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Quote of the Day: Monty Don

July 28th, 2013

“The herbs are essential to the kitchen and we aim to provide ourselves with a limitless supply of the principal herbs so that we can cook generously with them rather than treating them as a precious garnish.”

Monty Don from Fork to Fork

harvesting herbs
In my garden grow many herbs, they’re one of my favorite things to have around. There are culinary herbs, medicinal herbs and tea herbs. It would be very hard to me to sit down and list all of the herbs in my garden, there are far too many. Consider thyme, there are 15 different varieties of thyme growing at Chiot’s Run.
herbs_on_cutting_board
thyme on roast
I use mass quantities of herbs every day, at every meal. Of all of the herbs I grow, lemon thyme is probably my most favorite. If I had to choose only it would win. A close second would be cilantro.

Do you grow lots of herbs in your garden? Which is your favorite?

14 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Monty Don”
  1. Adelina Anderson on July 28, 2013 at 8:16 am

    Nothing except for mint and basil in the garden, but I have been growing some herbs in small pots in the house. Rosemary is one of my favorites along with my small bay leaf shrub. I am hoping to have a shelf constructed in the kitchen to hold a pots filled with herbs and small fruit trees.

    Reply to Adelina Anderson's comment

  2. Nebraska Dave on July 28, 2013 at 8:54 am

    Nope, no herbs in my garden …. yet. The first thing I need to do is to learn how to cook with herbs. I just never had the knack for knowing which herbs go with what. You have any suggestions for books that could help me out?

    Have a great herb cooking day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

    • Susy on July 28, 2013 at 11:13 am

      You can’t really go wrong with thyme, it goes well with just about anything. I’d recommend starting there. I find this book is great:

      Reply to Susy's comment

  3. Lisa Sewell on July 28, 2013 at 10:03 am

    Definitely basil and mint. I make lots of pesto for the freezer and love to add a handful of mint to our summer herbal iced teas.

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  4. Louise on July 28, 2013 at 10:48 am

    The only herbs I have in the garden right now are chives, dill, and mint. I like to grow basil and cilantro but I really like the idea of planting something just once and either having it come back each year, or reseed itself, as with the dill. Do you have any suggestions for other hardy (perennial) herbs that would be good in the Northeast (central NY)? Any suggestions would be welcome. (P.S. – Your photos are always so beautiful…)

    Reply to Louise's comment

    • Louise on July 28, 2013 at 10:52 am

      Sorry! Now that I think about it, maybe chives aren’t really considered an herb… Oh well, they add great flavor and are very dependable!

      Reply to Louise's comment

    • Lemongrass on July 28, 2013 at 4:57 pm

      louise, basil, cilantro garlic chives and garden chives all reseed. if am not mistaken herbd all reseed especially if the seed were not tampered with. give or garlic chives and basil a try, allow the plants to go to seed.

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  5. Joan on July 28, 2013 at 4:29 pm

    Chives, dill, fennel (ok, not really an herb, but I use the fronds as herbs), basil, several mints, cilantro, chervil, thyme, lemon balm, lots and lots of tarragon, sage, salad burnet (planted for first time this year and may not replant…), parsley, rosemary, not sure what else… I also use the wild sorrels as herbs.

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  6. Trish on July 28, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    so far just basil – i pick it continuously and freeze it to make pesto with in winter when I am not quite so busy. I need to get with it and create an area for perennial herbs. I adore thyme, marjoram, oregano. The only thing I don’t like is cilantro.

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  7. Caroline on July 28, 2013 at 6:25 pm

    I had some lemon thyme, but I have no clue what to cook with it! I bought it because it smelled soooo good!

    I think all of my herbs may have died though :\ They were in a container on my patio and I don’t believe they were watered when I went out of town.

    I had lemon thyme, lime basil, sweet basil (also in the main garden), cilantro, parsley and spearamint (smells divine!)

    I’ve only cooked with the basil and cilantro so far. The basil went into delicious home baked Stromboli! Mmmm

    Reply to Caroline's comment

  8. Maybelline on July 28, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    Lots of herbs grown. My favorite is Thyme. No. Wait. My favorite is Lavender. Hmmm. Oregano smells terrific. Heck. I like them all.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  9. amy s on July 29, 2013 at 12:20 am

    I love basil and rosemary! Cilantro is another one I love how it smells so fresh. I’m going to work on a herb garden once we get my potting shed built.

    Reply to amy s's comment

  10. Rocky on July 29, 2013 at 3:19 pm

    I probably have more than 100 kind of herbs in my garden, but some of them are considered to be ornamental or vegetables by US standards. If I have to pick one favorite herb from my garden, it would be Shiso or Perilla frutescens. There is nothing better smelling than those oriental herbs in my garden. If I can pick another one which I can not grow in my garden because it is way too cold, would be Myoga or Zingiber mioga.

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  11. Karla on July 29, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    I have basil, lemon balm, and chives this year. Last year one of my 4’x4′ raised beds was almost nothing but parsley, because I had let some go to seed the year before and I barely have time to do anything in the garden until the school year is over. It’s not hard to find things to do with lots of parsley, so that was nice.

    I’ve seen some thymes recommended as ground covers around paving stones, and I’m planning to replace a section of lawn with pavers and ground covers next year. Have you used any thymes in that way?

    Reply to Karla's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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