[Garden]Need info for growing & using herbs

[tropicalfish]

My dear, sweet, wonderful hubby surprised me last evening with buying me several different kinds of herb plants. I am so excited, but I'm lost.

Below is the list of the herbs that were bought. I live in zone 5.
1. How and where should these herbs be planted, garden? container?
2. Is there any special care for them?
3. What can they be used for? medicinal? culinary?
4. If planted outside in the garden, should any of them be brought in for the winter months?

In other words, I don't know what I'm doing now that I've got them and I need as much information as possible so I don't kill them, and I can put them to good use.

peppermint
chamomile
lettuce leaf basil
Italian marjoram
"Sativa" French Tarragon
catnip
Genovese Basil
lemon balm
pineapple sage
fern leaf lavender
curly parsley
Rosemary
spearmint
Greek oregano
aloe vera
German thyme
chives

Thank you very much. I appreciate your help.

 

[Vicki]

My dear, sweet, wonderful hubby surprised me last evening with buying me several different kinds of herb plants. I am so excited, but I'm lost.

Below is the list of the herbs that were bought. I live in zone 5.
1. How and where should these herbs be planted, garden? container?
2. Is there any special care for them?
3. What can they be used for? medicinal? culinary?
4. If planted outside in the garden, should any of them be brought in for the winter months?

With that list, you're asking for alot of typing fish! I'll try...

peppermint - anywhere outside that you can handle an evasive plant. It will spread like crazy and doesn't mind shade. A boxed in spot is ideal. Give it room and it will like moist areas. It can be used in teas and all kinds of food dishes. It is what I call a catalyst when used with other herbs and is stimulating. I chop it up fresh and put it in some salad type dishes.

chamomile - another to plant outside and also a spreader. Likes sun and forms a nice short bush but can also be evasive. Wonderful tea dried that relaxes your senses. Nice in baths too.

lettuce leaf basil - culinary and annual in our area. You can gather seed and replant them next year. Likes sun and helps the other plants around it. Also keeps away some bugs from other plants.

Italian marjoram - culinary as well and I keep mine in a hanging basket. Mine comes back if brought inside but I had to replant after a couple of years. Tastes real nice.

"Sativa" French Tarragon - culinary but I planted mine outside in a protected area. Comes back each year. Wonderful on eggs.

catnip - Nice tea dried, great for headaches and a nervine, muscle relaxer. Comes back every year, I planted mine around the side of the house. Mint family so it helps keep away ants. Good for kids in tea form.

Genovese Basil - same as other basil I would think

lemon balm - Mine has gone crazy. It forms a beautiful bush but can be evasive as well. Wonderful tea in winter for a pick me up. History tells us that lemon Balm "makes the heart glad" and it smells wonderful. Tolerates some shade but prefers sun.

pineapple sage - comes back every year, grows outside, makes a wonderful tea dried especially for hot flashes. Culinary, clears the mind and probably helps sinus's. History says "Eat sage in may, won't die anytime soon".

fern leaf lavender - (don't know the fernleaf variety but lavender in general ) outside, likes dryer soil, sun, smells wonderful, can be used in teas, baths, good for headaches, finely grounded in cookies, etc. Has many uses.

curly parsley - outside, sun, mine comes back every year although it's planted in somewhat protected areas. Loaded with iron and used in many food dishes. Tabouli calls for 3 cups and I eat that often so I have tons of parsley.

Rosemary - need to bring this inside in the winter here (I'm also in zone 5) likes dryer conditions, sun, smells wonderful, good for the mind and memory, shouldn't eat it more than 3 times per week. Great in roasts.

spearmint - same as peppermint

Greek oregano - makes a beautiful bush, culinary, likes sun, great in tomato dishes, easy to grow.

aloe vera - Container plant, inside, likes dryer conditions, sun, heals and sooths burns quickly.

German thyme - Outside, sun, comes back every year. History says you can eat Thyme any"time", has mild antibiotic tendencies, culinary favorite of mine.

chives - outside sun where it can spread, use like onion in any dishes but especially salads and on baked potatoes.

>>Thank you very much. I appreciate your help. <<

You're very welcome!

Vicki

 

[Flagwaver]

Your husband should get the "Husband of the Year Award" for that! He must appreciate your cooking.

I grow many herbs and have some experience.

Many herbs originate in the Mideast so they tend to like soil that is not rich, but poor. Sounds crazy I know, but it is true. You can plant them in your yard and they will love it. Many herbs animals do not like. Exception parsley of course.

Plant your pepper and spearmint inside a tire or surrounded by metal stuck a few inches into the ground. Trust me. Mint will grow like illegal immigrant populations! It will overgrow into everything else you have. Keep it separated by a wall, concrete path or something. I love mint, but it must be controlled. Same thing with immigrants.

Most people ignore this advice and regret it later. Me, for one.

Basil is wonderful stuff! Look up pesto recipe on google. It is an annual so don't expect it to live through the winter even in a pot. If anyone here knows how to keep it going let me know. I hate the thought of one day not having any to buy and not knowing how to keep mine going.

You want to use your herbs often to keep them pinched back. You do not want them to flower. Taste is better if you keep working the plant.

Pineapple sage makes good cookies. It also grows big and makes the prettiest tiny red flowers you ever saw in the fall months. Plant it where it will have plenty of room.

Your husband got you the best parsley (curly type) for making tabouli (on google). Yum! The flat leaf type is most often used for flavoring food in cooking.

You can make your own soap using the chamomile and lavender.

Fresh tarragon is great on baked chicken or chicken cooked in crockpot.

Take sprigs of rosemary and put on plate when having roast beef. The aroma is wonderful!

