Everyone who contemplates a few herbs in the garden wants to grow tarragon. However, beginners may not know that the desired form is the French tarragon, sometimes called “estragon.” It is the base for the famous vinegar essential for tartar sauce, French green salads, and many fish sauces. Occasionally, tarragon seed is offered, but it … Read more
If there’s one commodity we won’t be short on, it’s bamboo sprouts. Some years ago, we received it from Beltsville. Maryland station of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some roots of yellow-groove bamboo, Phyllostachys aureosulcata. They grew and grew, and they spread and spread! In fact, they would still be spreading, except that we cut … Read more
If you’ve never grown herbs, by all means, set aside a section of your garden, or borders along a path, or a little area not too far from your kitchen door for this useful, happy kind of gardening. Scent Of Spicy Herbs In Your Garden You’ll enjoy the scent of spicy herbs as you walk … Read more
Just outside my kitchen door, green, feathery, hardy plants have stood throughout the winter, offering health-giving leaves which are as good as a whole bottle of pills. I merely brush aside snow to find sprigs of parsley still green and full of life. The astonishing fact is that parsley rates 22,500 units of vitamin A … Read more
One of the plants closely associated with the Christmas story, and particularly with the manger in Bethlehem, is our lady’s bedstraw, a plant found rather commonly in the wild and with increasing frequency in our gardens. Popular belief and legend ascribe many pleasing associations to the Blessed Virgin and wildflowers. These are reflected in such … Read more
What happened to the rosemary that blended its silvery fragrance with the holly and mistletoe Once part of the holiday celebration, rosemary has been forgotten as a Christmas decoration. An ancient Christmas legend tells that Mary spread the washing of the infant Jesus over a rosemary bush to dry. The bush responded by becoming aromatic … Read more
Before the landing of the Pilgrims, the Indians on Cape Cod were dependent on the wild herbs for food, simples, and dyes. The Pilgrim women brought herb seeds from their home gardens to plant in the new land. Indians and Pilgrims As Indians and Pilgrims became better acquainted, each taught the other various uses for … Read more
Many of the plants in our kitchen or herb gardens are as familiar as the palm of a hand, or as comfortable as an old shoe — thyme and marjoram, summer savory, rosemary and rue, sweet basil, and parsley. For kitchen and still room, dressing table and apothecary shop knew them of old. As humble … Read more
The enticing scents of herbal teas a-brewing are reminiscent of a past wherein life’s needs were simple, its course directed by humble wisdom. Somewhere along the way, we have lost the charm of the aroma of fragrant teas steaming in a porcelain pot and of delicate china cups arranged cozily by a geranium-filled window. Different … Read more
The annual kitchen or pot herbs always have been favorites with home gardeners. In most instances, a few plants of each kind produced from a packet of seed suffice to serve the average family’s needs. There are many annual herbs, but the basils, dill, chervil (the gourmet’s parsley), and summer savory may be considered first … Read more