Some of my herbs have been around for ages, and I so appreciate them. I garden organically, using this product for sturdy growth. When the season is over, I also dry my own herbs naturally by hanging them. Because my herb garden is so sheltered, I often have herbs well into November unless the weather becomes very harsh. Right now, I can--and do--still harvest parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (aka Simon and Garfunkel's Big Four).
This year, a volunteer Campari tomato plant made an appearance, and I harvested the last of those--green--about a week ago. They are sitting in the sun of my kitchen garden window, ripening at their leisure. I was also inundated with a dozen or so surprise jalapeno plants which I placed en masse in huge patio pots along the driveway. They look quite festive now, huge and full of bright red peppers.
But each year, my herb garden is lush and green, full of the same herbs. Here is a list of
Herbs In My Garden
1. Basil
2. French Tarragon
3. Italian Oregano
4. Chives
5. Rosemary
6. Curly Parsley
7. Thyme
8. Sage
My Tarragon, Oregano, and Chives have been with me for over ten years now. I've done nothing to them to inspire such loyalty and love. They have outstanding flavour, and I was cutting chives not a week ago for baked potato.
Many cooks prefer Italian Parsley, but I find that it tastes a bit like celery to me, so I prefer the Curly variety. I love it in salad, and I use it when I make pesto to help it stay green and lift the flavour a bit. I just cut some last night to put in meatloaf.
When I plant Rosemary, I like the barbecue variety, the kind that grows upright. It gives me more space in my little plot. It's also easier to strip. Rosemary is such a beautiful herb with potato, chicken, roasted vegetables, and you don't dare make lamb without it.
Basil = Summertime to me. I make quarts and quarts of pesto. I love a flatbread on the grill, smeared with pesto, topped with tomatoes marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add some fresh mozzarella and that's our go-to lake dinner. It's a shame that I can't winter over Basil, but it gives me so much to look forward to.
Thyme is an astonishing addition to mushrooms and onions. Try it.
Sage makes all poultry better and it just tastes like Thanksgiving to me. It's also nice with pork.
Do you have an herb garden? Cook with herbs? What are some of your favourites?
I was enveloped in warm, summer fragrances just reading this... I've never had luck with herbs with wide leaves, like parsley and cilantro, somehow. I liked reading how you used them--herbs truly lift and lighten any dish.
ReplyDeleteAlso, since I'm coming directly from yesterday's post...
"I love a flatbread on the grill, smeared with pesto, topped with tomatoes marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add some fresh mozzarella and that's our go-to lake dinner..." Friend, I would call this a pizza!
maya--LOL! You got me. That is, indeed, a form of pizza. But look how light and lovely it is. And little. And fresh. If I could get this at a pizza place, I would. I should add this to my list of words I've had to eat.
DeleteRight now, my poor herbs are being assailed by cold rain. I hope I can get out there before our forecast sn*w hits early next week. With Rick's help, I need to cut some to dry before the season is over.
Ooooh I do love fresh herbs. I always plant basil and cilantro. I have in the past done parsley, mint, oregano, rosemary. I also love chives but weirdly, none of them came up this year. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was a bad pack of seeds.
ReplyDeleteNicole--I'd love to be able to sustain cilantro, but both times I've planted it, it did poorly and ultimately failed. Chives sometimes like to be split after a few years.
DeleteYou don't put mint directly into the ground, do you? That stuff goes mad and becomes invasive around here. Once, without thinking, I tossed a pot of it over the fence that I thought was dead. A couple of years later, a new neighbour moved in and we were chatting. She said, "Oh! If you ever want any mint, just come on over. I have a ton of it growing back here by the fence. It was here when we moved in!"
I have only grown basil! I tried to grow some in a planter on our patio and it got eaten by an animal - maybe a rabbit or squirrels? I tried shaking cayenne on it to keep the animals away and that didn't even work! So I gave up. Sigh. I used to grow it on the balcony of my downtown condo and I would make gobs of pesto.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite herb is probably cilantro. I did try to grow it when I had a community garden plot but no matter what I did, it bolted every time. So I gave up.
I also really love thyme. It brightens so many different dishes.
Lisa--I've never had my basil eaten by anything but a snail. But I've had rabbits mow down my dill three times in a row this summer, even though I put out a fake owl. Sometimes you just lose to the wildlife. And cayenne pepper has been a loser for me, too. I put it on birdseed and the squirrels still raid my feeder.
