Growing and Cooking with Herbs at Home

Recipes calling for Basil, refer to sweet basil. There are other types of basil, but recipes and books often assume a reference to sweet basil, the commonly used Italian herb. Basil can range in color from light green to burgundy, depending on the variety. Never store fresh basil below 45 degrees, as it will blacken. If you purchase fresh basil at a farmers market, or harvest it from your own garden, place it in some water as if it were a bouquet of flowers. Another method of storing it to keep it fresh is to cover it and store it in the vegetable (crisper) drawer of the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Growing Basil
Harvesting Basil
Drying Basil
Cooking with Basil
Making Pesto

Lavender is wildly popular. It's not wonder, lavender is drought-tolerant, easy to grow, and smells heavenly. For herbal cooking, the purple blossoms are generally used after they begin to show color. The best time to harvest them is before they open, but they can be used anytime you see the lavender hue to them. Subtle amounts of lavender are best for herbal cooking, as it sits well in the background, imparting a gentle flavor among other herbs.

Growing Lavender
Harvesting Lavender
Drying Lavender
Cooking Lavender

Admittedly, this is one of my favorite herbs. It is so incredibly easy to grow. One could say invasive it not watched carefully. Lemon balm is part of the mint family, looking and growing just as mint does, but having the fragrance and taste of lemon. Lemon balm can be harvested and used fresh as an addition to any dish to impart a lemon flavor.

A small sprig is a fun addition to lemonade or iced tea on a hot summer day. Also, lemon balm can be dried to make wonderful hot tea in the winter months, or tossed into your cooking in dried form as well. Anytime you are out of lemon peel, dried lemon balm often works as a substitute! There are a number of uses for lemon balm: it can be infused in oil, used in tea, or dried for cooking and crafts. Lemon balm can also be frozen in ice cubes.

Growing Lemon Balm
Harvesting Lemon Balm
Drying Lemon Balm
Cooking with Lemon Balm

If you are planning to grow your own oregano for herbal cooking, there is something you should know.... all oregano species are NOT created equally. Some types that make excellent cooking spices are Greek Oregano, Origanum vulgare hirtum, Sweet Marjoram, or Italian Oregano. Sometimes sold in nurseries and garden supply stores is Common Oregano. It looks identical to Greek Oregano, accept it's flowers bloom pink, rather than white. Common oregano has almost no taste and isn't very useful as a cooking herb.

Growing Oregano
Harvesting Oregano
Drying Oregano
Cooking Oregano

Parsley is a member of the Umbellifrae family and a cousin to fennel and lovage. Umbells are characterized by umberrella shaped flower heads, hollow stems (sometimes used as straws) and long tap roots. Parsley is biennial, meaning it lives for 2 years, then flowers and goes to seed to try to produce seeds that will germinate into new parsley plants the 3rd year. Parsley is a common garnish and nice herbal addition to almost any meal.

Growing Parsley
Harvesting Parsley
Drying Parsley
Cooking Parsley

If you want to begin growing herbs, and don't consider yourself much of a gardener, this is the ideal first herb. It is hearty! Hearty to the point that it is often considered invasive, or difficult to get rid of. Plant it in an area that has a border, or sometime of edging that will prevent the roots from spreading beyond the desired area. Water it occasionally and enjoy fresh sprigs of mint or mint tea all year long. Mint is a wonderful herb for tea making and often used to flavor other herbal teas that aren't so pleasant tasting.

Growing Peppermint
Harvesting Peppermint
Drying Peppermint
Cooking with Peppermint

If I could grow only one herb in my garden, it would easily be sage. It is easy to grow. (Just don't forget to water it.) In return, it will provide you with plenty of aromatic and beautiful leaves that make an amazing herbal spice. It has gray-green leaves, which make very pretty garden foliage. If you have a type that blooms (not all do), you can also add the blooms to salads, vegetables and pasta dishes. Sage leaves are best in food that is cooked. It is not a great addition to salads. I live in zone 5 and my herb garden is in a somewhat sheltered location. I have two herbs that stay green all winter and those are lavender and sage. Don't try to cut back the sage much in the winter, or you will kill it, but sage will forgive you for sneaking a few winter leaves for fresh herbs all year around!

Growing Sage
Harvesting Sage
Drying Sage
Cooking with Sage

Onions and garlic are vegetables, but they commonly appear in dried form in the spice cabinet. Each summer, I enjoy growing onions and garlic. I think dry them in a dehydrator and grind them in a coffee grinder. This makes perfect, tasty and aromatic onion or garlic powder. Much better than what you can buy at a store. The same procedure can also be used with chili peppers to make chili powder common in most spice racks.

Growing Onions
Harvesting Onions
Drying and Making Garlic Powder
Cooking Onions
Making Chili Powder

Pumpkin Pie Spice
Pickling Spice
Taco Seasoning Mix
Italian Seasoning
Fajita Seasoning