Five Must-have Culinary Herbs for Your Garden
A garden is more than just grass and trees. I encourage all gardeners to add some edible plants into their yard. Start with these five herbs.
Herbs are a beneficial inclusion to any garden. Besides providing us with ingredients for culinary experimentation and diversity, many are beautiful or have other benefits. Herbs that have a tendency to become weedy may be beneficial in gardens by providing food and choking out unwanted weeds in difficult areas. Thus, reducing the need for chemical herbicides and replacing the tedium of weeding, with the excitement of harvesting. Other herbs have flowers that are not only beautiful to look at, but are also edible treats for your taste buds.
A walk through your garden to collect herbs can turn planning and preparing dinner from a humdrum obligation into a sensual adventure. Once you get hooked on herbs, you may begin to fill every nook and cranny of your garden with herbs, or choose to plant a traditional herb garden, complete with the obligatory sundial.
If you are new to herbs in the garden, here are my suggestions for starter herbs. I have selected these based on their uses and ease of cultivation.
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Chives
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Tarragon
Chives are the smallest member of the onion family, they are very versatile and hardy. Chives can be used as accent plants in flower gardens. They are attractive in the garden, producing flowers that can not only be eaten, but look interesting too. The flowers can be added to soups, salads, and casseroles, and give a slight onion flavor. However, more people only think of the grass-like stems as an herb. Many people do not think of a baked potato as complete, without the chives.
To harvest, cut the stems about 2 inches above ground level. They may be preserved by freezing rather than by drying which causes them to lose color. Do not cut them up prior to freezing. Plants have a tight clumping nature and can be divided in the spring or fall. If you have a vegetable garden, you can plant them near carrots, as they are said to prevent a fungus from attacking your carrots.
There are two varieties of Tarragon, the Russian variety is often sold in seed packets, and is less aromatic than French Tarragon, which can only be purchased as plants. This is not a particularly attractive plant in your garden, but as it is tall, and tends to be weedy, it can be used to fill in those drier weed prone areas of your yard. It is a plant you can cut back regularly.
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Published in: Gardening
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