topic Re: HERBS.......... in Kitchen

HERBS..........

forrestwolf — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 00:13:03 GMT

If....or if...you could/do have a container grown kitchen use herb garden, what herbs would you/do you grow.......

Re: HERBS..........

Mary Bailey — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 00:22:42 GMT

Every year we grow: sage, rosemary, chives, thyme, parsley, basil. Sometimes: cilantro. We grow in a tiered container on our patio.

We also container grow: tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries. Last year I got a apple tree in a container. I hope our stuff makes it through this winter.

Re: HERBS..........

phoenixbrd — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 00:29:25 GMT

Mary...I LOVE fresh herbs. I keep buying lovely basil plants as I use them in fresh sauces in my blender. However, they seem to need to be replaced frequently as they sprout a flower like growth that is not edible. Am I doing something wrong. TJ's sells beautiful basil plants in season.

Re: HERBS..........

Mary Bailey — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 00:33:15 GMT

phoenixbird - I'm constantly pinching off flowering herbs. We get herbs as soon as available and they last well until frost. I wanted to grow them indoors this winter, but never got around to it.

Re: HERBS..........

DiAnne — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 01:38:43 GMT

I have tried many times over the years to grow herbs in my kitchen without success. I have bought grow lights with special planters, etc. I now have a sky light in my kitchen and it is still a no go! Not even rosemary makes it...

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athenian — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 01:40:55 GMT

I grow rosemary, chives, parsley and basil in pots. Brought them in the house in Oct. and this month everything died but the rosemary--happens most winters. However I do have stock and heliotrope that are doing fine?!? I keep sage and thyme in the ground, they were green until January, so I think they'll come back.

Re: HERBS..........

forrestwolf — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 02:46:57 GMT

My house is built facing due south, and even with many and large windows, the light is not right inside to grow much of anything..and..I have a large across the front porch that cuts out a lot of the natural light in my kitchen for growing plants..I can not even get my zygo cactus to bloom any more..If I try to put anything outside, even on the porch, there are so many critters that will come and ring the door bell to give you a tip for the fresh dinner they have just eaten..... We are talking, fox, bunnies, boar, deer, moles, and many others.....My house is like the frat house with an always flowing keg......the TRUE Animal House...

Re: HERBS..........

PamelaSue72 — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 13:46:04 GMT

We have a small herb garden, right off of the flower garden in the back yard. We grow sage, lavender, mint, several kinds of basil, oregano, rosemary, several kinds of parsley, and some chives. I'm not particularly crazy about cilantro, so haven't tried to grow that. The secret to compact, very bushy herb plants is pinching. Lots of pinching.

We can't bring the annual herbs into the house because the cats consider any greenery inside as lunch. It just doesn't work. But I do bring leaves and bunches in throughout the summer and dry them in the dehydrator to use during the winter. Then the following spring, I buy new basil plants and such. The lavender is a perennial as are some of the other plants.

I love going out in the early morning and cutting mint for mint tea. Mint tea made with fresh mint is delicious and so refreshing on a hot summer day after working in the garden all day long.

DH has suggested moving the herb garden to its own little space in the back yard and he may do that this spring.

Re: HERBS..........

camochef — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 17:34:35 GMT

I grow an assortment of herbs, Oregano and Greek Oregano, Chives, Garlic Chives, Basil, Marjoram, Parsley, Sage; while Mrs Camo grows all sorts of mint, and catnip for the kitties.

Enjoy!

Re: HERBS..........

blackhole99 — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 17:39:20 GMT

I don't have any luck with growing herbs in a container inside the house, they take, but I can't keep them going.

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Carmie — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 18:48:48 GMT

I grow herbs outside all summer long. In the fall, I cut them and dry or freeze what I can. My rosemary comes back every year and my parsley is good all the year around. I just remove the snow and snip whatever I need. I don't grow any herbs inside.

Re: HERBS..........

Carmie — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 18:53:46 GMT

On 2/7/2015 phoenixbrd said:
Mary...I LOVE fresh herbs. I keep buying lovely basil plants as I use them in fresh sauces in my blender. However, they seem to need to be replaced frequently as they sprout a flower like growth that is not edible. Am I doing something wrong. TJ's sells beautiful basil plants in season.

As soon as you see flowers on your basil, pinch or cut them off or the flowers will " go to seed" and your plant will dry up and wither. If you do this your basil will last until the first frost.

Re: HERBS..........

auntiEM_1 — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 20:57:15 GMT

I do container herbs on the back porch, but I've never done them in the house. I live in IN so sometimes the herbs winter over and sometimes they are toast. I grow thyme, parsley, basil, rosemary, sage, and cilantro.

