Growing Herbs

Get nursery plants of your favorites herbs in early spring to add special flavor to your summer crops. Tucked in the garden or growing in containers, fresh herbs provide fragrance and flavoring. Herbs include annuals, biennials, or perennials, but most of them thrive in full sun and in soil that is not too rich. (Too rich a soil dissipates their flavor.) Some of the most popular and useful herbs are listed here.

How to plant

Plant seeds of annual herbs in the ground or indoors in containers in the spring. If your soil tends toward acidity, add lime. Sow, thin, and cultivate as you would for vegetables. Nursery plants are practical if you only want a few. Perennial herbs are usually sown in seed boxes and transplanted to flats or pots, from which they are planted into the garden. Many of them, such as rosemary and marjoram, are propagated from cuttings as well as from seeds. French tarragon does not produce seeds and can be grown from cuttings only.

Care

Herbs appreciate moderate amounts of complete fertilizer.

Harvesting and preserving

Herbs to be dried and stored should be harvested when they have dried. Strip the leaves from the stem, remove flower heads, and place the leaves loosely and thinly on trays with mesh bottoms through which air can freely circulate. The room in which the leaves are dried should be warm and dry, with no direct sunlight reaching the trays. Stir the leaves each morning for four or five days or until they are completely dry; then put them in airtight containers, such as glass jars. Or hang herbs in small bundles to dry.

	Basil Sweet basil is a bushy annual that is easy to grow. The leaves and tender tips are spicy and flowerlike in flavor and odor. A few plants can be potted in the fall and brought indoors for winter use. Use basil fresh or dried. Basil needs sun, average moisture, and light, well drained soil. Plant seeds each month for a steady supply of the herb. Pinch out tips and flowers to keep plants bushy. Plants will produce two large crops a year.
	Bay This is actually a mild climate tree (sweet bay or Laurus nobilis), the leaves of which are used for flavoring. Leaves of the California bay can be substituted. Buy plants from a nursery, for seeds take a long time to germinate. This tree is frequently grown in large tubs on the patio. Many gardeners keep the head clipped in a rounded form.
	Dill Dill is an annual whose leaves and seeds are used fresh or dried. Broadcast seed in spring after danger of frost is past. The spot should receive full sun and have good, well drained soil. Thin the plants to 12 inches apart when they are 2 to 3 inches high. Or sow them in containers at least 10 inches deep. Pinch off leaves to use any time after the plants are large enough to spare the foliage.
	Marjoram This tender plant is a perennial in mild winter areas. Elsewhere, it’s grown outdoors as an annual or indoors in containers. It is a bushy little plant about 2 feet high, with soft foliage and white flowers in knotted clusters. Use the leaves fresh or dried. Marjoram likes full sun and fairly moist soil. Keep blossoms cut off and the plant trimmed to prevent woody growth. Propagate from seeds, cuttings, or root divisions.
	Mint There are many kinds of mint in popular use. The most common is the perennial spearmint, which grows to 2 feet tall and has dark green leaves with leafy spikes of purplish flowers. Use it fresh. Mint takes full sun or partial shade. With adequate moisture, it spreads rapidly by underground stems. It is advisable to contain the roots in a box or pot to keep them from taking over the garden. Propagate mint from runners.
	Oregano Also known as wild marjoram, this perennial grows to 2′/s feet tall. Medium sized leaves are oval shaped; blooms are purplish pink. Although oregano is best fresh, you can also use it dr Oregano likes sun, medium rich soil, good drainage, and average watering. Keep the plant trimmed to prevent flowering. Replant every three years.
	Rosemary This half hardy perennial has a sweet, fragrant scent, and the shrubs themselves are ornamental. Foliage is gray green; the flowers pale to dark blue depending on the variety. Shrubs reach 3 to 5 feet tall, but a spreading form is flatter. Rosemary requires full sun and well drained, gravelly soil that isn’t too rich. The plant is drought resistant and can be propagated from cuttings.
	Sage This is a shrubby perennial. The common form has gray green leaves with blue flowers. These varieties grow about 2 feet tall. Sage likes sun and poor soil. It is fairly drought resistant. Cut the plant back after it blooms. Fertilize if you cut it continually. Divide the plants every three to four years. Propagate sage from cuttings or grow the common variety from seed it germinates easily.
	Savory There are two kinds of savory an annual summer type and a perennial winter type. Most popular is the summer savory, an 18-inch annual that grows easily from seed. The leaves of both kinds are narrow and green and are usable fresh or dried. Savory likes full sun, an adequate amount of moisture, and light soil. Clip at the start of the flowering season for drying.
	Tarragon Two kinds: the fragrant and flavorful French tarragon, grown from cuttings; and the Russian grown from seeds. The only way to be sure you have the French kind is to bruise a leaf to test for strong fragrances. This kind grows into a perennial bush about 2 feet tall that dies back to the ground each winter. This hardy plant thrives even in poor soil as long as its well drained. Give it sun and normal watering.
	Thyme There are many kinds of thyme, all perennials and easy to grow. Some kinds grow 8 to 12 inches high; others form a mat close to the ground that you can walk on. Plant thyme in sun in light, sandy soil that is moderately dry (thyme thrives in hot, dry places where most other plants fail). Prune after flowering. Replant every three years. Thyme grows well from tip cuttings taken in spring and grows easily from seeds.

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