Herb Listing

This is a general listing of in-store availability – however – this is continually changing and numerous other items can be special ordered upon request. Some herbs are perennial and some are annual varieties which can be over wintered indoors. Check with us if you have any questions.

             LATIN                         COMMON

Novels could be written about each herb listed above.  However, we'll start off with a couple for now (see below).  Check back to find more on the subject of "Herbs" or check the links below.

HERB HINTS

Twelve Basic Culinary Herbs

by Ruth Freeman

 Basil

Growing: Annual. Grows to 18”. Plant seed indoors in early spring or seeded directly into the garden once the soil has warmed; night temperatures are above 50 degrees. Germinates in 5 – 10 days. Plant 8– 10” apart. Needs rich soil, keep well watered, but make sure soil drains well. To encourage basil seedlings to produce more leaves and create a bushy plant, pinch out the growing tips of the top few branches. Pinching throughout the season yields a steady supply of young, tasty leaves.

Harvesting: Do not let it go to flower. Pick leaves and stems carefully so that the same plant will produce from mid June through September or even October.

Recipes:

Basil Pesto

Put one to two cups of basil leaves in a blender. Add two to four cloves of garlic, ½ to a full cup of parsley leaves. Blend and chop thoroughly, and then slowly add ¾ cup good olive oil. Add ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Blend all into a thick sauce. This sauce is perfect over any cooked pasta or noodles.

It is a fine addition (a tablespoon at a time) to any salad dressing; tasty spread for tomatoes; spread for sandwiches.

Basil Tomatoes

Slice tomatoes and arrange them on a deep plate. Dribble ½ and ½ olive oil and Balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes. Cut up basil leaves and sprinkle over tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Chives

Growing: Perennial clumps, easily grown from seed, started indoors in winter or earliest spring. Seeds take 19 to germinate at 60 degrees. Plants to well in sun or partial shade. Grow 2 feet apart and divide every year. Edible lilac flowers.

Harvesting: Cut them off close to the bottom of the plant instead of snipping at the tip ends of the plants. Trim off any yellow tips. Chive flowers are edible in salads, dipped in tempura batter and fried.

 Recipe: Chives are perfect for chive butter or in sour cream. Eight or 10 chive stems chopped up into a tuna salad will quickly add flavor. Also add them chopped to soup, salad, vegetables or omelets.

 Dill

Growing: Annual. Grows to 2 ½ feet. Plant seeds out after last frost. Soil should be 60 degrees. Requires light to germinate. Germination takes 14 days. Thin plants to 8” apart. Needs a sunny spot and protection from the wind.

Harvesting:

Harvest dill leaves or seeds. Dry extra dill not needed immediately. Fresh dill leaves can be used in place of dill seeds in almost any recipe.

Recipes: Dill Mayonnaise Salmon

Put salmon filets or steaks on a cookie sheet and cover the top with dill fronds. Spread a mixture of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard over the fish. Use one large tablespoon of mustard for each ½ cup Mayo. Broil the fish about 3” from the heat until fish flakes easily with a fork.

French Tarragon

Growing: Hardy perennial. Cannot be grown from seed. Grows 18-24” tall. Spreads. Needs sun and good drainage. Plant starts 12” apart. Tarragon plants lose their leaves in the winter.

Harvesting:

Takes half the season for tarragon bed to really produce well.

Recipe: Tarragon Chicken Salad

2 cups diced cold chicken

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup green gapes cut in half

¾ cup low fat mayonnaise

1 – 2 tablespoon chopped tarragon

Combine all ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly. Let stand on hour in refrigerator before serving.

NOTE: Excellent with chicken, eggs, and fish, tarragon is also savory seasoning for potatoes, spinach, peas and cauliflower.

 Mints

Growing: Perennials. Start Spearmint from seeds inside at 55 degrees. Seed germinates in 10 – 14 days. Needs light to germinate. Plant 18” apart. Will spread. Mints can grow in shady spots, need little care other than water. Cut plants back before they flower and they will produce a whole new crop and spread like crazy.

Harvesting:

Use stem ends with perfect leaves, not snail eaten or moldy.

Recipe: Zucchini with Mint

Grate or finely chop 6-8 small zucchini and sauté in 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add ¼ cup chopped spearmint or peppermint and sauté for a minute. Salt and pepper to taste.

 Oregano

Growing:Hardy perennial. Seeds can be started inside in the winter. Requires dark to germinate. Takes 14 days at 60 degree temperature. Greek oregano grows about 10” high. Plant 18” apart. Plant in a sunny spot.

Harvesting:

Oregano harvesting can be done easily by thumb and forefinger, or by using small scissors.