I love being able to snip some herbs and have fresh herbs in a dish. I also love just sniffing the thyme! The sage grows well but I use it in so few dishes. I forgot to mention my chives which is the one I rely on the most in cooking. If a recipe calls for green onions and I don't have any, I can always snip some chives and I'm good to go.

I've noticed this winter that the finches have enjoyed the dead basil plants. Apparently there are some tasty seeds on the basil. I'll just pretend I didn't clean out the boxes on purpose so the birds would have a treat!

Re: HERBS..........

Katmary — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 21:41:32 GMT

On 2/7/2015 phoenixbrd said:
Mary...I LOVE fresh herbs. I keep buying lovely basil plants as I use them in fresh sauces in my blender. However, they seem to need to be replaced frequently as they sprout a flower like growth that is not edible. Am I doing something wrong. TJ's sells beautiful basil plants in season.

Pheonix, in addition to pinching off flowers, I've found because TJs tends to put 4-6 plants per pot, they often do a lot better in a larger pot. It doesn't have to be huge, but a lot of time they tend to be root-bound. Then at the end of the season, you can let them go to seed (let them flower and develop seeds) and take the seeds out once they've turned dark. One flower will give you 4 seeds, more than enough for the next year if you get a dozen or so seeds! Just stick them in pots and you'll be surprised how many sprout. Also, what I tend to do is a final harvest and strip all the good leaves, leaving the flowers so they can seed. I like other flavors too, so I usually have a nice section of basil.

My perennials, thanks to living in Northern CA are Rosemary (have a big patch that came with the house), lemon and regular thyme, oregano, regular and pinapple sage, orange and pepper mints (my chocolate and spearmint died), garlic and regular chives, then annuals of varieties of basil and parsley. I love having fresh dill, but the bugs tend to take it over and after a few years, I finally gave up. I started my first year growing all types of herbs and then slowly learned that while I thought I'd use some, it's easier to buy as needed sometimes. I tried Stevia but the leaves aren't as easy to use in tea and foods than buying the powder, so things like that helped me stop over growing for the most part! There's always something new I want to try!

Re: HERBS..........

Fressa — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 18:10:18 GMT

I cook with a lot of herbs to cut back on the salt and pepper in our food. I started out with a small herb garden in the kitchen but it was just too tiny for my needs. I then moved the herb garden in a series of hanging baskets on our patio. It was great. I did parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, dill and mint. Just before winter I clipped the remainder from the pots and dried them. I had started to put aside empty spice jaws and once dried just put the herbs in the jars. The herbs that I had in large quantities I used my Lock & Lock containers. It worked great!

Re: HERBS..........

Fressa — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 18:10:56 GMT

Re: HERBS..........

jaxs mom — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 18:31:13 GMT

mint, dill, thyme, rosemary, chives, sage and tarragon. I'd grow cilantro, since it's probably the most used herb at my house but it just bolts so easily that I gave up. Luckily it's cheap and easy to find fresh at the market.

Re: HERBS..........

151949 — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 19:59:42 GMT

I have been growing my own herbs for many years. Parsley, chives, basil and rosemary every year. Occasionally I'll also grow dill and peppermint. My suggestion to anyone who wants to grow herbs is this - grow each one in it's own individual container as they do get rather large and don't be afraid to just cut them back harshly - they do best when being frequently cut. When you grow them together in one planter they tend to literally - grow together. I use a large copper long thin planter and put individual 6" pots in there. They behave better when they each have their own bed to sleep in than when they are all crowded into one.

Re: HERBS..........

gloriajean — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 21:46:51 GMT

I have an aero garden, and I like growing herbs there, right now I have some cherry tomatoes started - we'll see how that turns out. Last I had lettuce.

In the summer, we always have herbs in our raised garden. Basil, beets (we use beet leaves), collards, kale, mostly. Then I harvest the beet leaves, kale and collard - in the food processor I chop and cook for just a few minutes and freeze by cup fulls and it's great in soups and whatever I want to put it in!!! Tried it once, and will have to keep doing this as it's great! We planted lots and lots of basil, used it all up in tomato basil soup that we canned. Any basil left over, we hang up in the garage by the roots and let dry, then I get the basil off in a container for use.

Also we grow oregano, thyme, rosemary too. We have chives growing all summer long, they come up by themselves. They are also good to freeze with the herbs I freeze together.

Re: HERBS..........

Marsha2003 — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 04:02:40 GMT

I have herbs growing year-round in pots on my deck. I have a bay leaf tree and pots with basil, lemon verbena, oregano, flat leaf parsley, chives, thyme and mint. I have quite a few rosemary and lavender bushes around the house as well as Meyer and Eureka lemon trees. I haven't been successful growing dill. I think it gets too hot on my west-facing deck. I'd also like to try growing some lettuces...maybe this year.