DeleteCilantro was a fail for me, too. It either bolted or wouldn't flourish. I won't make that mistake again. I'll just buy it when I need it, which is rarely.
Thyme really is a gem. I've even made lemon thyme shortbread cookies. So good.
We used to have a big vegetable garden, but I have never grown herbs. Having said that, I used to harvest mint from the leftover herb garden beside the old house site. It seems to be deer proof. Most other foods are, she muttered, not. Or raccoon proof. Or squirrel proof. So, since we have moved out here and those are the neighbours, I no longer garden.
ReplyDeleteMary--I do not blame you one bit. I had a big battle with bunnies over dill this year and lost miserably. First time ever I had this problem. So I made zero pickles this year. Oh well.
DeleteI will not try dill next year; I will buy dill next year. Pickles will be made.
I do not garden. I do not plant herbs. I'm in awe of your expertise, but it's beyond me right now. Maybe one day? I love learning how you use your spices.
ReplyDeleteErnie--Oh, come on. You have plenty of time to garden. LOL LOL LOL
DeleteHey, listen. I baked a pretty good loaf of chocolate chip banana bread a couple of days ago. It wore me out but it was worth it.
I don't have a herb garden, but if I did, I'd plant basil in it and make pesto as often as I could. I could eat pesto by the gallon. And speaking of pesto:
ReplyDelete"I love a flatbread on the grill, smeared with pesto, topped with tomatoes marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add some fresh mozzarella and that's our go-to lake dinner."
That sounds lovely, and close enough to pizza that I'm starting to think that it's not that you don't like pizza; it's that you don't like bad pizza.
There's hope for you yet.
Mikey--I adore pesto, too. If I were selfish, I'd have way more, but I give away so much of what I make. If you lived closer...!
DeleteI think you might be right. I used to eat thin crust pizza before I swore off pizza altogether. I might be In Search Of Good Pizza.
The only thing I can seem to grow are weeds, lol. I'm a little jealous of your herb garden. I also agree with Mikey about the pizza.
ReplyDeleteMartha--I am in constant war against weeds. CONSTANT.
DeleteI think Mikey may be on to something.
Beautiful fresh herbs 🌿 And I love the Scarborough Fair song 🎵 by Simon and Garfunkel.
ReplyDeleteLinda--I'm a big fan of both!
DeleteOh, I do so envy you for your herb garden. And you even have jalapeños! Do you use them for cooking any dishes? The degree of “hotness” varies a lot with those guys, of course. I don’t use them myself, but I do like serrano peppers in small amounts if I want to add a little heat to a dish. I don’t have a herb garden because, as you know, my living conditions do not permit this. I buy them fresh in supermarkets whenever I can, but I also have my kitchen spice jars.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on herbs, spices, and food seasonings for cooking:
My basic go-to spices are basil (pesto!), cumin, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Also dill in certain dishes. I absolutely detest fennel. Probably because it tastes like licorice/anise which is a flavor that I cannot stand. Also, sorry to say this, Nance, but I don’t like sage, either, which is the reason I never ate the turkey stuffing that my mother made, lol. If a recipe calls for sage, I omit it or substitute it for something else.
Many years ago, I had an Indian friend who taught me how to make curry and I grew to like turmeric, coriander, and ginger (fresh, of course), though I don’t often use them these days.
Learning how to make a proper paella introduced me to saffron. It gives such a nice flavor to rice, but, of course it is hideously expensive for obvious reasons.
Mexican dishes were also an eye-opener. So many people think it’s all hot chilis, and have no idea so many other spices are used: cilantro, cumin, and oregano, are commonly used in Mexican cuisine, especially soups and stews. Chilis are often a component, of course, but there is a very wide range in terms of how “hot” they are, and a lot depends, of course, on how much you use. I absolutely love poblano peppers, which are not hot at all. One of my absolute favorite recipes is roasted poblano peppers stuffed with ground pork & beef, + chopped fruit (I use canned which tastes fine in this recipe.) They are topped with walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds. Yum! I don’t eat much meat at all these days, but I would make an exception for this dish. I often make it around Christmas time. It’s very traditional on Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16th) because it has the colours of the Mexican flag. https://www.isabeleats.com/chiles-en-nogada/
Ortizzle--I don't use jalapenos for much, mainly guacamole and as a garnish for chili and burritos. I sometimes use them in marinades. Unfortunately, I'm not able to eat many spicy foods with this condition; nausea is a symptom that appears randomly.