 Sweet Marjoram

Growing: Annual. Seeds can be started inside at 60 degrees or plant early spring after frost is gone. Needs dark to germinate. Takes 14 days. Plant in full sun 12” apart. Grows 12-18” tall.

Harvesting same as oregano.

Recipes: Simple Spaghetti or Pasta Sauce

4 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped oregano leaves

2 tablespoons chopped marjoram leaves

Salt to taste

Put all ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer 20 – 30 minutes. Serve over pasta with grated Parmesan cheese. Add a few more chopped green leaves with the cheese.

 Herb Butter

A delicious seasoning for French bread.

½ cup sweet butter

¼ cup finely chopped marjoram, oregano and basil leaves

Whip together in a food processor. Spread on sliced French bread before or after heating. For extra flavor add 1-2 cloves of garlic.

Parsley

Growing: Hardy biennial but needs to be planted every year. Soak seeds in hot water before planting. Seeds can take up to 21 days to germinate at 70 degrees. Partial shade is okay. Needs lots of moisture. Plant 8-10” apart.

Harvesting: Leaves. Clipping back will keep fresh tender growth.

Recipes: Parsley can be added to salads and soups.

 Rosemary

Growing: Seeds germinate slowly and sparely so is almost always grown from stem cuttings. Plant in full sun and protected. Hardy to only 10 degrees in winter temperatures. Plant 2-3 feet apart. Can grow up to 3 feet tall.

Harvesting: Use a sharp knife and cut new growth. It is easier to cut long stems on younger plants because rosemary becomes quite woody with age.

Recipe:Oven Fries with Rosemary

Cut 3 baking potatoes into 8 wedges each. Place potatoes in an oiled oven proof dish and put ¼ cup good olive oil over all. Then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary. Cover the dish and cook for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven, uncover, turn the potatoes, turn up the oven to 425 and cook for another 10 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown. NOTE: rosemary goes well with pork, lamb, chicken as well as potatoes and carrots. Since rosemary has a strong flavor many chefs place sprigs on top of a dish as it is cooking. Dipping a rosemary branch in olive oil, then brushing over the meat can baste meats.

 Sage

Growing: Hardy perennial, sage grows at least 2 feet tall. It grows from seeds. Seeds germinate in 14 days at 65 degrees. Sage requires full sun for growing.

Harvesting: Leaves.

Recipe: Sage Biscuits

2 cups of flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1-teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely minced sage leaves

1/3-cup oil

2/3-cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, make a hole in the center and add the liquid. Stir only until well mixed. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 12-12 minutes until the tops are lightly browned.

 French Sorrel

Growing:Hardy perennial. Grows 12” tall. Plant 12” apart. Requires 10 days to germinate at 65 degrees. Grow in partial shade. Slugs and snails adore it. Sorrel sends up thick flower stalks all the time; keep these cut off to encourage more tender leaf growth. Plant sorrel 12” apart; they will need dividing every couple of years. Plants do best in cool weather.

Harvesting: Flavor is better from smaller leaves. Stems are not edible. Cut back completely so that new, more tender leaves will grow.

Recipe: Sorrel Soup

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 medium potatoes

2 cups washed, chopped sorrel

1 cup chopped onion

3 cups chicken stock

1-cup low fat milk

Sauté the onions until quite wilted, then add the chopped sorrel and sauté another minute or two. Meanwhile, wash, peel, and slice potatoes. Add them to the pan with the onions plus the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer 25-30 minutes until potatoes are tender. Put through blender. Return to pan. Stir in milk and reheat if you are serving the soup hot, or chill it to serve cold. Don’t bring it to a boil after adding milk.

 Thyme

Growing: Perennial that is hardy in all but the most severe winters, where it must be mulched. Seeds germinate in the dark in 14 to 20 days at 70 degrees. Plants need full sun and grow 12” high. Thyme plants grow like miniature shrubs with tiny leaflets all over them and little pale flowers in summer. They’ll need replacing about every 3 years as they get woody.

Harvesting: Stems, leaves, flower buds and blossoms. If stems become woody use only the leaves. Flowers are edible.

Recipes: Thyme leaves can add zip to all sorts of soups and salads or any slow cooked meat dish.

Sautéed Onions with Thyme

Slice one pound of onions while melting 2-3 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a pan. If the thyme is tender stemmed, add 2 tablespoons finely chopped leaves and stems. Let the thyme cook for 2-3 minutes in the butter, then add the sliced onions, stir and cook for at least 20-30 minutes until onions start to brown. This makes a good side dish to go with roasted  meats or a fine pizza topping.

 Drying: Air-drying takes about a week (with no humidity) and the area must be in a dry, well ventilated room, possibly over a garage. A dehydrator especially for drying herbs can be purchased at Home Hardware or Wal-Mart for about $60. In a dehydrator herbs take about 3 hours to dry.  Store dried herbs in an airtight ceramic container.  If you have room in your home herbs can be brought in during the winter months and keep you with a fresh supply of herbs all winter long.

