Basil

Basil 'Ocimum Basilicum'

Sweet, common, or Genovese basil (Ocimum basilicum) is the larger leaved and stronger flavored variety; it will grow well in a temperate climate in summer or under glass.

Basil is a medicinal herb as well as a sweet, pungent culinary seasoning. Basil is native to India, but is now grown all over the world. Basil is probably the most used herb in cooking, especially in Italian dishes. It pairs well with tomato based dishes. It also compliments many other foods, including meat, poultry, cheese, pasta, zucchini, salads and soups. Not only does it enhance the flavor of a dish, it also aids digestion. Basil has a long history of medicinal use. In past centuries, the plant was accorded wide respect for its healing potential and used to purify the mind, open the heart and even cure malaria.

Basil is a member of the mint family, and like all mints, if you want a bushy plant you need to pinch out the center when the plant is about six inches high, and keep it from flowering, which usually begins in the center stem, so just keep pinching it off. You can use the pinched off piece in your salads or other cooking. The Greek or Bush basil (Ocimum minumum) grows in small leaved bushes about 6-8 inches high compared to the sweet basils that get up to 24 inches tall. Some of the milder varieties are called 'Lettuce' (with large floppy leaves); 'Ruffles' (crinkly leaves) and 'Purple' (purple colored leaves and stems), all of which dress up a salad and are not too powerful for the palette.

Today, herbalists recommend basil as an antispasmodic. It is often used to treat intenstinal problems, motion sickness, flatulence and nausea. It also relaxes bronchial spasms and is helpful in treating respiratory illnesses.

Basil is extremely easy to grow, and should be in every kitchen, not only for use in cooking, but flies and mosquitos do not like its odor. It helps purify the air. If you have a pot of it, be sure to brush it with your hands every time you go near it, to scent the air, stir the appetite and get the creative cooking juices flowing.

Basils need a light rich soil and as much sun as they can get. Although not strictly an annual, it is hard to keep through the winter is most climates. It will keep very well in a greenhouse, and can be sown along the inside perimeter of your greenhouse as a border.

When choosing basil seeds, look for a bushy variety with a long season, so you will spend less time pinching back the plants. In late summer you will need to check them often to prevent bolting, unless you want them to go to seed to save. Try growing many varieties of basil in a seperate bed for beauty as well as convenience. Plant some in pots to bring in just before frost, or grow them in the greenhouse.

There are different varieties of basil; you may want to try some. Foremost of these is the Dwarf Basil (O. minimum), which has small leaves and is prized for its pleasant aroma and fine taste. Other varieties include; lemon, red, anise and cinnamon basil.

You can store fresh basil in a jar covered with olive oil in the refrigerator. It will last a couple of weeks. You can puree the leaves in a blender, pour into ice cube trays, pour a little water over the top and freeze. The leaves can be dried and stored for winter use. Basil does very well under a table top grow light system, or a sunny window sill. Be sure to clip and use it often. As a flavoring for vinegar or oil, basil has few equals.

Put basil into jars of olive oil, vinegar or wine to flavor them.

 

 

~Italian Pesto~

1/4 cup pine nuts

2 oz fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic peeled

6-8 t olive oil

1/3 c grated Romano cheese

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

S & P

1. In an ungreased skillet, toast the pine nuts over med. heat 'til golden, cool.

2. Wash the basil; shake dry & chop it.

3. Place the cooled pine nuts, chopped basil, garlic in a blender or food processor and blend, slowly add the olive oil while blending until it is creamy.

4. Stir in the cheeses, add S&P to taste and serve over pasta!

Chicory

Chicory-Cichorium intybus  (Si-KOR-ee-um in-TIE-buss)

Family  Compositae

Hardy perennial

Other names known by:

• Succory
• blue sailors
• ragged sailors

Chicory is a hardy perennial native to Eurasia.  It has naturalized in most of North America, common along roadsides and waste places, especially limestone soils.  The genus chichorium contains 8 or 9 species.  Chicory grows like a dandelion, with a deep taproot and rosette of toothed basal leaves.  Stalks grow 2 to 5 feet tall and branch several times.  The leaves are held close to the center stalk.  The flower head is about 1 1/2" wide, forming singly or in pairs in the axils of the stem leaves in midsumer.  Flowers are a clear blue with straplike petals all around that are toothed on the outer edge.   Occasionally you will see the flowers in pink or white, but they are rare.  Chicory is open pollinated by bees, open early in the morning and close five hours later. 

