|
Post by synergy on Feb 15, 2011 23:49:32 GMT -5
I am slowly tucking in plantings here and there of culinary herbs, I still need to learn about using and growing and the practical side of choosing to have them. I could use suggestions.
I have a bay laurel tree, started baby rosemary but not sure they over wintered, have oregano, sage, lavender, chives , garlic and summer savory so far. Also if there are medicinal uses also of culinary type herbs I'd love to know . Fennel grows and self seeds yearly , I know it is a veggie but the seeds are sort of a seasoning .
I am starting a thread on medicinal and utility type plants and herbs too. I don't have much except I know the lavender has medicinal properties.
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 16, 2011 5:50:57 GMT -5
You didn't grow enough garlic but you'll figure that out when you harvest it. I originally planted, best guess, a couple hundred cloves. Last November we planted a tad over 1000 cloves and if all goes well we estimate that we will plant about 3000 cloves this year.
The lesson I'm learning about herbs in general is to actively harvest and store them. I have 2 huge rosemary plants that started as babies. I occasionally used it fresh, but never thought to dry and keep the trimmings. I got nearly a quart of dried leaves off the prunings. The twigs could be saved for skewers to grill with or even kept as bundles to use when smoking or as incense. I put them in the fireplace this time. I haven't figured out how to grow enough thyme yet. Lavender has a harder time here but I'm actively dividing it and interplanting in the orchard. I'm also having a difficult time getting oregano and sage to be happy and grow grow grow. But I'm thinking that it's going to go out to the orchard as well.
There are a lot of ways you can use the herbs, I like to use herbal and spice blends. I don't really have enough of anything to create my own blends, but the rosemary is a start. I want to get bay on day!
|
|
|
Post by flowerpower on Feb 16, 2011 6:06:25 GMT -5
Grow the spices you use the most. Parsley, Basil, Sage, Oregano, & Thyme are all easy to grow. Peppermint is perennial. I personally like Lemon Balm, though it can get invasive. But the bees love it.
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Feb 16, 2011 7:41:40 GMT -5
Lemon Balm scares me but there is a nice yellow leafed version and one that is variegated.
|
|
|
Post by garnetmoth on Feb 16, 2011 8:13:10 GMT -5
I am going to try savory from seed again- its nearly impossible to find in the store anymore! I love it.
Thyme was pretty easy from seed. A little slow growing, but tasty in soups.
I just cooked a cabbage dish with caraway and WOW! Ill be planting some (Ive read you can eat the foliage, it will flower and seed 2nd year)
Parsley drys really well and is nice in the last few minutes of soups
Keep a close eye on your chives- when the flowers are just fully opened, they are great on salads, stir-fry, or any way you get them in your mouth :-) (older flowers have crunchy hard seeds)
Lemon balm is kinda pesky, but our kept rabbits love it-
Most herbs are easy to dry. I personally prefer dried dill over fresh- in eggs!
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Feb 16, 2011 10:19:31 GMT -5
These are the herbs I grow and use the most:
Perennials: mint (invasive but some are good groundcovers and good insectory plants), lovage, tarragon, sweet cicely (some find it hard to remove, grows in dappled shade), garlic chives (lemon balm's partner in garden invasion if you don't clip the flowers), chives, walking onion, other alliums, sage, oregano (spready, can be good groundcover), thyme (some are good groundcovers), horseradish (invasive)
Self seeding annuals/biennials: parsley (one year I was giving away armfulls of parsley after letting a neglected corner flourish, like the other members of the carrot family, good for beneficial insects), dill, carraway, mustard seed (some people curse mustard greens gone to seed, they are prolific), poppy (has medicinal properties but they aren't legal)
Ones I start: basil (southerners say these self seed for them), nasturtiums (really I use it more as a salad green), coriander
Tender Perennials (I overwinter inside): rosemary, bay, hot peppers, ginger (Usually I don't grow this but occasionally I try - good against nausea).
