Planting a few herbs will bring ultimate pleasure into your home. Not only will you have fresh ingredients for your cooking, but you will have the joy of watching the little plants grow and sprout fresh new leaves.
Choose a draft-free windowsill that gets at least five hours of sunshine. If it’s summer, you may have to protect it from the strong rays but if you are growing them in the winter, your herb garden should be fine right by the window. If you don’t have a suitably-lighted area in your house, consider purchasing a grow-light system which allows you to provide artificial lighting with a timer.
When choosing a container, pick one that’s six to 12 inches deep and plant several of your favourite herbs in it, or purchase several small pots and plant individually. Put some potting mix in the bottom of the container, fill half-way with light soil. Add your plants which you’ve bought from your local nursery, then fill the rest of the way. Make sure your pot has drainage holes so excess water can escape and remember that herbs like to be watered sparingly. Feed once a month with fertilizer. Your plants will need a month or so to get acclimatized to their new surroundings but after that, you can start snipping bits off to use in your cooking. Trimming them back as you use them will help to encourage fresh bushy growth.
Start with herbs that don’t grow too big or wide. Chives, basil, lavender, parsley, mint, and thyme are excellent choices. Remember your local farmer’s market or grocery store also has fresh herbs in the produce department so those you don’t grow can be picked up easily as you need them.
Adding fresh herbs is a quick way to transform ordinary meals into extraordinary meals and using them as additional flavour allows you to cut back on salt, fat and sugar while still keeping your meals exciting. But herbs have other benefits too, such as antioxidants that researchers are suggesting help protect us from such diseases as cancer and heart disease. Many old world cultures have been using herbs in their cooking for centuries and enjoy good health.
Wash and dry on paper towel, then mince the herbs on your cutting board. Just the leaves are used with most herbs, but parsley is an exception as its stems are tasty too. Cook your meal until almost done before adding herbs if possible. If you are making a cold entrée, you can add them when you assemble the rest of the ingredients, allowing for the flavours to blend. Pasta sauces, soups, stews, and stir fry meals can all be enhanced by the addition of fresh herbs.
If you have a flower bed or garden area, you can move your herbs outside for the summer and they’ll respond happily. In the fall before the first frost, cut a small portion off each plant, keeping the roots in some of their dirt, and transfer to your smaller container for the winter. Excess herbs can be frozen for use at a later time as well.
Lavender grows easily and can be dried and placed in little bags in your lingerie drawer or hung in your closet. It not only releases a relaxing fragrance, but helps to repel insects. Inserting one of the bags into your pillowcase will give you a wonderful sleep. You can also buy a herbal infuser from kitchen stores and fill it half full of your favourite herbs, then hang it so the flow of water filling your bathtub sends its soothing properties.
Start today to grow some pretty herbs in your house. You’ll soon be using them in every facet of your everyday living and wonder how you existed before you discovered them.
