Herbs

Having a good array of herbs available in the garden gives a good start to any dish we might think of preparing. Arriving back here in NZ at the end of winter, or is it the beginning of spring, I appreciate having a large choice of perennial herbs in the garden. They also look good in the garden.
The first group could be called the Italian herbs. Oregano, garlic chives, rosemary, sage and thyme. They provide the flavour for spaghetti sauces or pizza. Though it is hard to beat rosemary on roast lamb, or a bed of sage under the roast veges.

 

Then there are the herbs that go into a hearty soup or stew. The parsley self sows, and is perpetual without me having to think about it. My bay tree is getting rather large in spite of the yearly pruning it receives. The garlic I planted last autumn, so it has another few months to grow. The chives are looking very pretty at this time of the year with their purple flowers.

 

There are a handful of herbs for a refreshing cup of herbal tea. I would like to have lemon verbena, but I lost mine a few years ago. The pineapple sage flowers are reason enough alone to grow this herb. It does get scraggly sometimes and needs to have a good pruning regularly. The mint wanders around under the fruit trees where it can't get too out of control. The lemon balm self seeds a little too freely,but it means there is always a clump ready to harvest.

There are always a few flowers to brighten up a salad, like the calendulas and nasturtiums. The lavender gets chopped back after flowering and the trimmings go into drawers and closets to provide that traditional lavender perfume.

We do a lot of Thai cooking so couldn't do without our lime tree and lemon grass. The lemon grass always looks messy at the end of winter, but the clumps are always increasing in size to produce lots for cooking. Lemon grass tea is also delicious. The spring onions are always around. I try and move them to a new location every year or so when the clumps get large and need splitting up.

 

Then there is the black fennel which self seeds like crazy.It looks wonderful at this time of the year when the soft new growth is happening. And the seeds are delicious to chew on.

The annual herbs get started each spring. I grow several types of basil. The Italian large leaf basil is the best for pesto. The Thai basil for Thai cooking, though I would grow it just for the lovely purple flowers. I also grow a small leaf Greek basil that naturally mounds up and looks fantastic in the planter on the deck.

If the cilantro doesn't self seed I'll start more of that. It goes to seed so quickly some summers, that I try and start some every few weeks. The seeds we use as coriander in our curries-lightly toasted and freshly ground with a mortar and pestle.

We have a perennial chili pepper plant that has been producing chillies for about 8 yrs now.

I love my New Zealand garden for producing all these herbs. Most which don't require much work on my part and survive being neglected for a large part of the year.

 

Perpetual Parsley and other Herbs

Parsley is always in my garden, and I never have to plant it. Both in New Zealand and in Canada, it self seeds with abandon. Yes it is a biennial. That is, it produces leaves only the first year, then flowers the second year before dying. I find that if I let it go to seed it self seeds quite nicely. If the seedlings are in the wrong place, then in early spring it is easy to transplant them.I must have planted it originally, but now every year I have both last years plants flowering, and the new seedlings establishing themselves. The beneficial insects love the flowers.

 

I also have chives, both the regular chives with the pink flowers, and garlic chives with white flowers. Both can be divided as the clumps get bigger.

Thyme slowly spreads along the border. The bees love it when it is in flower. It also self seeds if it finds the spot to its liking. I've had it self seed abundantly in a gravel pathway.Lovely to walk on.

 

Oregano is more of a thug, spreading quickly where ever it can.

 

 

 

Not as bad as mint, which has been banished from the garden, and is growing where the lawn meets the wilderness. I have regular mint and chocolate mint.

Beebalm (bergamot) spreads its way through the garden, fighting it out with the other thugs. Red is my favourite here.

I usually grow some of my basil plants in a pot. The roots seem to enjoy the extra warmth, and I can keep them well watered and fertilised, which they appreciate.

I grow 2 kinds. Italian Basil which makes great pesto,

and Thai Basil, which I love for the flowers, and for cooking Thai food.

I keep the Italian basil picked free of flowers,so it will keep producing new leaves. The Thai basil I usually let it go to flower early on because it is so pretty.

Sometimes I'll grow a small leaf Greek basil. It forms perfect mounds of leaves, and looks like it has been trained to rounded globes. Four or five plants in a pot makes a very attractive planting for on the deck. It tastes good too.