My Life with Herbs

People often ask me where my inspiration comes from in using herbs to cook with; and I have to say that it was all started by a fluke. You see the garden I had was pretty big and as I got older was really getting tired of having to work several hours each day on those rows of corn, beans and tomatoes. So the next logical thing to do was to add things that needed little care and were able to be there year after year without replanting.

I had already put in a border of flowers around the outside and down the middle but wanted more useful things besides just for show. So the next step was planting herbs. Boy was I ever surprised at the result!
The first year I planted two kinds of Sage, Lemon Verbena, Chamomile and Chives. The second year I put in Rosemary, another Sage, another Chive, Mint and Parsley. The third year I put in Cilantro. By that time the Verbena was gone, and even though Chive is not perennial; was still surviving; due to a mild winter. The Sage however was humongous! It ended up becoming as large as a picnic table and almost as tall as me!

The real problem with planting a hardy perennial is that it can take over the whole blasted garden. This is what happened with the Mint. Now most of you that garden realize what I learned the hard way. Mint is an insidiously strong plant that can withstand almost any issue from drought to bugs to even burning….something I tried to do in my effort to rid myself of this pest. I had already tried digging it up; to no avail. It is a tuber; meaning it sends roots up from the bottom of the plant to another spot a short distance away from the mother plant. This makes a complex network of strong roots and is almost impossible to get rid of! After weeks of chopping, hoeing and digging found the end to my project and taught me a valuable lesson on gardening. A tough native plant can become a real problem if you don’t keep it in control. I have since learned that if you wish to have mint (I don’t!) to plant it in a container and then bury the container in the ground for easy culling should you wish to move or remove it. Just remember that the plant can hop over the side of the pot if you’re not careful!

As the herb patch in my garden flourished; I found that they not only tasted good in my soups and other dishes but they; for the most part; were a great help in becoming a “pest control”. I found that Sage is like mesquite; it is strong smelling and virtually impossible to kill; not tasty for grasshoppers and gets big enough to act like a live barrier to outside influences. I found that Parsley; although tasty to the caterpillar; will actually keep them off other plants like tomatoes if I plant enough! And the added benefit is that I am contributing to the Monarch butterfly world by doing so.
I also found that Garlic Chives is not tasty to anything in the animal world but humans. It has a delicious flavor and smells so strongly of Garlic that I sometimes use it instead of Garlic when I am out of the healthy bulb.

The world of herbs is an amazing place to visit. I have planted herbs for my canning needs; I have planted herbs for beauty such as Chamomile; and have even planted herbs for my cats. If you’ve never seen a cat enjoy Catnip you really haven’t been kind enough to your kitty. The Catnip plant is not a beautiful one and after a summer of your four legged friends wallowing all over the leggy plant; is quite an eyesore. But this useful herb is a joy for not only cats but us as well. The properties of Catnip; also called Catwort; are as a sedative, antispasmodic and can be used for insomnia, cramps and migraine headaches. A great way to use it is to put a couple of stems with leaves intact in boiling water to steep for 10 minutes. Catnip tea has been traditionally used as the more popular Valerian as a calming tea at the end of a hard day.

So when you plant the garden next spring take into account the valuable properties of herbs as not only a beautiful plant to add to the garden but a healthy alternative to our diet!