Garden Herbs Review

There is a great selection of Herbs to chose from for cooking, baking, teas, and pet needs. I would like to share with you a few of my favorite herbs I grow and why I grow them and perhaps it will help you to choose the right herb for your garden. These grow well in containers and herb gardens in full and partial sun. To dry, just clip the plants at the bottom of their stems, bundle together, rubber band them and hang upside down, or use a hydrater. Another way to dry out your herbs and still have them close buy is to use them in a herb wreath.  These make super gifts and very handing in the kitchen.

Basil: I am a Basil lover in so many ways.  I pretty much cook with basil in a lot of my dishes and if you like Pesto this is the main ingredient along with garlic, olive oil and pine nuts. I also will put this in with my tomato, red onion,  and mozzarella salad with the whole basil leaves just rough cut. It grows well in full sun. Nice and bushy. Pinch off the flowers before they bloom so the plant keeps getting bushy and the roots will feed just the plant.  

Rosemary: Another must in my garden. This herb has a woody base and you only want to use the leaves in cooking.  I will make a cut when I need some in my cooking, hold the stem upside down and just run my fingers down the stem to get the leaves off.  Rosemary has such a fantastic scent to it and is great to use for chicken.  I also use it in my garlic/ rosemary potatoes and roast in the oven (this stuff should come in an air freshener, it smells so good).

Oregano: This is always a must in my Italian cooking and oodles will go on my pizza even if it might be a frozen pizza. We will mix this in our meatballs too.  Oregano, I have learned is also called marjoram (so if you can't find oregano go for the marjoram). The flowers are pretty, but if you want a strong plant, pinch off the leaves. This also can grow nice and bushy.  If you forget which plant is which, just pinch a leave and suck in that great smell.

Mints: Need a lot of room.  I tried growing Peppermint, Spearmint and chocolate mint in one container...give them their own container or area in your garden because they do kinda grow like an Ivy. I grew them because I wanted to make my own tea.  A friend of the family said to beware because to much could get you sick, so I chickened out and would just pinch and take in the great scents.  I would also dried the leaves and in the winter, I would put them in a pot and boil them.  Oh the hole place smelled good. If you want to hang and dry these it's a snap, but I would hang mint plants in the basement or where spiders tend to show up.  Spiders Hate mint.  They taste through their legs (feet area I would say) and they just don't like it.  Mint can also be used in baking or cooking.

Sage: My husband knows he can not prepare a Thanksgiving meal without his Sage/sausage stuffing (I would share the recipe, but he won't share it with me...I just get to enjoy). Sage just has such a wonderful fresh scent and flavor.  Good in homemade rolls too. Again these will flower and if you want to use them just for herbs, pinch off those flowers

Tarragon: Is a great herb for chicken, but use sparingly.  The flavor can be strong and my sister in law used it one holiday and everyone was trying to figure out what that taste was. Well I got my face in there and it was tarragon.  Good flavor, but to much was used. It's not bad on a roast too, but I prefer it on chicken.  Yes, another herb you have to pinch off the flowers if you want a hardy plant.

Parsley: We use parsley in many dishes.  Either in the dish or as a garnish.  If your breath is a little iffy, chew on parsley.  It has always been a natural mouth freshener upper. If you like more flavor in your parsley, try Italian parsley. I will use this in my Italian dishes too. These don't flower, but either cutting back or pinching will give you a more bushy plant and it grows like crazy.  

Cat Nip: I would ask, what cat wouldn't like this plant, but Scrappy just says NO to catnip, it grows very well and I found pinching back will keep it controlled and bushy other wise it grows tall and looks a little messy.  I planted Scrappy her own little nibble garden along with cat grass. I gave a lot of this plant away when I pinched it off for my friends who have cats that love this stuff.

Cat grass: Cats need their greens to help their digestive system. I prefer to grow this outside and let her enjoy it just in-case her digestive system back fires.  The same happens when dogs eat grass.  Mom always called it the pets Pepto bismol.  For Scrappy I grow different oat grasses and trim it down every week for more growth and it just looks nice trimmed.  I buy cat grass at my pet store and grow it from seed.  You can buy this in plant form for indoors too. I nibbled on a piece and well Scrappy was letting me know it was her grass and I got smacked. (still working on the sharing thing).

Well these are a few of my favorite items I grow in my herb section.  Another tip: If you don't want herbs hanging all over the place you can trim leaves and put them in ice trays, fill with water and freeze, when frozen, label a freezer bag and when you need them to cook, just drop an ice cube or two in your pan or dish (before it's done) and enjoy fresh herbs all year long. Don't forget you can grow indoors too.

Happy herb gardening and if you have questions please let me know.