A Herb Garden is a Must Have!
Herbs have practical value, serve a purpose and with herb gardening you can actually use your plants. When most people think of herb gardening they automatically think of cooking, but herbs are also grown for their pleasant aroma and their beauty. It is becoming more and more popular every day, and for a good reason.
One important part of herb gardening is drying the herbs for use during the winter months, especially if you plan on cooking with them. First the tops of leafy herbs have to be cut, washed and hung up for the water to evaporate.
Then, tie stems together and hang them up in a paper bag to dry. After two to three weeks they must be removed; crumble the leaves, dry them out in the oven, and store in a glass jar.
One of the most common herbs known is basil. “Dark Opal” and regular green basil are beautiful additions to any garden and often used as decoration. Dark Opal has light pink flowers and dark red leaves. Basil isn’t just used for its looks; it is used for extra flavor in tomato juices and pastes.
Chives are very petite looking and resemble a blade of grass. However, they are much stronger than they look and will grow well through a drought.
Their toughness and sturdiness makes Chives a perfect plant for herb gardening, especially if the gardener doesn’t want plants that require a lot of hassle. Chives are good used in salads, egg dishes and many different sauces.
Mint is also very simple to grow and is good to use in mint jelly, mint juleps, lemonade and any other kind of fruity drink. Mint is also good to have for its unique minty smell.
Two herbs that appear in nearly everyone’s herb garden are thyme and sage. Both of these favorites are used for flavoring soups, chicken, turkey, pork and other sausages. Sage is also grown sometimes for its beautiful blue spiked flowers.
Lavender is probably the best smelling herb of all and is often used in candles, as a perfume scent and to improve the smell in linen chests. The light purple flowers smell absolutely lovely.
Other types of herbs often grown in herb gardens include borage (used in salads), chervil (used in egg dishes), sweet marjoram (flavors lamb, fish, salad and soup), sesame (flavors crackers, cookies, and bread), and dill (flavors meats and used in pickles).
Herb gardening allows gardeners to use herbs from their own garden for cooking, looks and smell. It will be much fresher with more flavor than store-bought herbs and are a lot cheaper.