Lavender

Lavender has a wonderful fragrance. It's color is legendary and it's healing properties continue to be studied.  In early history, lavender-filled sachet bags scented clothing and repelled moths and mosquitoes indoors. The ancient Greeks and Romans scented their bath water with lavender, which is where its name came from. 'Lavender' is derived from the Latin 'lavare,' meaning to wash.

 Lavender is a member of the mint family and was used historically as a cure-all to relieve symptoms of many ailments, from headaches to indigestion. The Roman armies took lavender with them to treat wounds and was it used as late as World War I to treat war wounds.

Victorians loved lavender, formulated a liquid spray of lavender and spritzed their linens, calling it ironing water. This trend is making a comeback because linen water is becoming very popular. Victorian ladies scented linens and lingerie with lavender to help with their health and combat the 'vapors", we use lavender just because it smells so wonderful.

Growing Garlic is Easy

Growing garlic is easy and rewarding. All you need to do is prepare a light soil and stick one of those little garlic cloves in the ground for every bulb you want to dig up at the end of summer. Buy some healthy looking bulbs and break them apart, carefully separating the cloves. The bigger cloves will produce the bigger bulbs. I only plant the real LARGE cloves. Plant the cloves about 2 inches down - 4 inches apart, pointy side UP. This year my garlic sprouted in three days.

You can also plant garlic in the fall for harvest the next year. Here in Ontario it is a risky proposition. Sometimes the garlic does not make it through the winter. To have garlic make it through the winter it is necessary to plant it deep, 4", sometime in the fall. You may find it advantageous to spread out your fall plantings, maybe a week apart for a whole month. Keep track of what works and do it that way again the next year. Mulching with leaves or hay will help to protect the cloves.

As soon as the tops of the garlic stalks start to turn brown you know it's time to consider digging them up. IF the garlic shoot starts to flower, you'll want to break the stem so the plant DOES NOT produce flowers. Carefully dig them up, knock the dirt off and then either dry them, give them away, or EAT THEM. It is now July and I am still eating last years garlic.

If you've never had the opportunity to eat FRESH garlic, you don't know what you’re missing. Garlic out of your garden will be quite snappy. NOT soft and squishy like the grocery store kind. Give it a try. It's easy.

Prepare the soil

Ideally, a deep, fertile, very well drained soil is needed. Add -and incorporate well-a good dressing of a general garden fertilizer before or at the time of sowing. Your soils pH must be above 6.0.( Ideally,  pH 6.5 -7.0). Unless you are on limestone country, most soils will benefit from a liming at least a month or so before planting. Lots of well rotted compost is beneficial, if you can get it.

When to sow

Plant after the first good frosts of autumn. Spring planting is possible in the higher latitudes, as the longer day lengths promote bulbing, but the shorter season means the bulbs are often smaller. Autumn garlic will produce roots, but either no, or short, top growth. If the garlic sprouts have emerged, they will survive freezes and snowfalls, but they should be mulched heavily (about 15 cm/6 inches) to prevent heaving. Pull the mulch aside in spring. Autumn planted garlic will have strong roots by winters icy grip, and these roots will help prevent the 'seed' being pushed out of the ground as the soil alternately freezes and thaws ('frost heave').
 

How to sow

Choose the biggest and fattest seed cloves, and sow them root end down, standing erect, and far enough in the soil that they are anything from just buried to being 25 mm/an inch or so under the soil surface. Put them about 100 mm/4 inches apart.

The tricks of growing satisfactory bulbs

Homegrown garlic can be disappointing- small bulbs, bulbs with only one big soft clove, no bulb. The causes of unsatisfactory production come down to the quality of the 'seed', growing conditions, the variety, the vagaries of the season, and disease.

Give the best possible drainage
It is important to have a free draining soil. While cloves put in early in winter will have a longer cold treatment and will respond to lengthening days more quickly than those put in later. There is always a risk of the cloves rotting in a cold wet soil, especially if the cloves are of dubious quality, or if you have a history of disease problems in your own saved seed cloves. Commercially, the seed cloves are often soaked in rugged fungicides prior to sowing to minimize this problem, but this is not an option for most of us. Excellent drainage is very important to give the edge on climate and disease.

