Here’s an article I wrote for a local gardening newsletter.
Beyond Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme
As you’re finishing up your spring garden plans with vegetables a-plenty on your mind, consider creating some space to plant more herbs, as well. Quite a few herbs are rather easy to grow in the “7b hardiness zone” where we live.
First, you gotta know: Is the herb I want to plant an annual (providing one season of harvest), a biennial (producing for two seasons), or a perennial (one that keeps on chugging, year after year).
Annual herbs that grow well in our area include anise, basil, chervil, coriander and dill. Parsley and caraway are examples of biennials; and some perennials that do well locally include chives, fennel, lovage, marjoram, mint, tarragon, thyme and, depending on winter severity, rosemary.
Also, you’ll need to know if you’re going to grow the herb from seed or buy a starter plant. Some herbs grow easily from seed (dill, basil, cilantro, for example), though not all transplant well. You’ll want to do some online research or attend some Master Gardener presentations to learn more and plan ahead whether you’ll be purchasing seed or starter plants for each type of herb you want to grow. (Just google Howard County Master Gardeners and look to see if they have any upcoming presentations on the subject.)
Where to plant
Most herb plants prefer at least six hours of full sun, so consider that need, especially if you’re planting perennials; and all herb plants prefer well-drained soil, though “the Mediterranean herbs,” such as basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and lavender, grow best in sunny, dry spots with a bit of sand in the soil. Too much water or too much fertilizer can make the leaves grow too much, which will produce lots of green, but less potent in both taste and medicinal properties.
Visit the Green Farmacy Garden in Fulton
Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Perhaps not. In Fulton (right off of Rt 29 in Howard County) is the somewhat-famous-in-small-circles Green Farmacy Garden, owned and operated for years by Jim and Patty Duke. Together they curated more than 300 plant species traditionally used and researched for their medicinal properties. There are “four terraced garden beds, each organized in 80-some plots representing human health conditions, each populated by plants that have been applied or researched for that condition.”
No time to visit the garden? You can read Jim Duke’s best-selling book, The Green Pharmacy (Rodale, 1997), which is organized in over 100 chapters each exploring plants used around the world for particular human health conditions.
The Community Ecology Institute (over at the Harriet Tubman Farm) is now the owner and steward of the Green Farmacy Garden. Do check out their listed events, as the garden is only open to the public then. And for volunteers who help out.
Working with a bounty of herbs
Once you start growing herbs, you’ll likely have a lot more than you might have typically used in your kitchen. Beyond adding fresh herbs more generously to your meals, you can also store some for future use. Herbs such as thyme, rosemary and dill, to name a few, can be dried in a convection oven, or even just in the sun, then put in jars and kept in a cool, dry place to use throughout the year. Other herbs, such as basil and parsley, are better stored chopped, in oil with a bit of salt, and kept in the freezer or fridge. You can try your hand at making an herb-infused olive oil to have on hand in the kitchen, though do use it quickly or remove the herbs after they’ve infused into the oil, as such fresh infusions don’t have the longest of shelf lives.
Herb-infused simple syrup
Another option for transforming a bounty of herbs into something tasty (and my favorite way to use a bounty of herbs) is to make herb-infused simple syrups, which can then be added to drinks or other dishes.
I made both a rosemary-thyme and a basil simple syrup last summer, kept them refrigerated and added the flavored simple syrups to various sun-teas. Tasty! And different. More complex. More intriguing than “just tea,” which, I find, can be a bit “meh” sometimes.
Simple syrup is easy enough to make. Essentially, combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar in a pan. Heat over a low flame. Don’t boil. Add clean herbs to the mix, let it all steep for a good 10 minutes or more. Strain the herbs out once the mixture is cool, and you’re good to go. Maybe you’ll discover (or create!) some tarragon and gin cocktail, which becomes all the rage at a little backyard summer gathering you host, or perhaps you’ll master a basil and Aperol cocktail that adds a little lift to a hot afternoon when you’re looking to relax. Your options are many!
I’m thinking of growing borage this year and making a simple syrup of that. And I might just have to try this basil-cucumber cooler with borage flowers drink when I do.
What about you? What herbs are you planning to grow (or maybe already have planted as perennials) this year? Let us know over on the Columbia Gardeners Facebook page.