Tea herbs: Chamomile (calming), Nepeta (for stomach), Feverfew (for headaches), Lemon Balm (for other people, I don't like it) and monarda.
That's what I can think of off the top of my head.
|
|
|
Post by steev on Feb 16, 2011 16:53:06 GMT -5
Garnetmoth: saurkraut just isn't right if it isn't cooked with caraway (and sauteed apples).
|
|
|
Post by synergy on Feb 18, 2011 1:22:34 GMT -5
I just found out most wasabi here is made up of horseradish, mustard seed and food colouring. So mustard and horseradish go on my list.
Also I know I looked up sesame for seeds and found it was growable in my zone 7 and flavourful oil ingredient to cooking
I try dill without a lot of success but try once more I shall.
Poppy seeds , are they admissable since I am mentioningg so many culinary spices under herbs?
I could make a longer list of my failures, this year, mint and nasturtium didn't work out either . When you say you use nasturtium as a salad green do you mean the flowers or foliage?
I have lemon balm naturalized under some large evergreens and I tend to think tea made from it does taste like lemon pledge
Yes , there is never enough garlic , nor basil and on my list cilantro. I planted a few hundred cloves of garlic out in a pasture under a fenceline and hmm, didn't grow.
Sorry I should have made it culinary seasoning plants but I think you know what I mean.
|
|
|
Post by flowerpower on Feb 18, 2011 5:58:16 GMT -5
Both the leaves and flowers of Nasturtium are edible. I use the small leaves in salad.
You can use Lemon Balm in other ways. I put it in marinades, soups, under the chicken skin..
|
|
|
Post by synergy on Feb 18, 2011 14:36:35 GMT -5
Every turn i learn something new and you all have are terrific sharing what you know too. The people over at the website Raw Food Rehab area terrific lot as well and this link is to growing ginger in the pacific northwest from the tuber you buy at the grocery store , so simple but I sure never thought of that. Take a look for an account of what they do and photos : rawfoodrehab.ning.com/group/thegarden/forum/topics/growing-your-own-ginger
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 19, 2011 6:35:10 GMT -5
I'm going to try that Synergy! I have ginger growing in a pot with my Vietnamese peppers, but it's more for appearance than for consumption. I'll get a couple hands at the store and get them in dirt and ready for the garden! THANKS!
|
|
|
Post by garnetmoth on Feb 19, 2011 10:04:16 GMT -5
I got a landrace of sesame from SSE- Had a decent time of it in a pot 2 years ago to increase the seeds. Ill try it in a bed this year, it seemed to not prefer being in a medium container I didnt keep as watered as maybe I should have, but I got ripe seed (also some moldy seed, it was a bit wet at harvest 2 yrs ago)
I really should do ginger in a pot again, I love it and it is pretty. I just planted some fenugreek yesterday- I havent eaten the greens fresh yet but they are supposed to be quick growers and quite tasty.
|
|
|
Post by wildseed57 on Feb 20, 2011 16:38:50 GMT -5
Fresh Ginger is so much better than the rhizomes that you get in the maket, also there is a type that you can use the floral buds and blached stems. Kitazawa seeds have it, but they only have it availble to Calif. You might find it in a good Asian Food Mart. Many herbs and veggies have dual purposes like Burdock. in a lot of states its considered a weed, Horshradish can get out of control also. Depending what zone your in many herbs will overwinter out side, if you want to try something different to cook with try some Lavender in some of your meat dishes it goes quite well with lamb. George W.
|
|
|
Post by synergy on Mar 31, 2011 11:10:15 GMT -5
I did not even know there were more than one kind of ginger. Thank you all for the tips. I just found turmeric root in the asian market and will pot some and see if it grows a sunny window. There I am a little challenged we have no south windows at our house, huge big trees and no window sills as our walls are old plaster. No greenhouse either. Still worth giving a try though.
|
|
|
Post by steev on Mar 31, 2011 13:19:56 GMT -5
Would that other ginger be galangal?
|
|