Growing herbs for the kitchen is a very satisfying form of gardening. You could have tasty fresh herbs to enhance your culinary efforts, just outside your kitchen door.
Whilst most herbs are grown for cooking purposes, a lot of herbs can also be used in the preparation of herbal medicines. Herbs are also aesthetically pleasing and most have a strong aroma that enhances the gardening experience. In fact, some gardeners grow herbs for their looks and their aroma and never intend to use them in the kitchen.
However, if your primary intention is to grow herbs for cooking, you need to be aware of the fact that most herbs will only survive through the summer months. So, in order to use your herbs all year round, you will need to think about drying them so you can store them for later use.
Drying your herbs is quick and easy to do. You simply pick the healthy herbs and wash them. They should then be tied and hung up to dry. Placing them in a paper bag before hanging can help the process. After a couple of weeks, crumble the dried leaves and place them on a baking tray in a very cool oven to complete the drying process. Then put them in a jar with an airtight lid and you will have all the herbs that you will need until the growing season begins again.
Some popular herbs are:
Chives, which are part of the onion family, are used to flavor or garnish salads and oils. Chives are delicate looking plants and, if left to flourish will grow pretty lilac colored flowers.
Mint, there are lots of different types of mint, such as peppermint and spearmint. The roots of the mint plants are prolific and, if not contained, will pop up all over.
Fennel, this herb smells of aniseed and, in herbal medicine, is said to help increase the flow of milk in nursing mothers.
Thyme – this is a very common culinary herb and used to flavor meat dishes and soups etc. and very easy to grow.
Sage – again commonly used to flavor stews and very well used to flavor poultry stuffing.
Lavender – although this is an herb, it is more commonly grown for its aroma and its looks. Many gardeners will grow beds of lavender; dry the flowers which can then be used to perfume an array of different things – most commonly candles, soaps and linen fresheners.
Rosemary – most commonly used to flavor lamb dishes.
Comfrey – this herb will grow into a large plant that reappears year after year. It is more likely to be used as an herbal preparation to help speed up the repair of broken bones, bruising etc.
These are just a few of the more common herbs. Most of these are easy to grow from seeds, but you could buy seedlings from your local nursery or even online. You can use herbs for container gardening so you can place them conveniently outside the kitchen door.
You could grow more herbs than you can use and sell them. For more information on Gardening for Profit, have a look at Make Money from Your Garden. You will be amazed at how easy and satisfying it is to make some extra cash from your hobby!
Article Directory: EzineArticles
Growing herbs for the kitchen is a very satisfying form of
gardening. You could have tasty fresh herbs to enhance your
culinary efforts, just outside your kitchen door.
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