Of all the things I have attempted to grow in my garden, I have been most successful with herbs. In fact, sometimes it seems like they are the only things doing well. And already this spring, I have chives, mint, lemon balm and parsley ready to use. And the best part is, they seem to thrive on our poor soil and my benign neglect. In time, I may convert to all herbs.
A big project I have been working on for a year now is to turn the slopes of the vegetable garden into a perennial herb garden. I’m about half way done and excited about it. For the past 3-4 years I have tried to grow annual squash and beans on the slopes only to have the weeds invade. It got so I was putting more effort into weeding every year. That’s no way to have a garden! Permaculture, among other things, teaches that you should let the plants do the work for you, so I hit on the idea of planting the slopes with perennials. Less weeding for me – maybe almost none eventually, soil stability, soil improvement, great things to eat and use , a real win-win situation.
So here is what I am growing and what I do with it:
- mint – We use it fresh, dried and make syrup from it, mostly for drinks
- chives – fresh and freeze, for cooking
- garlic chives – fresh and freeze, for cooking
- hyssop – dry for tea, supposed to be good for colds
- yarrow – nothing yet!
- thyme – fresh and dry, for cooking
- lemon balm – fresh and dry, syrup for drinks
- tansy – bug repellent
- tarragon – fresh for cooking
- parsley – fresh and freeze, for cooking
- comfrey – compost, companion plant, poultice for sprains and bruises
- salad burnet – fresh in salads
- lavender – dried
- basil – fresh, freeze in pesto
- rosemary – fresh and dried, for cooking and hair rinse
- marjoram – fresh and dried, for cooking
- oregano – fresh and dried, for cooking
- summer savory – fresh
- lovage – fresh and frozen, for cooking
- betony – dried for teas, headache remedy
- calendula – fresh on salads, dried, make calendula oil and moisturizer
- dill – fresh and frozen, for cooking
- sage – fresh and dried, mostly for tea
- chamomile – dry for tea
To make syrup, I usually make simple syrup with sugar and add the herbs. I leave the herbs in until the syrup cools and then strain them out. I often freeze the syrup until I’m ready to use it, typically for cold and hot tea.
To dry, I either hand in the pantry or use my dehydrator. Stored in glass jars, the dried herbs keep all winter. I’ve become quite fond of sage tea with honey and lemon.
Herb lore is fascinating and every time I look at an herb book or web site I am quite sure I will never know even a fraction of the things I read about. It’s all so overwhelming. My goal for this year is to make more cosmetics and learn more about the medicinal uses of the herbs I have.
If you’re keeping track, I am way behind on the B-Z blog month! But I’m on spring holiday now, so am hoping to catch up in the coming week.
HI Karen….do you freeze your pesto??
Yes, I do. Luckily I have room for it in the freezer in the cellar. And we eat it fast on pasta and on sandwiches, like a spread.