DeleteI use a lot of different spices and spice blends. I'm a big fan of Penzey's, the online retailer for spices. They have very fresh spices and make excellent blends. They also have small trial size packs, most around 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce and under $3. I love using curry, Chinese Five Spice, cumin, and garam masala, among others. And I come from a home where onion salt, garlic salt, and Lawry's Season Salt were the only seasonings used. I have a huge spice cupboard and use it liberally but calculatedly.
It is almost impossible to get fresh poblanos here, and I'm always surprised and dismayed. Our county has a huge PR and Mexican population. Maybe they are getting to the stores early and grabbing them up!
I know that authentic Mexican food is fresh, lovely, and vastly different than what most people think it is. Taco Bell is NOT authentic Mexican, nor is super hot spicy stuff. I'm not usually a fan of meat and fruit, but I'm willing to taste anything. I wish, I wish, I wish we lived closer to one another!
I checked out Penzey's and am intrigued by their offerings. Very expensive, but spices are just pricey in any case. I checked to see if this brand was sold on Amazon for comparison purposes: it is, but Penzey's website actually has lower prices. Go figure. And guess what else? I further discovered that Penzey's actually has physical stores. Sadly, many went out of business during the pandemic, but there are a few still operating. And... one of them is about 2 miles from where I live! Imma trot over there to check it out and scoop up a special spice or two. Saves shipping costs, as well. 😊 — And yeah, I really really really wish we lived closer to one another, too. We sure would have a good old time in the kitchen, wouldn't we? Not to mention a lot of other stuff we have in common. 🥰
DeleteO--Penzey's is worth it. They're very fresh, and they really pack those jars. I'm so glad there's one so close to you! They're also aligned with our political values.
DeleteFirst, Penzeys is such a gem! I've only been in one actual store while traveling. Usually I'm ordering online. I've gifted a lot from them. And they're pretty amazing in saying and doing the right things.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea about barbecue rosemary! You are always teaching me things. At first, I thought that must be the variety that is used to make the adorable Christmas trees as it grows straight up but my quick reserach showed that basically any rosemary can be cut and shaped to be a tree. Is that right?
I can imagine the joy your herbs must bring to you and you know that I think your pesto is simply amazing. But I'm sure everyone says that. Yes, pesto flatbread is a heavenly treat.
Shirley--I order online, too. They might still have a store at Cleveland's West Side Market, but since I order so much stuff, I easily make their free shipping quota. And I love to give their stuff as gifts, especially to Jared, who is the cook at his house.
DeleteBarbecue rosemary is a cultivar of upright rosemary that has very strong and woody stems that can be used as skewers. I like it because it's sturdy in the garden and very easy to strip, both fresh and dried. Upright rosemary has thinner, more flexible stems but tastes the same, as does all rosemary. I prefer all upright rosemary because I have limited space and it also keeps it off the ground where it could get pests and fungus. The rosemary most often used for topiary, like Christmas trees, is Tuscan blue, but yes, most rosemary can be trained into a shape.
Thanks for the kind words about my pesto! I froze a bit, so I won't be completely bereft, but I always look forward to summer almost entirely for basil (and lake time).
I bet your little garden area smells divine!
ReplyDeleteAt our old house, I had a giant rosemary plant, and it must have been a variety that wasn't used because it took over a large area! I always thought rosemary smelled like Christmas, and now I'm not sure exactly why that is.
How awesome that you have had some of your staples for many years; they just keep doing their thing.
Currently, I only have basil growing. However, aside from herbs, I currently have a tomato plant and a lemon and lime bush that are producing well.
Nance, I love Basil so much that I could wear it as perfume. My favorite thing to eat is a salad made with fresh basil, tomatoes, and a slab of mozzarella cheese. YUM! I envy the amount of pesto you create!
Suz--I always say that about my herbs; I think they smell so beautiful and natural. If I wore basil, I'd be hungry all the time! I used to toss a big bunch of herbs in my bath, but I started to feel a bit like I was making Me Soup.
DeleteRosemary has a very piney scent, so it's natural that you'd associate it with Christmas. I often cut some if there's any still left in the garden and bring it inside to mix with other greenery for my mantel or dining table. I wish you'd have dug out some of that rosemary and taken it with you! Then again, you can get a rosemary plant anyplace and put one in where you want it.
I love a good caprese salad, too. That must be why I like that flatbread I mentioned above with pesto, marinated tomatoes, and fresh mozz. And I would love it if I had lemons and limes in my yard!