Give your plants an unreasonable advantage
Your garlic is likely in a race against root rotting disease and stem and leaf diseases. The better the leaf growth before bulbing starts, the bigger the bulb and the cloves will be. This translates to 'early care pays dividends later'. And also at the main growing stage, give your garlic every advantage to grow more than the disease will damage. Provide a free draining soil by amending it with sand, potting mix, well-finished compost, leaf mould, or whatever. Consider a raised bed, or large tub culture. Before sowing, beef up the nutrient status of your soil by working in a complete fertilizer (5N - 10P - 10K) at about 225gms/half a pound per 7.5 Metres/25 feet of 30-cm/12 inch wide row. Once they have started growth in spring, give them regular - say fortnightly - very light side dressings of urea (or other high nitrogen fertilizer), spread 100 mm/6 inches either side of the plants. Liquid manures are also beneficial. Garlic competes poorly with weeds. Keep them as close to meticulously weeded as is possible. Be careful with the hoe- there is nothing more tragic than a beautifully growing garlic plant sliced off at soil level by a hurried hoe! If the weather is dry, mulch them to conserve water. Dry soil when the leaves are developing affects the yield quite badly, so water them well and regularly in dry periods.

Either buy clean seed stock or provide ideal growing conditions
If you grow garlic regularly, and especially if you keep your own seed cloves, you will almost inevitably end up with a greater or lesser degree of disease in your soil and seed stock. This shouldn't prevent you from growing garlic, be we do need to accept that we have to put extra effort into keeping the plants in best possible condition when they start growing, and accept that is very wet years we may lose the lot. Even if you have disease in your soil, it is probably best to by clean seed cloves every year, as they will get a good start before becoming infected. Rocombole can usually be relied on to produce something, even when your common garlic is a total loss. Garlic that is water stressed in it's early growing period can 're-vernalise', which means the plant in effect 'cancels' the side buds that were about to grow into cloves, and produces a single fat, low quality clove instead. Cold winters largely prevent this phenomenon, so it is chiefly a problem for warm temperate areas. The same thing can happen if the plant is exposed to unseasonably high spring temperatures-29C/85F or above. The solution is keep the garlic well watered if there is a dry spell in spring,  mulch to keep the soil, at least, cool, and keep your plants growing strongly.

Use the most suitable variety
Some garlic strains will just not bulb satisfactorily in your area. Garlic varieties are adapted to a fair range of day lengths, intensity of cold, and accumulated heat conditions. Don't expect all varieties to do well in your area. 'Wrong' varieties may grow very well, but not bulb properly, re-growing from the barely formed new season cloves without the top dying back and without forming a proper bulb at all. Try locally sold seed cloves. They may well be- but certainly not certain to be- the best variety for your climate. In mild and cool climate areas 'rocombole' garlic is far more forgiving of the vagaries of climatic conditions than common garlic. Equally, in hot areas, the 'Creole' silver skin types are far more reliable than most other garlic’s.
 

Harvesting

The plants are ready to harvest when the foliage has died off, or mostly died off. If it is very wet near harvest time, consider lifting them a bit earlier and drying them under cover. Left in wet soil, the outer parchment often rots. And if there is disease in the root plate, it may develop too far and cause the bulb to fall apart when it is lifted. Rocambole is almost always ready to harvest a month or so before common garlic. But the state of the foliage is the indicator, not any particular date. An experienced Italian American home garlic grower passes on a valuable tip for refining the estimate of when to harvest common garlic-
 

"Once the top part of the plant has begun to turn brown, pull one of them and peel back the sheaths one at a time. My grandfather liked to wait until there were 2 sheaths, but I'm more comfortable with 3 to 4 sheaths. The problem with only watching the top part of the plant is that when it's very wet or very dry, the sheaths can reduce much faster than in other years.

For example, it was very wet this year in Pittsburgh, PA, where I live and garden. The plants had just started to turn brown when I checked the first one. It was already down to 3 sheaths!!! You might want to warn people what happens if they wait too long - the garlic opens up and it's nearly impossible to get out of the ground. (And the garlic you do find is already starting its growth cycle, so it doesn't keep.)" - RC, Pennsylvania. USA

 Wash the bulbs, especially the roots, and leave them for a week or so to dry- so long as it is fine. If you live in a hot climate area, you will have to dry them out of the sun, or your precious bulbs will sunburn. If the weather is dubious, dry your garlic under cover. When the bulbs are dry, you can trim off the roots, scuff off the outer discolored parchment, and braid your garlic for storage.

If you intend to keep your own clove seed, select the biggest and best bulb. Leave the cloves on the bulb, and at planting time select only the best cloves to use as seed cloves. But store your seed bulbs in a relatively cool, dry place-heat in storage can cause the seed cloves to develop into a plant that produces a single large clove , rather than a normal multi clove bulb. Prolonged very low temperatures can also disrupt proper growth.
 

Storage

Store garlic in a dry place- the kitchen is OK, and towards autumn (if there is still some left!) checks for soft bulbs (rotting internally), and sign of insect damage. Throw out damaged bulbs. The ideal storage conditions are temperatures of around 10C/50F, dry, and well ventilated.