In the language of flowers, chicory symbolized frugality.

Chicory came early to North America with the colonists as a medicinal herb.  It was grown by Thomas Jefferson amoung others as a forage crop, being fed green to horses, cattle, sheep, rabbits and poultry.

On the Continent the culinary uses of chicory date back to Roman times at least.  Dozens of improved cultivars were developed that scarcely resemble the roadside weed.  These include heading chicories like radicchio; loose-leaf chicory; root chicory, grown for cooking like parsnips or for roasting to make a coffee substitute; and witloof (or Belgian endive), the root being forced to make elongated shoots called chicons.

Chicory has been used for many ailments throughout history including:

• To aid in increasing a mothers' milk production when nursing.
• To aid in reducing  a mothers's milk production.
• A poultice to releave inflamed eyes.
• A poultice for any swelling.
• Root extracts where used as a diuretic and laxative, to treat fevers and jaundice.
• Used to treat liver ailments, gallstones.

Lab tests on root extracts have revealed properties of:

• anti-inflammatory
• anti-bacterial
• slightly sedating
• slow the pulse
• lower blood sugar

A tisane using the leaves was prescribed to "strengthen hot, weak and feeble stomachs".

Chicory contains a compound called maltol (3-hydroxyl-2-methyl-4-pyrone).  It is used in baked goods to intensify the flavor of sugar 30 to 300 fold.

Chicory, being a perennial, should be grown in a bed where it can stay.  You may also want to contain it in a raised bed to prevent spreading too much.  The seeds are extremely small.  One packet about 1 gram weight will plant a row 25 feet long.  The Cook's Garden offers two varieties; Sweet Trieste (40 days), a tangy, sweet, pale green, fast growing plant; and Italico Rosso (65 days), a rare red form with good taste, look like red dandelion leaves.  Both of these varieties are cut and come again, excellent choices for a long supply of salad greens.

Chicory may have started out in pour soil along the roads, but you will want to sow your seeds in the usual garden soil that has some organic material added to it.  Easy to grow, hard to kill, great to eat.  You can't ask much more from a plant.

Dill

That which makes a pickle a pickle...Dill.

Anethum Graveolens (Dill), is an annual that is easily grown from seed. lt looks very much like fennel, but should be kept seperate from it, or the fennel will overpower it. It will grow to 3 feet (or more in a healthy soil), likes lots of sun and a sandy loam soil. It makes a good background green for flower beds or cottage gardens and reseeds itself readily. The seeds are used to imbue the dill flavor. Fresh dill leaves are never used for culinary use as they loose flavor when heated. You can substitute the fresh crushed leaves for seeds in the recipe below if your dill hasn't set seeds yet.

Dill flavor is very defining, a little goes a long way. It combines well with creamy ingredients and vinegars, cucumbers, egg & fish dishes, rice salads and boiled potatoes. Dill is particularly popular in Scandinavia and Russia, also Canada. It's pungent, freshness reminds a person of warm summer weather.

Creamy Dill Dressing

1/2 cup real mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 T minced gr. onions

2 t fresh lemon juice

1 t dried dill seed crushed

1/4 t salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, cover and chill at least 1 hour to marry the flavors.

Herbology 1

Agrimony	Althea	Angelica	Applemint
Balm	Bayberry	Bee Balm	Borage
Burnet	Camomile	Carduus	Carduus Benedictus
Cerinthe	Chives	Clary	Comfrey
Costmary	Dwarf Basil	Fumitory	Goat's Rue
Hyssop	Lavender	Lovage	Parsley
Perennial Fennel	Pot Marigold	Pot Marjoram	Pulmonaria
Spike Vervain	Valerian	Woad	Wormwood

These herbs are carried in French Seed Catalogs:

1. Agrimony
2. Althea
3. Carduus Benedictus
4. Fumitory
5. Lovage
6. Spike Vervain
7. Woad or Isatis

Ten Very Hardy Herb Perennials:

1. Applemint (plain form)
2. Lovage
3. Costmary
4. Hyssop
5. Balm
6. Angelica
7. Comfrey
8. Wormwood (A. Absinthium)
9. Valerian (C. Ruber)
10. Chives

Herbs With Significant Flowers:

1. Borage
2. "Valerian" (C. Ruber)
3. Cerinthe
4. Althea
5. Clary
6. Goat's Rue
7. Pulmonaria
8. Pot Marjoram
9. Woad
10. Pot Marigold
11. Lavender

Taller Herbs:

1. Angelica
2. Lovage
3. Bayberry
4. Perennial Fennel
5. Carduus
6. Bee-Balm

Herbs Suitable for Edgings:

1. Camomile
2. Burnet
3. Parsley
4. Dwarf Basil
5. Dwarf Lavender (L. Nana Compacta)

Herbs that can be Grown in the Shade:

1. Balm
2. Any of the Mints
3. Sweet Woodruff
4. Sweet Cicely
5. Comfrey
6. Angelica
7. Pennyroyals
8. Pulmonaria
9. Woundwort

Herbs that make Good Houseplants:

1. Purple Basil
2. Summer Savory
3. Rosemary
4. Lavender
5. Variegated Applemint
6. Rue,
7. Germander
8. Caraway-Thyme
9. Wild Thyme
10. Santolina
11. Pot Marigold
12. Bergamot
13. Balm
14. Pennyroyal (English)

The last three will drape over the sides of a pot.

Culinary Herbs:

1. Savory (all of them)
2. Garden Thyme
3. Sage
4. Basil
5. Marjoram
6. Tarragon

Medicinal Herbs:

1. Wormwood (A. Absinthium)
2. English and American Pennyroyal
3. Peppermint
4. Comfrey
5. Horehound
6. Catnip
7. Balm

Herbs used in Tisanes (which is a tea like drink for the health):

1. Camomile flowers
2. Spearmint
3. Peppermint
4. Monk's Herb
5. Sweet Woodruff

Great Magical Herbs:

1. Rue
2. Spike
3. Vervain 
4. Dill

Herbs that will add flavor to a salad:

1. Burnet
2. Chives
3. Marjoram
4. Basils
5. Chervil
6. Dill
7. Any herb could be tried.  Tarragon, thyme, etc.

Dried Herbs for Fragrance:

1. Lavender leaves and seed
2. Rosemary leaves
3. Sweet Marjoram
4. Costmary
5. Bergamot
6. Mint and Purple Basil leaves
7. Sweet Woodruff (add Rose leaves for color)

Some Biblical Herbs:

1. Mandrake (Gen. 30:14)
2. Coriander (Ex 16:31)
3. Wormwood (Rev 8:11)
4. Mint (Luke 11:31)
5. Cumin (Isa 28, 25, & 27)
6. Anise (could have been Dill) (Matt 23:23)
7. Hyssop (Origanum Maru) (John 19:29)
8. Saffron (Song of Songs 4:14)
9. Rue (Luke 11.42)

How to Make an Herb Infused Vinegar

Got Herbs!   Make herbal infused vinegars to use in salads and cooking, marinating and tisanes.

Here is what you will need:

• Red-wine apple cider vinegar by the gallons     
• White apple cider vinegar by the gallons
• Clean, dry glass bottles with corks or other stoppers
• Longish stems of Herbs from your garden, rinsed clean and dried

Here is how you do it:

• Warm up the vinegar.  You do this by various methods.  Set the bottle of vinegar in the direct sun, or warm it on the stove-but do not boil it.
• Place the sprig of herb of your choice inside the bottle.
• Pour warm vinegar into the bottle (use a funnel) and stopper it.
• Place in a dark shelf or cubboard-no direct sunlight for 4-8 weeks.
• Strain out the herbal steeped vinegar (use cheesecloth or coffee filter).
• Return vinegar to bottle and label it.
• You can add a fresh sprig of the herb used to the bottle.
• Make sure your herbs are DRY before putting into bottle.

 

Herbs should be used before they bloom.  They hold more essential oils, and therefore, flavor, just before they bloom.  As soon as you see them beginning to bud out, it's time to pick a few stems for infusing vinegars and oils.

