Once you are acquainted with the pleasing qualities and subtle flavors found only in garden-fresh herbs, having your supply of at least a part of those used becomes essential.
Start with the hardy perennial herbs, the beneficial ones. An excellent general rule to follow is to buy perennial plants instead of seeds. It takes too long to grow them from seeds, except for parsley, a short-lived perennial.
Mint
Mentha piperita, M. spicata, or M. rotundifolia
These and many other mints are the most versatile herbs. No herb collection is complete without them. The beautiful, soft, gray leaves of the apple mint are more extensive and rounder than those of more ordinary varieties, and its delicate flavor is fruity with a delicious tang.
Mint leaves are used with peas, new potatoes, lamb, jelly, and sauces. Leaves and tops are an excellent addition to many kinds of drinks and make an unusual flavor for ice cream. The individual taste should dictate which mint to use.
Culture—All the mints are vigorous, hardy, long-lived perennials, prefer rich, moist soil. Encircling their roots with a metal barrier will trap any wandering stolon.
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris
A native of southern Europe’s rocky, sunny hillsides, this thyme (pronounced time) is an erect, shrubby little evergreen to about 12 inches bearing inconspicuous flowers in whorls in loose, terminal clusters on wiry stems.
The bitter-tasting, fragrant, small gray-green leaves used in cooking, medicine, and perfume are ovate and slightly hairy. Thyme is the traditional accent for fish and shellfish chowders; it is perfect with turkey, chicken, or eggs.
Like most herbs, it should be added in moderation to recipes during the last stages, for if cooked too long, any herb may give a bitter taste to foods. Thyme also produces a volatile oil from the flowering tops, sometimes used in deodorants.
Culture—All varieties of thyme come quickly from seeds and like a well-limed soil with good drainage and full sun, but will tolerate some shade.
Chives
Allium sehoenoprasum
A member of the large onion family, chives are a well-known and widely-used herb that might be set as an edging in a bed along with the kitchen patio.
Spaced about six inches apart, the tiny bulbs, or divisions of clumps, will form a solid, neat line of green spears surmounted by attractive clover-like lavender flower heads during June and July.
They may also be started from seeds. Add the finely-cut leaves to any dish or salad in which a mild onion flavor is desired.
Culture—They prefer sun and well-drained soil but will grow almost anywhere. A complete shearing of the tubular green leaves all at once will retard future growth, for each hollow leaf grows directly from the bulb.
To help prevent heavy growth coarse, minor divisions may be taken for indoor use in winter or presented to interested friends.
Garden Sage
Salvia officinalis
Native to the Mediterranean region, this sage is an attractive background plant of lusty growth, two to three feet tall with erect, stiff stems and stalked gray-green, pebbled, or leathery-textured leaves.
This plant has been grown for many centuries in many lands, and it’s one of the herbs universally employed as a flavoring.
Sage is pungent in taste and flavor, but if used in moderation, it adds zest to sauces, cheese dips, fish, stewed meats and vegetables, and to poultry, pork, and other stuffings.
Culture—Cuttings, layering, or root division may increase sage. It needs an open sunny spot and watering through drouths. The dwarf garden sage (Salvia officinalis lavandulifolia) is limited, making it a neater and more compact plant.
Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
Introduced into England about 1548, parsley was and still is considered a “must.” It is indispensable as a potherb, fine herbs and salad green valued for its vitamin C and iron content.
As an edging for flower beds, there is nothing more attractive than a line of intensely frilled parsley with its deep rich green color. Greek and Roman poets praised the plant and wreaths and garlands of it crowned the athletes.
Culture – Parsley tolerates any garden soil, light shade, and dryness. Cut back regularly, not allowed to set seed and lightly protected, the plants stay green throughout the winter.