Think this year about planting an outside herb garden. It can be part of your garden or flowerbed or in grouped containers on your deck accessible for home cooking. Anyplace with more sun than shade is good. You can buy plants from a greenhouse or start from a seed. So, what herbs can be grown outside?
Chives is a grass-like, onion-tasting perennial that can be used fresh on anything. Who does not like baked potatoes with sour cream and chives? The plant also produces purple bloom in your garden. There is a garlic chive with flatter leaves that have a garlic flavor with white flowers.
The annual sweet basil (Italian) plant should be a standard in any herb garden. There is purple basil which is less sweet, lemon basil which tastes and smells like lemons, Greek basil which has more of a spicy flavor, cinnamon basil with a cinnamon taste, and Thai basil smelling and tasting like licorice. We can keep going, however, there are up to 150 types of basil. One thing before you plant basil is to wait till the temperature warms to above 50 at night. Along with making spaghetti sauce, try a leaf of basil on a slice of tomato.
There are two types of parsley, the curly leaf, and the flat leaf varieties. I think the flat leaf has a stronger flavor which is used in cooking better. There is the Hamburg parsley which has roots similar to parsnips. Why do they place a sprig of parsley on your dinner plate? Well, for a hundred years, it has been used as a breath cleaner. The plant is a biennial that sends up a flower stalk the second year and then dies, so you can treat it as an annual plant by replacing it each year.
Rosemary is a tender perennial, evergreen shrub that should be brought indoors each year. In the Mediterranean, it grows to a medium shrub up to 4 feet high. You can take cutting off of the plant. It is a staple for seasoning stews and soups.
Marjoram is a sweet-tasting, small herb for use in meat, fish, or vegetable dish. Sweet marjoram is the most common variety which is a member of the oregano family. Variegated marjoram has yellow-green variegate foliage.
Oregano is a woody perennial belonging to the mint family. It has a peppery flavor with a minty aroma for any tomato-based recipe. Common oregano has white to lavender flowers also used for wreaths. The Greek oregano is for cooking.
French tarragon is a perennial with light green, long leaves used in meat dishes. There is a Russian tarragon which is not as flavorful and coarser.
Sage is an easily grown perennial with greyish leaves. It is used for meat and bean dishes and of course for stuffing. It has purple, white, and pink spike flowers.
Thyme is a low-growing perennial herb with a strong pleasant flavor used in soups, grilled meats, and vegetables. The French or English thyme is the most grown. There is a Lemon thyme and a Caraway thyme, and various variegated leaf thymes.
There are a lot of varieties of mints. Most are vigorous-growing perennials that can get away from you. Grow in a large pot sunk into the ground if this would be an issue. Mints are used for all kinds of dishes, especially in teas. The most common is spearmint, but others are peppermint, apple or pineapple mint, and citrus mint all having different flavors and aromas.
Lavender is a tender perennial which can be overwintered in sheltered areas. Otherwise, take a few cuttings in the fall and bring them indoors to overwinter. The most common lavender is the English lavender with its dark purple flower spikes. Dry lavender for placing in your sheet or towel storage areas. Lavender is used for potpourri.
Who does not know about dill? It is an annual herb used mainly for pickles. The leaves and seeds are used for many fish dishes, potato salads, and soups. Dill is also the host plant for the black swallowtail caterpillar. Allow the seed to set for a supply next year. Fernleaf dill is grown for the fern-like leaves and is slower to set seed. Bouquet dill produces a lot of seeds. Mammoth dill is a tall variety that is one of the best for pickles.
Cilantro (you either love or hate the taste of it depending on genetics) is a tender annual used in various sauces like salsa and cooking. The seeds are called coriander and are mainly used in making loaves of bread. The variety ‘Costa Rica’ is slower to set seed.