 

 

 

Recipe useing an herbal infused vinegar:

All Purpose Tisane

Into a cup place 1 teaspoon of an herbal infused vinegar and 1 teaspoon honey.

Pour boiling water into cup and stir, drink while hot.

Option: you can add a Tablespoon of fruit juice to the cup also.  This drink will make a sick person feel better.  It will make a healthy person more energetic.

Parsley

Petroselinum crispum

Parsley originated in the Eastern Mediterranean region.  Known primarily as a medicinal herb for over 2000 years, it is now grown all over the world.  Most people view parsley as an unwanted plate decoration in restuarants.  Parsley is much more than that.  In medicinal use it is made into a tonic to aid circulation, cool down the body temperature and aid digestion.  The seeds were valued for their diuretic effect on kidney and bladder ailments.  It strengthens the digestive system.  In folk medicine it was used to women who have irregular menstrual periods, and may have eased some of the bloating.

Parsley is rich is vitamins and minerals like:

• iron                                                           
• potassium
• C
• A
• calcuim
• mangenese
• folic acid
• amino acid Histidine, that inhibits tumors

Parsley is also rich in essential oils like apiole, which stimulates the kidneys, thus the diuretic effect.

As a culinary herb parsley is almost limitless.  Heat will destroy its nutrients, so add at the last minute to hot foods.  The flat leaf variety, Italian parsley, has more nutrients and a better flavor than the curly parsely.

Parsley compliments dishes like, potatoes smoked salmon, trout, poultry, pasta, vegetables, dressings for salads.

Best way to preserve parsley is by freezing.  Chop us clean,dry parsley and store in a freezer bag, remove just the amount you need.  Parsely will stay fresher in the fridge if you place the stems in a jar of cold water.  Otherwise, just wrap it up in some wet paper towels and put into a plastic bag in the fridge.

Parsley is easy to grow, sow directly into pots or beds in the Spring and keep moist.  Parsley has few problems with insects or disease, likes a fairly rich soil with plenty of compost in it.  I had butterfly larvae grow up in my parsley bed last year, but it was worth it to see the Monarch Butterflies in the garden.  There was plenty for them and me and the rabbits (their favorite food).  In the higher plant zones, parsley will grow year round and complete it's biannual cycle by going to seed the second year.  If you plant new seed two years in a row, you can have perpetual parsley in your bed by letting it go to seed.  It will readily reseed itself.  You can never have too much parsley.  I like to nibble on a piece of parsley every time I enter my garden.  It is nature's vitamin.  The chickens and the cows will eat it too.  Calcium is more easily taken up in your body when it comes from green leafy vegetables, like parsley, than any other source without inhibiting the uptake of other minerals.

Parsley Spread

2 bunches of parsely, rinsed and drained or patted dry, stirpped of stems and chopped.

2 shallots, peeled and diced.

1/2 c heavy cream                                                                        

1 c cream cheese

2 T lemon juice

Mix all  together and season to taste with white pepper & salt.

Peel 2 scallions and slice them.

Dice 2 lg tomatoes, mix with scallions and season with Cayenne pepper.

Slice 2 lg tomatoes 1/2" thick, cover them with the creamy parsley spread and sprinkle on the tomatoe/scallion combo.

You can garnish with a tiny sprig of parsley or chive stems.

This is a perfect dish for steamy summers on the patio.

 

Rosemary

  Superherb! 

Rosemary is a long lived perennial herb that has many wonderful uses.  The plants grow low and will ramble all over or drip down the side of a wall or planter.  The parts of the plant we use are the little needle like leaves.  The are sticky to the touch,  contain lots of oil and are astringent to the nose and pallete.  With Rosemary, a little goes a long way. 

When you want to dry Rosemary, just trim off some of the short stems and lay them in a shallow pan to dry.  The needles will drop off when dry, so you want something to catch them.  You can put them into a paper bag on a shelf to dry also.

