Herb gardening is getting more and more popular day-after-day, and for a good reason. Herbs have practical value, serve a purpose, and with herb gardening you can really use your plants. When most people think of herb gardening they automatically think about cooking, but herbs are as well grown for their pleasant scent and their beauty.
One important part of herb gardening is drying the herbs for use during the winter months, particularly if you plan on cooking with them. First the tops of leafy herbs have to be cut, washed, and hung up for the water to evaporate. Then, tie stems together and hang up in a paper bag to dry. After two to three weeks they must be removed; tumble the leaves, dry them out in the oven, and store in a glass jar.
Among the most usual herbs grown in herb gardening is basil. "Dark Opal" and regular green basil are beautiful add-ons to any garden and oftentimes used for decoration. Dark Opal has light pink blossoms and dark red leaves. Basil is not only used for its looks; it is also used for special flavor in tomato juices and pastes.
Chives are very tiny looking and resemble a blade of grass. They are much stronger than they look, however, and will grow good through a drought and a drought. Their toughness and sturdiness makes Chives a perfect plant for herb gardening, especially if the gardener does not want plants that require a lot of hassle. Chives are good used in salads, egg dishes, and a lot of different sauces.
Mint is also very easy to grow and is fine to use in mint jelly, mint juleps, lemonade, and any other sort of fruity beverage. Mint is also good in herb gardening for its unique minty aroma. Two herbs that come along in almost everyone’s herb garden are thyme and sage. Both of these herb gardening favorites are used for flavoring soups, chicken, turkey, pork, and other sausages. Sage is also grown sometimes for its beautiful blue spiked flowers.
Lavender is believably the best smelling herb in all of herb gardening and is oftentimes used in candles, as a perfume scent, and to improve the smell in linen chests. The light purple flowers smell absolutely lovely.
Other types of herbs often grown in herb gardening include borage (used in salads), chervil (used in egg dishes), sweet marjoram (flavors lamb, fish, salad, and soup), sesame (flavors crackers, cookies, and bread), and dill (flavors meats and used in pickles). Herb gardening allows gardeners to use herbs from their own garden for cooking, looks, and smell. Herb gardening will produce much fresher herbs with more flavor than store-bought herbs, and are a lot cheaper.
