Herbs

Fresh culinary herbs, straight out of the garden are a must have.  Even the smallest windowsill garden can provide fresh herbs for cooking.  Most require a warm, sunny location in the garden but not necessarily the most fertile soils as they are quite easy to grow.  Our herbs are all offered in 9cm pots throughout the growing season. 

Onions, garlic and chives all belong to the Allium group and all parts of the plants are edible from the sweet mildly onion or garlic flavoured flowers to the bulbs/roots and leaves. Shallow rooted plants they require soils on the moisture retentive side and good fertility is a good idea.  Forms to try that we offer are the giant Asian and regular Garlic Chives, Siberian Garlic, regular Chives, Welsh Onion and the garlic tasting but not public offending Society Garlic.  

By far the most popular herb for fresh use is Basil.  These heat lovers can only be offered mid to late May into June to ensure that your plants will not be exposed to low temperatures which will stunt them and make them bolt to flowering.  Grow in a warm sunny site, with good soil fertility for best leaf production.  Varieties cover the classic Genovese and Giant Smooth Italian perfect for pesto production and for Asian cooking the Lemon and Siam Queen are popular.  For that ornamental touch to a mixed vegetable container add Basil Red Rubin, not as large growing as the green leaf ones but still has good flavour.

The other group of essentials are the Parsley these short lived perennials can tolerate a wide range of conditions though ideal is sun to semi-shade in fertile soils that are well drained but moisture retentive.  There are a number of forms from the traditional moss curled used mostly as a garnish to the real cooking Italian flat leaf types we have a giant form and the standard to choose from.  Chervil is often used as a parsley substitute with its sweeter almost liquorice type flavour, great in salads to sweeten bitter tasting greens.

Cilantro is an essential for Mexican cooking while the seed known as Coriander is used a lot in Asian cuisine.  This plant prefers a cooler growing season and is a short lived annual, several plantings may be required to maintain the plant in the garden during a season though it does self seed.  Look for the Topf cultivar as it has been bred for container use, tolerating heat and is more compact in form.

Another staple herb is Dill both the flowers and foliage is used in cooking.  Grow in a sunny, cool location in soils that are moisture retentive but well drained and fertile.  Bulbing fennel has a similar look to Dill when young and the fine foliage with a mild liquorice type flavour is added to the food, later the bulb or stem can be harvested and cooked to add an anise like flavour to the meal.  Both these plants add a lovely fine texture to the garden and their flowers attract a lot of pollinators.

Mints or Mentha are one of the few shade loving perennial herbs.  Needing to be contained in a small garden they can be grown in pots as long as they are re- potted every year (this means breaking up the clump and taking the pieces at the edge of the pot to replant with).  Slower growing is Ginger Mint with its variegated foliage and Apple Mint with its fuzzy soft green coloured leaves both of these are milder flavoured than the classic Peppermint used for teas and Spearmint the most popular for cooking with.  For slightly unusual fragrances try Eau de Cologne Mint or Chocolate Mint (smells somewhat like an After Eight candy). 

There is a large group of Mediterranean herbs that like the sun and well drained soils including Lavender, Oregano, Marjoram, Rosemary, Sage and Thyme.  They are mainly perennials some forming small evergreen shrubs making them ideal for year round harvesting.  Container culture is perfect for these plants provided they can be placed in a south facing, protected location in the winter.  Both the flowers and the foliage is edible on these plants and are staples in many types of cuisine.

There are a number of other herbs grown for various purposes like Stevia with its sugary taste to the foliage with no calories, Summer Savory an essential to cook with beans, Chamomile for its calming tea, Fenugreek with its nutty flavour to add to Indian cooking or salads and French Tarragon a staple in French cuisine.