Rosemary can be part of your personal fines herbes recipe, but a little will go a long way here as well.  Some of the other ways to use Rosemary:

• Grow it in a pot and train it into a topiary for your kitchen counter.
• Shape into a bonsai tree.
• Whole sprigs are placed over fish and chicken while grilling.
• Boil a tablespoon of leaves in a quart of water.  Add to the bath for aroma therapy to invigorate you.
• The steam from a pot with rosemary will help to open up clogged nasal passages.
• Boil leaves and add to a foot soak.  Especially good for athletes foot and other foot issues.  It has an astringent, drawing effect, to draw out toxins and bad odors.
• Can be added to a 'plaster' for drawing out poisons from wounds.  The astringent effect will continue even after you remove the drawing plaster or foot soak.
• Plant Rosemary near your doorposts as an insect repellant.
• As a culinary herb, Rosemary goes well with red meats, chicken, fish and pasta.

Choose a good hearty red wine low in tannin and sugar to serve when you flavor with Rosemary for a balance.

In warmer zones Rosemary can outgrow it's boundaries, so plan to give it plenty of room to grow.  It likes sun, but will tolerate shade, so you can put it under trees.  It likes an acidic soil, but is pretty versatile.

Don't overwater your Rosemary or it will drop it's leaves after they turn brown.

If you need to cut back the plant, do it sparingly.  It will not survive more than a 1/3 cut back.  If you cut off  more than 1/3 it will die, which is one reason you want to give it room to grow.  A good place for Rosemary is the top of a wall or slope so it can drape down it.

Rosemary puts out little lavender colored flowers that last about 2 weeks each year, depending on where it is grown.

Think about shaping your Rosemary plant in order to contain it's growth where you want it while it is still small.  Wait a couple of years to start harvesting the leaves from a very small plant.

See our Collected Recipes section for Rosemary Fried Chicken!

Tarragon

Tarragon and Cloves of Garlic

Tarragon (A. Dracunculus) is the one Artemisia with simple leaves. Do not be fooled by plants labelled Tarragon that have divided leaves. Only the true french tarragon will give you the distinct flavor of the herb. It enhances everything it is used in, but one classic dish is 'Chicken Tarragon'.

The Tarragon plant is sort of plain looking, with many branches, but it is easy to hide it behind other more decorative herb plants. Mature plants reach from 2-3 feet tall. It is a tender perennial which does not produce seed in the North, and is usually propogated by cuttings. It is not as commonly available as other herbs, so you may have to start yours by seeds.

I have found seeds in the Tasteful Garden in the past, but you may need to check around. Artemisia Dracunculus is the true French Tarragon that no gourmet cook worthy of his salt would be without. The plant is very aromatic, with an upright growth habit with lanceolate leaves up to 2 inches long that have a licorice-like flavor. You can use it fresh or dried. It is used in fish, chicken and potato dishes, and also to flavor salads and vinegars.

To grow Tarragon, obtain some seeds and sow them in a rich, sandy soil. Keep watered until the plant is at least 12" tall, then you can reduce the watering days by half. This is an excellent herb to grow near the kitchen door or along a pathway so that you brush against it as you pass. Sow some in pots for the windowsill or greenhouse. It gets a little big to grow in your tabletop system. In winter it needs cutting back and covering with some straw. Every few years tarragon should be reseeded for fresh plants, at the flavor diminishes over time and the plants get lanky.

It is easy to dry tarragon. Just snip the stems off close to the base of the plant, bunch and tie them and hang upside down to dry. Once they are dry, it is easy to strip the leaves from the branches and store in a glass jar or spice cabinet. Stems of fresh tarragon can be refrigerated and used fresh, put into jars of oil or vinegar to use on salads, put into the salads, and used to wrap fish for the grill or oven. Short pieces of stem will make a nice garnish for dishes. It looks especially nice with pasta dishes. You can also use it in flower bouquets for the table, for a old world look.

The leaves are generally a grass green, which combines very nicely with pink flowers. Sow tarragon in with forget-me-nots to add color to the herbs and something for the forget-me-nots to lean on as they are a rather lazy plant. Use the dried stems for barbequeing, for shish kabob skewers, or burn them in your fireplace.

