Keep Herbs Together Grow herbs according to growing requirements Ahh - nothing makes a dish special like herbs fresh from your own garden. A sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary fresh from the plant can transform even a plain dish into something exquisite. You make up your mind to have fresh herbs available this year by growing your own. You set aside portions of your garden to growing all of your favorites. There's thyme, sage, mint, dill and cilantro in the corner by the onions. Over by the beans you have a patch of basil, borage, nasturtiums, oregano and parsley and down by the tomatoes, you've tucked in some fennel, anise and chives. You water, mulch, fertilize and care for them as you lovingly care for the rest of your garden. Then when the herbs you have eagerly waited for get large enough to start harvesting, you pick your first sprigs and take a taste. THAT'S NOT WHAT I ENVISIONED AT ALL! The thyme tastes flat. The oregano tastes like horseweed and the mint is as bland as anything you could ever find in the supermarket. What went wrong? The truth is that many, if not most herbs are accustomed to growing conditions that are quite different and much more harsh than any your garden would thrive under. In fact, it is these very harsh conditions that often brings out the flavors that you desire most. Herbs like thyme, sage, mints and oregano grow in conditions that are normally quite dry, poor soil and often alkaline. It is these conditions that develop the essential oils in the plants that give them the flavors we desire most. Herbs like cilantro, chives and fennel will take heat, but need a lot of moisture and a lot of organic matter while herbs like borage and parsley must have adequate moisture, high organic matter and cooler temperatures or they will set seed before you can use them. Basil likes high organic matter, water and high fertility. This is one reason it grows so well with tomatoes. When you plant herbs, it is best to group them together by the growing conditions they prefer most. This is especially true of herbs that depend on their essential oils for best taste. Herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage and oregano do very well in containers where the soil can be kept somewhat poor and on the dry side during the harvestable stages. Another note on oregano is that as a species, oregano can be very problematic as to whether or not it will have the desired flavor. Out of an entire packet of seed, you may get flavors that range from inedible to quite flavorful. For this reason it is often advantageous to plant an entire packet of seed and then choose only the plants that have the desired taste after they have matured and destroy the rest. The other option is to take a stroll through your local nursery and sample many plants, choosing only the ones that pass your taste and smell test. Beware though that the nursery manager may take exception to your "pruning" of his or her plants unless they understand this phenomena. This is one of the original concepts behind the early herb gardens. Besides making the garden separate and close to the door for ease of harvest when needed, the herb garden would also be divided into separate growing conditions. In early days of formal gardening, foods were often less than flavorful, especially the meats which were often bordering on rancid. For this reason, early gardeners learned the importance of savory herbs and found ways to get the most flavor possible out of them. This year try growing most of your herbs in containers or if you plan on growing many herbs, try building raised beds that can be tailored to herbs with specific needs. In this way your basil will taste like basil, your oregano won't taste like horseweed and your mint will be minty. Oh, and on the subject of mint. Most gardeners are painfully aware of the invasive qualities of mint. Don't give up on the delightful flavor of fresh mint simply because of its unruly nature. See the "Garden Tips And Tricks" below. the "Hillbilly Gardener" |