Some of your herbs will grow through the winter, but not all. But they don't need much care really.

The oils in the herbs make the flavor.

I chop fresh oregano, basil for my tomato sauces. Important: chop and add herbs near the end of cooking for best flavor.

Pineapple Sage Cookie recipe

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 T. dried pineapple sage leaves, crushed

Sift tog. flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients and beat well. Mix in pineapple sage. Drop from a teaspoon 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Variations: use lemon thyme or lemon verbena in place of pineapple sage. Yields about 2 dozen cookies.

Now, off to eat some peanut butter cookies I made yesterday! This got me hungry.

 

[Tweakette]

The mints, lavender, chamomile, sage, and chives can all be planted outside in a spot that you'd premanently like them as they all have a good chance of overwintering depending on your location. The chamomile will self seed, too, so even if you lose the main plant you'll get little ones.

Rosemary does well in a large pot on the deck. I grow the other stuff (I have most of those, too) in one of those half-whiskey barrel containers just outside the back door.

Mint IS invasive. I put mine in a bottomless pot in the ground and it *still* escaped. I have 4 kinds (pineapple mint, ginger mint, spearmint, and peppermint) and it's all over the place.

Basil won't make it through the winter, it's very tender. I think rosemary is too.
I'm in Vermont and can't overwinter thyme, oregano, or marjoram up here either.
These I either bring in or just give up on.

Hope that helps,
Tweak

 

[Flagwaver]

Vicki and Tweak, have either of you ever figured out a way to propagate basil?

If we ever get into a tetowaki situation where we cannot buy it, and then what we have dies - they will be no more great eating with that herb. There's got to be a way to propagate it ourselves from one season to the next.

 

[spinner]

Basil is easily grown from seeds. Most places that sell seeds sell several kinds of basil seeds. Let one plant flower and set seeds to save for next season.

spinner

 

[Flagwaver]

Thank you Spinner. Do you know if anyone carries non-hybrid basil seeds?

I guess I need to let some of my basil go to seed and see how it looks for saving. But it needs to be non-hybrid I would think or it won't go far, right?

 

[Tweakette]

It goes to see at the end of the summer. I've never collected the seed but it would probably be pretty easy to collect. I usually harvest the basil right before the flowers start (heard that the plant taste is most potent then).

Tweak

 

[Vicki]

I saved seed last year from virtually every plant I had and close to all came up this year except the basil. I'm still waiting for life but I'm afraid it's been too long now and it was for knot. I will try again this year on a couple of different varieties. We'll see!

Vicki

edited to add... I did have basil growing inside most of last winter and lost it early this spring. I wasn't gentle with it though so maybe next time I will be.

 

[tropicalfish]

Thank you all so much for your time and energy put in to these posts. I know that was a lot of typing, but very, very much appreciated. I am printing this thread so I have it for a reference. I keep trying to comprehend it right now, but so worried about my grandson that I'm only reading words. After things slow down with my grandson, I'll get back in here and discuss this some more.
Thanks

 

[summerthyme]

A couple of clarifications, although some of this may be because of different interpretations of "common" names.

Pineapple sage is a tender perennial. No way it will come back in zone 5 if outwintered. I suspect it could be handled the same as Rosemary, which will survive if pruned back and kept in the root cellar over the winter.

Regular sage (common sage) will overwinter nicely. Mine is blooming right now- gorgeous!

Parsley is a biennial- it will come back in the spring- once- but will go to seed soon after. If it's planted where you don't disturb the soil (I put mine right in the vegetable garden, so it doesn't work for me) it will self seed and provide you with plants for a little later the second summer.

Lemon Balm really can spread like crazy- similar to mints in that way. Except it ALSO self seeds- I've got clumps all over the farmstead now. Which is wonderful- we leave them where ever it's possible and I don't have to weed around them.

Catnip can behave much like lemon balm and mint- they're all related somehow. If you or your neighbors have cats, you might want to create a little cage over the plants when you transplant them, to protect them until they get established. You bruise them- it's unavoidable- when you handle them for transplanting, and the oils they release scream out to every cat in the neighborhood. Once they are established, they'll survive most of what the cats will do to them- including laying down and rolling on them!
The lavender may- or may not- overwinter. Munstead is the hardiest variety. Many others are quite tender in zone 5 and north.

Are you sure you don't have "fernleaf DILL"?

Greek oregano tends to overwinter poorly, unlike the common oregano. I'm going to try building a little windbreak for mine this year and try again. It's worth it, though- it's a wonderfully peppery, spicy herb. NO comparison to the common stuff.

Marjoram is tender as well in zone 5

If you're setting up an herb bed from scratch, the catnip and pineapple sage will be the tallest plants. The tarragon and lemon balm will be shorter, but in the 12"-18" range. Rosemary will be about that size by the season's end as well.

Chives will grow about that tall, but are spindlier and can be in front of the heavier plants- they'll stay in neat clumps for a long time.

The basils and lavender will end up a little over 12" in height. So will the parsley. The thyme and oregano are more sprawling, and can be allowed to climb around. I grow mine in tires and it crawls over the edge and covers them nicely.

OH- the aloe- pot it up and keep it inside! Maybe it's just me, but every time I move mine outside, it ends up looking like someone cooked it! It does eventually recover- sort of- but usually by just growing a bunch of new baby plants from the roots and base.

My son and DIL just put an aloe plant outside that someone gave them. It's not just me- their's is brown and looks boiled, too

However, if you want lots of new aloe plants, let someone "accidently" hit a good size one with a weed whacker. You'll have a dozen ore more babies before summer's end- it's survival instinct, I guess. Don't ask me how I know!

And I agree about your husband. Treat him well!

Summerthyme