Here is a simple recipe that uses Tarragon for flavor:

Roasted Potato Medley

Ingredients:

• 2 sweet potatoes
• 4 Yukon Gold potatoes
• 8 new potatoes from your garden
• 1/4 c + 2 T olive oil
• 1 t dried tarragon
• S & P

Easy Step by Step direction:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 F. Peel and cube the seet potatoes and the Yukon golds. Scrub the new potatoes and cube.
2. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with enough water to cover the potatoes, sprinkle in some salt and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Turn them off and drain them.
3. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a large nonstick baking sheet or jelly roll pan.
4. Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with tarragon and S & P. Roast in the hot oven until browned and crisp, about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Substitutes for Tarragon in this recipe: Dried Thyme and Rosemary.

Tarragon is considered a Culinary Herb of major importance in the food world. It will give an old world effect to a potager or dooryard herb garden, as well as a delightful aroma as you pass it. It is well worth the effort to find seeds or plants to grow it. It is an essential component of fines herbes (a blend of dried herbs that is basic to so many french dishes).

Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

1/2 real mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 T Tarrogon Wine Vinegar (recipe follows)

1/4 t. dry mustard

1 small clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped gr.onions

1/4 crumbled Danish blue cheese

In a bowl blend the first 5 ingredients until smooth. Stir in onions and cheese. Cover and chill. While the dressing is chilling, the flavors are blending together and improving. This is called 'marrying'. If your dressing is too thick, thin it by stirring some fresh cream into it.

 

Tarragon Wine Vinegar

Purchase a bottle of red wine vinegar in a glass bottle. Pick a stem of fresh tarragon from your plant almost as long as the bottle of vinegar. Rinse the tarragon and let dry on a paper towel, then insert into the red wine vinegar, stem end first. Refrigerate for at least a few days to 'marry'. Improves with age.

Use in the above recipe, or for any vinegar & oil dressing. Also can be used in meat marinades.

 

Thyme

Thyme has been used as a herb since ancient thymes.  It is not too picky about where it grows as long as there is good drainage and full sun.  It can tolerate a little shade, tho. 

You can keep it trimmed when you harvest stems for fresh use or drying.  It will put out a fresh burst of green growth in the early summer, which is a good time to give it a little compost or vermicompost.  At the end of it's growing season, cut back the stems by 2/3.  Next years growth will come up between the old stems, and then you may wish to break off the old dry stems.

If you have plenty of thyme, use it freely in recipes, as a meat wrap for grilling, in fresh salads and drinks.  Dry some for mixing your own finnes herbes recipe for winter soups and stews and stir fry cooling.  It is also used for making candy and cookies.  A good cook simply has to have thyme.

 

Thyme Lemonade

2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 10 lemons)

1 1/2 c sugar

1 bunch of fresh thyme plus some sprig for garnish

In a medium sausepan, bring sugar, thyme and 1 cup of water to boil, stir until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Stir in lemon juice and about 6 cups of water.  Strain into a large picture, refrigerate until cold (at least one hour) and serve with a tiny sprig of thyme floating on top.

Herbal lemonades serve to enhance the ability of lemonade to cool your body down during the hot weather months.

Keeping Herbs

 

Being able to use herbs in your cooking year round is the goal of most cooks who also garden. In some climates, herbs will stay green throughout the year, but if you live where the snow blows and hail falls, you will need to take action to keep a supply of herbs on hand. As usual (since we live in America), we have choices in how we can do it.

The time-tested traditional way to preserve an herbal harvest is drying. Most herbs can be dried by pulling up the entire plant or cutting long stems off the plant, and hanging them up to dry naturally. You've probably seen pictures of bunches of herbs hanging upside down from a rack or hook in the ceiling or on a pot rack. Once the herbs are completely dry, they should be taken down, remove the leaves from the stems and put them in containers.

Another easy method is to put the whole stems you harvest into paper bags, fold over the tops and staple them or clip them to keep them closed and stick them on your pantry shelf, or if you do not have a pantry, shove them into a cupboard.  Then, when it comes time to be using them for winter meals, you just  have to "harvest" out of the bag.  It helps if you label the bags so you don't have have to open all of them before you find the herb you're needing.

You can use the slower winter months to strip all the herb leaves once they are dried and put them in your containers. (You can burn the stems in the fireplace.)

