Fresh Herbs
We may not be prepared to keep bees, but we like to see them working on flowers that they like and that we will grow, in part, with the bees in mind. The culinary herbs from our own patch taste better for being freshly gathered or frozen green, rather than dry from a jar.
-Christoper Lloyd & Richard Bird (The Cottage Garden
This year I’m definitely missing some of my perennial herbs from my Ohio garden. I had a few big, beautiful sage plants that I harvested many leaves from, mostly for frying in butter. I started seeds this spring for sage, but I’m letting the plants get established before harvesting too many leaves.
I didn’t get any chamomile planted this year, luckily I have a big jar full from last year to get me through the winter.
I do have chives and five or six varieties of thyme, along with mints, hyssop, tarragon, horehound, oregano, marjoram and parsley. That’s enough to get me through, I certainly can’t wait until my garden is once again teaming with as many herbs as I can grow!
How many different herbs do you have in your garden?
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (10)
I have the basics: rosemary, thyme, tarragon, lemon verbena, chives, and oregano. What do you do with horehound?
to pam (Sidewalk Shoes)'s comment
I have rosemary which after a year is as high as my knees. It’s starting to flower. I just cut back my oregano, which the bees, butterflies, moths and other pollinators loved. My garlic chives have flowered. I’ve never seen their flowers so I’ve let them blood a sweet, dainty allium flower in white. I had basil (4 types) in the garden with the tomatoes and that is in ice cube form in the freezer now.
to Lisa's comment
Wow, you have so many herbs growing. I have lemon thyme, french thyme, rosemary, sweet basil, cilantro, curly parsley, flat parsley and peppermint.
I love having fresh herbs and wish my plants were larger. Especially the cilantro, its so difficult to keep from going to seed, but I can’t live without it.
to Bacon's comment
I am still learning all the different herbs we inherited with this former herb harden and nursery we purchased. Unortfunately, most seem invasive, but they are still lovely. We have a couple different thymes, rosemary and winter savory I planted this year, and a huge sage plant and beautiful big rose hedges for rose hips. We have oregano, lemon balm, and mint coming out our ears, as they were used for ground covers. You know, all the standards. I have a virtual basil forest growing in my hoophouse. Then we have things like argimony, sweet cicley, comfrey, hazels, lovage, feverfew, and lady’s mantel. Still so many plants I haven’t identified. Seems every plant had a purpose here, medicinal. Wishing the owners had a better frame of mind when they sold the place, because I would have loved to know what all these things were and for.
to whit's comment
We only officially have chives and trailing rosemary. There was oregano here when we moved in, and it’s been a real problem. I eradicated some, but it showed up in the front garden and is now going crazy. I’m also struggling with lemon balm, which snuck in with another plant and is popping up everywhere.
What do you use the hyssop, horehound and chamomile for? Do you make your own teas?
to Amy's comment
Amy, Lemon Balm make a pleasant calming tea. I drank it alot during South Carolina’s short winter season. Then during the hot summer months I made Lemon Balm lemonade. Yea, as sure as day, they came back every spring.
to Lemongrass's comment
My herb garden is my pride and joy…..I have several types of thyme, several types of basil, several types of lavender, sage, oregano, fennel, chamomile, rosemary, borage, hyssop, lemon balm, costmary, garlic and reg chives, dill, parsley, cilantro, orange, apple, chocolate and canadian mints, peppermint and spearmint, bay leaf, comfrey, tansy, sweet annie, winter and summer savories, yarrow and rose hips(not technically an herb but I use it in my teas is there as well)….I am thinking that may be it….but I feel I am missing another one or two…..I love my herb bed…..And when we moved here that was the very first thing I put in…..Many plants I brought from my old gardens but the rest I started all from seed….I use something from there almost daily….Some things are not only planted in the herb bed but also in the veg patches as well…..such as borage and basil…they are everywhere.
to amy's comment
I have four kinds of basil……red rubin being one of them, garlic chives…..waiting for them to flower. I also have scallions, lemongrass, tarragon, thyme, santa maria……a Caribbean variety of some kind, spearmint. cuban oregano(Plectranthus amboinicus)……….called Big Thyme in Grenada, tumeric, ginger, bay leaf…….as we say in the Caribbean, and black sage…………a variety that grows almost 5 to 6 feet tall. Just found out that it is great as green mulch. Have to try it out. It is very popular in Grenada.
I came up with this tip, by having 3 of each herb, I can cut then in rotation and always have fresh herbs, at the same time allowing the plants some time for new growth.
to Lemongrass's comment
Sage, rosemary, chives, oregano, parsley, and thyme!!
to Molly Severtson's comment
In the back I have thyme, lemon thyme, 1 sage bush, tarragon, lavender, Citronella scented geranium, had chamomile & cilantro in the spring but they’ve run their course for the summer… In the front I have lemon thyme, marjoram, rosemary & oregano.. on the west side of the house I have 4 large bunches of chives, lovage, tansy, another sage bush, horseradish, garlic, loads of lemon balm that reseeds freely all over 2 or 3 yards as does the mullein I let grow wherever it comes up, and in my neighbors bed along my driveway I have spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint & apple mint… I planted 4 bags (15 ea) of saffron crocus about a month ago so they should be coming up before too long..
I’ve probably left something out but oh well.. Thats all I can think of at the moment. ;)
to KimH's comment