Growing Herbs!

Nothing is more refreshing in the spring than the scent of fresh herbs in the air. The fragrance of herbs is so familiar and the flavor of fresh herbs in cooking cannot compare to store bought herbs in a can. If you don't have any room outside for herbs, you can still grow them. Simply start a them in a container and create a patio herb spot.

Fresh herbs add life to salads, vegetables, salad dressings, meat dishes, even desserts and drinks.  Why not keep some money and grow your own? It's simple, provided you have a sunny area to grow them.

Top Cooking Herbs For Everyday Use!

Although many people choose to customize their gardens to fit their own cooking preferences, dill, oregano, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary, sweet marjoram, tarragon, and parsley are often excellent choices for the beginning herb gardener.
These herbs are hearty, resistant to disease, and can be used in a variety of recipes. Since different types of cooking herbs grow best in certain climates, it’s a good idea to ask a sales representative at Deneweth’s Garden Center for advice on planning your first herb garden.
Cooking herbs typically have their highest flavor levels just before they start to bloom. If possible, harvesting should be done during this time period. Wash leaves in cold water and dry thoroughly to remove dirt and other unwanted residue.
 Dill - A multi- purpose herb grown for its seeds and foliage.  Fresh, frozen or dried, the ferny foliage and seeds are a tasty flavoring for fish, lamb, new potatoes and peas. Remember to add dill at the end of cooking, because cooking will destroy most of its flavor, use sparingly when adding it to food or it will overwhelm other flavors.

 Oregano - Culinary oregano is a signature flavor of many Italian, Mexican and Spanish dishes. Most cooks are familiar with it in its dried form, but oregano is a hardy perennial plant that is easy to grow in the home garden. A handful of plants will provide you with enough oregano to use fresh in season and to dry for use throughout the winter.

 Basil - Basil is truly indispensable in the kitchen. Whether flavoring soups, stews, and egg dishes, sprinkled on tomatoes to zip up a sandwich, or as the main ingredient of pesto sauce to provide a mouth-watering accompaniment to pasta, fish, and chicken, basil is the king of savory herbs.

 Sage - Sage is a shrubby sprawling gray-green perennial herb.  When growing sage in your herb garden, plant it near the back or as a border, as it can grow up to approximately 2 feet tall. Its leaves are used as an herb for it’s culinary flavoring, aromatic scent, and health-giving properties.  Growing sage will provide not only a pretty plant that lends color and texture to your herb garden, but that is also useful in attracting important pollinators (primarily bees) to your garden. In the kitchen, the sage herb is used primarily to enhance the flavor of meats and cheeses. 

 Thyme - Thyme is a highly aromatic herb, which grows especially well in somewhat dry, sunny conditions. A Mediterranean herb, thyme holds its flavor in cooking and blends well with other flavors of the region, like garlic, olive oil and tomatoes. Thyme is also considered to have antiseptic and preservative properties and has long been used medicinally as well as when preserving meats.

 Rosemary - Rosemary makes an excellent addition to any herb garden due to its fragrance and culinary taste that goes so well with lamb and chicken. Growing Rosemary is also beneficial to the garden appearance, as it will develop small flowers in late spring.

 Sweet Marjoram - Sweet Marjoram grows between 1 and 2 feet tall with bush-like characteristics. The gray-green leaves give a velvety feel and white flowers cluster on spikes. Typically, the herb grows as an annual though in certain warmer climates it's a perennial plant. Grow Sweet Marjoram for culinary use in meats and vegetables. The herb adds an oregano flavor with a touch of balsam.

 Tarragon - This herb has a peppery flavor with a slight hint of vinegar that is suited to vinegars and fish, but it also has many other uses in the kitchen.  Tarragon enhances the flavor of many foods, but can become overpowering if used excessively.  It goes well with fish, pork, beef, poultry, game, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and most mainstream vegetables.  It also goes well with lemons and oranges. Tarragon can be used in cream sauces, herbed butters and vinegars, soups, sour creams, and yogurt.

 Parsley - There is very little that does not benefit from the addition of parsley -- it's good in stews, sauces, cheese spreads, rice dishes, vegetables, omelet’s, and in fish dishes. It helps add color to pestos. The ancient Romans combined parsley with cheese and bread for meals.