The traditional container is a small chest with drawers for seperating the herb varieties. Modern methods can include putting your dried herbs in glass bottles, tins, plastic bags, etc. I use glass jars so I can see what is inside easily when looking for a particular herb, which is a daily thing in my kitchen. I can tell what herb it is by the leaf's shape, but sometimes I have to label them. Marjoram and thyme leaves look too much alike, but they taste totally different so I don't want to make a mistake of identification with them.

Sometimes the label can be a decorative addition to your kitchen decor. They look nice when they are all alike, but different labels mixed up in your herb collection can look very 'homey' in a kitchen. You can use old jelly jars for storing your herbs, or make or buy a chest with tiny drawers in it for a totally traditional look. The wooden drawers will take on the odor of the herbs inside, so you should store the same herb in the same drawer every year. If you identify your herbs by their smell, putting a different herb in a drawer that smell like mint will make it impossible to tell what you have in it. You will also come to know which drawer to pull for the particular herb it holds, and that makes life a little simpler for the cook. I like the idea of drawers because you can pull it out and pinch out the amount you want easily. With the jars, you have to dump it into your hand and that takes two hands to do, whereas the drawers can be handled with one hand. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but if you have your hands in a dough or bowl of meat mixture, using one hand becomes a real time saver (and frustration buster).

The woolley herbs like sage should not be washed first, just make sure they are bug and dirt free and you can hang them to dry as they will shrink up in the drying process.

There are some herbs that are not hung to dry. Instead you wash them and lay them on paper towels or racks to dry. Basil and parsley and chives are done this way so they don't turn brown and spoil before they can dry.

Other ways to preserve your herbs for use in the kitchen is to freeze them. Simply cut leaves from stems, let air out for 1/2 hour and then bag them and freeze. Moisture in the herb can turn to ice crystals in the bag, making it hard to identify the herb, so labelling the bag is real helpful when freezing.

Chives seem to not freeze & thaw very well, so I would not suggest this method for them. But, there is life after freezing. Chives are very easy to keep alive by simply putting them in a pot on the window sill. When guests get fresh chives served to them they feel really fortunate to be eating at my house, so fresh chives are worth the very little effort it takes to put them into a little pot on the window or under your tabletop grow light. Combined with a few other herb varieties under a tabletop light, they make a very inviting ambience in your kitchen. Keep a little snipper handy and just snip away when you cook. The smells are delightful and rewarding. You can keep your herbs anywhere, but the kitchen is the handiest place for a cook to have them. If you are planting a pot with herb seeds, plant two pots, and give one as a gift once they sprout.

If you have a greenhouse, you can designate a small section of it for the growing of herbs year round. Most culinary herbs are perennial plants, and will just get better with time (and a dousing of worm or compost tea). Some will shut down for a few weeks and then come back again. Trim off the tops of hybernating herbs like lavender and thyme, as new stems will emerge from the base of the plant. You can use the dried out stems that are not useable in the kitchen for the fireplace to add a little fragrance to the fire or help it get started.

You can dig up herbs you have outdoors and pot them to bring indoors or into the greenhouse to extend the season for them. So many dishes that I like to cook in the cold weather call for parsley. It makes sense to have it handy at all times, and it just keeps on producing the more you use it. Fresh parsley likes to live in a slightly cool temperature, so a transitional room like an enclosed porch that won't freeze is a good place for it, or a cool greenhouse corner. Just make sure all your herbs get at least 5 hours of sunlight per day.

Additional hints for herbs:

Basil: Keep any flower buds snipped off so it doesn't bolt and stop growing. Basil can also be pureed in a blender or food processor with a little water, then pour it into
an ice cube tray til frozen, then pop them out and put in a bag. This
method is good for using in making a pesto, soups, stews, casseroles,
etc.

Chives: Have a very long root, for long term keeping, use a deep pot to grow in. Snip off the largest chives as they mature.

Parsley: Has a taproot, so start it from seed in a pot before the weather gets too cool.

Oregano: Likes good drainage, sandy soil and regular hair cuts.

Rosemary: Likes humidity and moderate watering. If you overwater it, the needles turn brown. A sandy loam and an occasional misting would be perfect.

Thyme: When it gets a good set of leaves on the stems, harvest them all, cut the stems low to the base and let it come back. If your plant gets too woody, start over and throw the old plant into the fire.

 

 

Dangerous Herbs!

