Plant Your Own Herb Garden For Cooking, Fragrance And Visual Appeal

The Herb Garden has grown to be increasingly popular in recent years, and for a very good reason. Many herb plants have a real practical value, in terms of medicinal and culinary use. Whenever herbs are mentioned people tend to think of cooking, however, herbs can also be grown for their delightful aroma as well as their beauty.

Herbs are great when they are picked fresh but they can also be dried for use all through the cold months of winter, particularly if you are looking to cook with them. Drying herbs is really straightforward.

To begin with leafy herbs need to be cut, washed, and hung up so that any surplus water can evaporate. The stems should then be tied together and hung up in a paper bag to dry out. After 2 to 3 weeks they should be removed, the leaves crumbled, then dried out in the oven, and stored in a glass jar.

Perhaps the most common herb in the home garden is basil. This herb makes a splendid addition to any garden, and is frequently used in cooking and for decorative puposes. Basil is used for flavoring tomato juices and to flavor pasta.

Chives come in many variations looking and resembling blades of grass. They tend to be a lot stronger than they look, and will grow well through a range of weather conditions. Their sturdiness makes them an excellent plant for the garden, particularly if the gardener doesn't want herb plants that call for a lot of work. Chives are awesome used in salads, egg dishes, and a host of different sauces.

Mint is extremely easy to grow, and is very good used in mint jelly, mint juleps, lemonade, and virtually any other fruit drink. Mint comes in many different forms and has a wonderful minty aroma.

Two other herbs that can be found in almost all herb gardens are sage and Thyme. Both of these herbs can be used for flavoring soups, chicken, turkey and pork. Additionally Sage is grown for its lovely blue spiked flowers.

Lavender is possibly the finest smelling herb of all, and is frequently included in candles, as a perfume scent, as well as to improve the fragrance in linen chests. The light purple flowers have a fragrance that is positively wonderful.

Other kinds of herbs commonly grown in the herb garden include borage (often used in salads), chervil (used in egg dishes), sweet marjoram ( flavors, salad, lamb, fish, and soup), sesame (flavors crackers, cookies, and bread), and dill (flavors meats and used in pickles).

Herbs are very easy to grow, and gardeners can use them in cooking, for their visual appeal and for their fragrance. Herb gardening will certainly produce much fresher herbs, and with a lot more flavor than those bought in the store, and at a fraction of the price.

Return From Herb Garden To Growing Herbs Main Page

Gardening Tools Home Page

Home Gardening

What's New

Plant Your Own Herb Garden For Cooking, Fragrance And Visual Appeal