How to Grow and Eat Herbs for Beginners

In my previous post about saving money gardening, I listed growing herbs. If you haven't tried cooking with herbs, then you are in for a treat. Herbs are a great way to add loads of flavor to your food without adding any sugar, fat or preservatives. What would Italian food be without basil? How boring are chicken and potatoes until you add some rosemary? Herbs can have non-culinary uses but for this post, I'm going to focus on their benefits to your dinner plate.

How to Grow Herbs

You can think about growing herbs in three major categories (this is NOT official, it's just how I think about herbs after growing them for several years. I think it's a great place to start for beginners): perennials, annuals from seeds and annuals from plants. Yes, some of these are actually biennials and yes, I'm leaving lots out but this is a great place to start.

Perennials are plants that come back every year on their own. You can establish a perennial herb garden or mix perennial herbs into your flower beds. In general, perennial herbs don't need rich soil, just lots of sunlight and good drainage. Here in zone 6 (central PA), some great perennial herbs are sage, thyme, oregano, chives, mint and lemon balm. All of these are easiest grown from plants.

Annuals are plants that need to be planted new every spring because the winter chill kills them. Some of them, like basil, parsley and dill I don't mind because you can buy inexpensive seeds and grow them right in your garden with the veggies.

Other annuals are nearly impossible to grow from seeds so you should buy plants. Buying plants costs more but I just can't live without rosemary so every spring I suck it up and buy more plants. Marjoram is another fun annual that requires buying a plant every Spring. Like perennials, annual herbs also don't require much from their soil but they do need lots of sunlight and good drainage.

How to Cook with Herbs

You're not going to find this in any book, but I tend to think of eating herbs in three different ways. Obviously, there is some crossover and I'm leaving a lot out but if you're not used to cooking with herbs, this is a good beginning. Fresh herbs can get expensive at the store but when you're growing them yourself, you can afford to be generous with herbs in the kitchen.

Italian Herbs: basil, oregano, marjoram, and parsley. If you're making pasta or pizza or nearly any other Italian dish, these will work well with the dish and with each other.

Savory Herbs: thyme, chives, rosemary, and savory. Any kind of potato, chicken or pork dish will taste much better with these delicious plants.

Drinking Herbs: mint, lemon balm, spearmint, or chamomile. Yes, you can grow and dry any of these herbs to make your own home made tea, or lemonade, or mint juleps, or whatever. yum!

For more information, I highly recommend "Your Backyard Herb Garden" by Miranda Smith. The book is thorough and the illustrations are very helpful. Are you an herb gardener? Please comment in the section below!