There can be an interaction between certain medicines prescribed by physicians and botanical medications (which is actually taking herbs for health reasons).

Certain botanicals that are reported to affect Coumadin (which is a blood thinner commonly prescribed to people who are at risk for stroke or clots) therapy. These include the following, but is not necessarily a complete list. These are associated with an INCREASE in the effectiveness of Coumadin:

• Bromelains
• Danshen
• Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis)
• Garlic
• Ginkgo biloba
• Ginseng
• Cranberry concentrates

In other words, if someone who is on a Coumadin therapy treatment plan also takes Garlic in large doses, it could cause a bleeding event. This is a life threatening situation and care should be taken in the administration of herbal remedies.

Some herbs contain coumarins with the potential anticoagulant effect:

• Alfalfa
• Angelica (Dong Quai)
• Aniseed
• Arnica
• Asa Foetida
• Bogbean
• Capsicum
• Celery
• Chamomile
• Dandelion
• Fenugreek
• Horse Chestnut
• Horseradish
• Licorice
• Meadowsweet
• Nettle
• Parsley
• Red Clover, Sweet Clover...

Some other items that have anticoagulant effects are:

• Bladder Wrack (Fucus)
• Pau d'arco

Botanicals that contain salicylates and/or antiplatelet properties:

• Agrimony Aspen
• Black Cohosh
• Blask Haw
• Cassia
• Clove
• Dandelion
• Feverfew
• Garlic
• German Sarsaparilla
• Ginger
• Ginkgo Biloba
• Ginseng
• Licorice
• Meadowsweet
• Onion...

 

Conversely, Coenzyme Q10 (ubidecarenone) and St. John's Wort are associated with a DECREASE in the effects of Coumadin. Other botanicals with a coagulant property:

• Agrimony
• Goldenseal
• Mistletoe
• Yarrow

Obviously, taking these would counter the effects of a coumadin therapy.

If you take any botanicals and you are on a blood thinner, you should let your doctor know. They can adjust the therapy to be more effective for you. Caution should be observed at all times, and your doctor should always know what you are taking at home.

Most doctors do not have a high regard for home grown treatments, but regardless of this you still need to inform them of any home treatments so negative interactions can be avoided.

How to Make an Herbal Tisane

One reason people are enchanted with the idea of growing thier own herbs is because they are so useful. Some flowers have herbal qualities, even if we don't grow them for that reason. Cornflower, for instance, makes a mild diuretic when in a tisane. The famous detective, Hercule Poirot, that Agatha Christie invented, always drank a tisane. He would even try to order it in bars, but never with any luck and would revert to wine as a choice.

Tisanes are drunk for various reasons, depending on how you feel on a given day. If you intend to eat to your heart's content on major holidays, you may consider having a tisane to aide digestion afterward. A peppermint tisane would serve this purpose. If you are retaining a lot of water due to high salt intake, a mild diuretic tisane of Cornflowers will help you eliminate the excess water in your tissues. If you just want an overall body cleansing, try a tisane of heather, which cleanses the kidneys and bladder. Borage is used in tisanes to treat fevers and respitory problems. Though there are many ways to utilize the healing properties of herbs for just about any ailment known to man, a tisane is one of the easiest and most comforting and effective ways to imbibe the herb.

To make a tisane, gather your herb of choice early in the morning, preferably before the sun is on it. You can use the flowers, leaves and stems of the herb. Chop it up roughly and throw it into a pot of boiling water, about one cup of chopped herbs to one quart of water. Boil for exactly 3 minutes and let steep off the fire for another 3 minutes. Strain into cups and drink up.

Tisanes are best used immediately. They can be drunk cool or cold, but never reheat a tisane, as it destroys the oils that heal. If you have leftover tisane, use it to water house plants or throw it all in the composter.

Tisanes can be made just for the pleasure of drinking the flavors. You may want to try various blends to find one that suits your taste-buds to a T. One good mixture is: Meadowsweet, linden, peppermint and cornflower. Of course, if you do not have those particluar plants, make up your own recipe. You can make a tisane out of any herb. Try lavender, St. John's-wort, Dandelion leaves and flowers, culinary herbs like Coriander, Hyssop, etc.

Coriander	Hyssop