiful work of art.
    I grew up with woods in SW Portland also, coincidentally:)
    I'll post photos as soon as I get a functional camera :-0

    Can't wait to hear others' ideas for great herbs.

    Diana

  • ninjabut
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I do have oregano and common sage. I think I'll try some different types , some marjorum, tarragon and give cilantro another shot (it always seems to bolt before I get to use it!)
    I would post pics if I knew how. We've expanded this year a lot! Nancy

  • granite
    15 years ago

    The herbs I use the most in cooking: English thyme, garlic chives, garlic, "hot and spicy" oregano, chives, winter savory, parsley, rosemary, and french tarragon.

    I also grow herbs for flower bouquets, potpourri, and sachets: lavender, bee balm, coronation gold yarrow, pearl yarrow, pineapple sage, lamb's ears, lemon balm, and silver king artemesia.

    Of course, I'm way overboard and I'm growing 5 kinds of oregano, at LEAST 20 kinds of thyme, 8 kinds of lavender, 4 kinds of bee balm..... I have my herbs in a formal "quilt" at the entrance to my veggie garden, but they are also sprinkled in every flower bed all around the yard.
    {{gwi:675789}}

  • jodifromoregon
    15 years ago

    granite, GORGEOUS garden!

    And Diana, thank you so much, Hon! Hey, small world! We were on S.W. Coronado off of S.W. 16th St., 1961 until 1970. We had an acre at the time, although I understand there is now another house where our barn used to be. I went to Stephenson Elementary from kindergarten through most of 5th grade. Were you near that neck of the woods?

    Hugs and Happy Gardening,
    Jodi

  • Frankie_in_zone_7
    15 years ago

    I tend to focus on the ones I use most in cooking, which includes the ones best super fresh, and also easiest to add and that I enjoy cutting--so, basil, enough plants that I can use a cupful at a time in large salads, or make pesto; rosemary, easy to add to stuff and only takes a little; cilantro, just super, even a bit added to picante sauce, or on top of beans, changes the whole dish--cilantro and parsley both survive light freezes here and so can use during the winter; mint, because I make mint iced tea and also use for tabouleh. There are lots of others, but being sure I have these few are what adds to my "quality of life" in the kitchen and is fun to go harvest. I don't try to dry my own herbs now, but focus on fresh use.

  • diggity_ma
    15 years ago

    And don't forget mint! It can be invasive, so you really have to stay on top of it, but it's a wonderful herb. We cut it and hang it upside down for a few weeks to dry out, then use it during the winter months for tea.

    -Diggity

  • lyonsy
    15 years ago

    All of the above....

    and one oft overlooked and a lovely sweet herb abd great addition to roasted roots veg..Marjoram

    Its also an attractive shrubby plant

    J

  • kayhh
    15 years ago

    Horseradish is a favorite of mine. It also can be very invasive and I have found that the best place to plant it is in the middle of the lawn where you can mow all around it to control it. No need to "prepare" a place for it if you do this. Horseradish grows like a large, lush tropical looking plant that shades out the grass around it.

    Dig it up in the fall for harvest and replant a couple of tops for next years' growth.

    Others I can't do without are parsley - a hardy, reseeding biennial) thyme, sage, rosemary, basil and chives. And of course a variety of peppers for drying!
    Kay.

  • ninjabut
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    How would horseradish do in a pot?
    Do any of these besides basil have trouble with frost?
    I have a greenhouse, but due to many wind "tweaks" it doesn't have a door that works anymore. It will keep the frost off, but not the cold.

  • amy_d-r
    15 years ago

    Last summer I tried chervil and really liked it--it's delicate and fresh (faintly anise-y) flavor is a nice alternative to parsley for chopping up and garnishing lighter dishes. The whole leaves are also nice in salad.

    It will bolt quickly in the heat like cilantro unless it gets some shade, though. I had it growing on the northern edge of my raised herb bed so the sun was always filtered sun through the taller perennial herbs in front of it. It grows fast, and helped fill that void in the spring when it wasn't hot enough for the basil, rosemary, etc. to really get going.

  • karen_pgh
    15 years ago

    Lemon thyme is really pretty, the leaves are tipped in yellow. It really is lemony and I use it way more than I thought I would. Great for any recipe that calls for lemon and thyme. Marinated,grilled chicken and roasted veggies are my favorite uses.

    If you decide to grow mint, I recommend a pot. It really can take over.

  • info_kawi_com
    14 years ago

    Yes, I agree that lemon thyme is very pretty. Also, I absolutely love chocolate mint. I have a couple of really big bushes of it and when the wind blows, it's just heavenly!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Culinary Herbs

  • eibren
    14 years ago

    Lovage is good; it is a celery (for flavoring only) substitute, and is handy to have for stews, etc. It can get quite tall in fertile soil.

    Don't forget the little Bay tree; the leaves are also great to have on hand to flavor stews. In my zone it has to be grown in a pot and brought in for the winter.

    I want to second the oregano suggestion--it is usually fairly well-growing and persistent.

    The trick with thyme is to have it in a raised bed so it has good drainage in the winter, and is not overshadowed by larger plants. It does best as an edging. Even though it is one of the smallest herbs, I have found that I tend to use it the most, as I love spaghetti with thyme and oregano.

    In your zone, Pineapple Sage will probably get extremely large and crowd out everything else in its plot. It can take over a lot of space, and the roots will pack a 3 ft by 3 ft container solid in one summer in good growing conditions. Pineapple mint pairs well with it to make teas (one has more flavor, the other more fragrance)--it is the one with white spots on the leaves.

    I know you didn't ask about medicinal herbs, but there is one well-behaved one, horehound, which can be grown quite near to thyme without shading it out. It is a reliable aid in bronchial conditions and is handy to have around. It also tends to winter over, and some even reseeded into the ground from some I had in a pot one year (but then died out as it was overshaded by other things). White horehound is the one you want, with white fuzzy leaves. Black horehound, with plain green leaves, is poisonous, but sometimes sold in herb departments.

    Another thing that can be done is to throw all your citrus seeds into a decorative pot and let them sprout. Citrus leaves are used as flavoring in some recipes.

    Sweet Cicily has a delightful fragrance if you ever spot it anywhere.

    If you like dill or fennel, which have a similar growth habit, they will grow easily from seed. They have a tall, thin growth habit.

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