Your Kitchen Herb Garden
If you love to cook, you will probably want to start you own culinary herb garden. Most folks keep these somewhere near their back door so that they can dash outside for a couple of sprigs while they are cooking.
So when you’re planning your kitchen herb garden think about what you like to cook and begin with the herb plants that are included in your favorite recipes.
Some nice herbs for your kitchen garden are:
- Chives: These are one of the simplest herb plants to cultivate and cook with. From seed to cooking pot, these are touble-free all the way around. You can snip off the tops of the herb and it will keep on growing. Chives can certainly wake up the other tastes in your meals.
- Dill: Anyone can cultivate dill—you don’t even need a green thumb. They love full-sun and well-drained sod, but be sure to snip off the tops before they go to seed so that they will not spread all over your yard. The leaves, stems, and seeds are all good to eat. Try adding some dried dill seed to your tuna or chicken salad.
- Cayenne Pepper: This hot and spicy herb can grow to about 3 feet high, so be mindful of placement when you plant it. Although it will get large in the summer, it will die during winter months if your climate gets frost, so do not leave it outside. When starting out with cayenne pepper, you do not have to purchase it, you can begin with seeds indoors and then plant the young pepper plant outside. As your herb grows and begins to bear its fruit, keep an eye on it so that you don’t let it over-ripen.
- Tarragon: Tarragon has a brilliant flavor and aroma. Adding just a little to your chicken salad or a mayonnaise-based vegetable dip will create a stir among your guests, and even in your own mouth. Don’t worry about buying seeds, pick-up young plants from the nursery, greenhouse or home improvement store and go from there, snipping off leaves as you need to use them. You’ll also want to keep the plant trimmed back, so if you need to give it a manicure and do not have anything on the menu that calls for tarragon; you can also freeze it for the future.
- Cilantro: If you aren’t using cilantro already in your burritos, tacos or salsa, you’re missing out on the rising star of Tex-Mex. You can successfully grow cilantro from seeds and harvest leaves in any month of the year, which you can add to your mouth-watering Mexican entrees. Cilantro will also grow well indoors during winter months. As you prepare to use your cilantro in cooking, harvest leaves from the bottom first because they have the best flavor.
- Welch Onions: Although these onions are little, don’t count them out, because their mild flavor is reminiscent of scallions. I’ve used them in meals more for their appearance than any other quality. Leave plenty of room for your Welch onion because they tend to grow in large clumps.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Fresh Herb Gardening. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
Tags: fresh herb gardening, gardening, growing kitchen herb gardens, herbs, kitchen
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