My advice: grow your own herbs
Cooking and gardening with Sam
Bypass the supermarket’s wilted, plastic-entombed herbs and do this instead: grow your own herbs.
Herbs are very easy to grow in containers or in the ground. Plus you have fresh herbs all year, and they are so much better than the ones in a tube or ones that have been in the cooler from South American. Some of the hard-to-find herbs are papalo and borage, for seasoning global dishes, and you can grow these. Best of all, you are in control of your plants and know what you are feeding them and where the water is coming from, and your harvest will be chemical-free. Try these four herb mixes:
Southeast Asian
This mix is great added to crispy spring rolls, herb-laced papaya salads and succulent curries – all of which are best homemade with super-fresh ingredients.
- Lemongrass, whose thick stalks should be harvested close to the root
- Rau ram, also known as Vietnamese coriander
- Flat-leaf garlic chives
- Spearmint
- Lemon basil
All these are great container herbs and can be mixed together. All these herbs need loamy soil, even moisture, good drainage and full sun.
English Cottage
English lavender makes an unexpected addition to lemonade, cookies and roast potatoes. You can also dry English lavender and stuff a sachet with it. Plant lavender alongside blue-flowered borage, an herb whose tender leaves add color and a mild cucumber-like flavor to cocktails. It can also be chopped for salads or sautéed like spinach.
Add chamomile, whose flowers you can dry and steep for tea.
Rosemary lends woody depth to roast chicken and vegetables. It needs to be in its own pot because it is finicky about water. Use a quick-draining potting soil because too much moisture is nearly always fatal. Perch the container in a sunny location, and if you live north of the Mason-Dixon, move rosemary inside for the winter.
Sage and lemon balm are both great for flavoring cooked meats and veggies.
Parsley is a versatile herb you can chop for garnishes, sauces and warm salads.
These herbs prefer deep moist soil and an extra sunny spot. Use moist, not sopping, soil, and for the sake of the sage plant in full sun.
Mediterranean
If you are fan of dishes like grilled fish and new potatoes strewn with fresh thyme, roasted eggplant laced with oregano and seafood stew flavored with a bay-rich bouquet, then this is your mix.
A bay laurel tree: This grows no taller than a kindergartner when raised in a container. Prune its leafy branches a foot or two above the surface of the pot so ample light can reach.
Your Mediterranean planting should also include thyme and Greek oregano.
All these herbs like full sun and even moisture but are moderately drought-tolerant, so they’ll survive the family vacation without watering.
Latin American
Your Latin American mix will include heat-loving herbs from heat-loving South America.
The container garden should be damp all the time; put your finger into the soil about 1 inch, and it should be damp.
- Marjoram, to flavor pickles or a salad of corn and tomatoes
- Pepper papalo, to add to fresh salsa and serve alongside roasted meat
- Cilantro, to add pungency to guacamole as well as tacos and sandwiches
- Cuban oregano, to punch up grilled chicken or simmered beans
These herbs need a sunny spot in garden and to be indoors over the winter.
Pot gardens are a great way to enjoy herbs year around.
