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 Good herbs for beginners?
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Herbgardener1992
Just Arrived
Joined: 11 Oct 2009
Location: Winchester, VA
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:43 pm Post subject: Good herbs for beginners? |
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What are some good beginner herbs?
What they can be used for,
And how to use them would be nice too.
I live in Northern Virginia,
just so that gives you an idea of the climate.
Thanks ahead of time!
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toni
Mistress of Garden Junque
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Joined: 07 Jan 2006
Location: North Texas (Map)
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| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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An herb is a plant that is grown for it's flavor in cooking, it's scent in potpourri or other fragrances, medicinal use, sacred use or pest control to name a few.
So it might be easier to figure out what you want to use them for then find out what herbs of that catagory you might find easy to grow.
Basil, Lemon Balm, Rosemary, Mints are the ones I have found easiest all round herbs to grow.
Several herbs are annuals so they can be grown almost anywhere for one season.
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daisybeans
Highly Skillful
Joined: 28 Mar 2009
Location: annapolis md
Posts: 1727
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| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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I grow a lot of herbs -- just pick out what sounds interesting and give it a go. The herbs that I find to be most useful for cooking are:
Basil (try several kinds as they are all slightly different. This year I had some lemon basil that was just wonderful. I used it instead of the "L" on a BLT with avocado.)
Parsley and/or cilantro
Mint (again, try a few different ones. I grew chocolate mint this year and it had a neat flavor. I chop it up and put in ground burger meat. Also good in a salsa of peaches and mint on salmon.)
Oregano
Rosemary (deeelish on grilled meats as well as on roasted new potatoes)
Sage (yummy in scrambled eggs as well as in roasted potatoes)
Cuban Oregano (this was something new I tried this year and I just loved it. I chopped it up in everything. I'm not really sure what it is really, as I'd never seen it before.)
Catnip -- great fun to grow if you have a cat.
Good luck! BTW, I'm just up the road near Annapolis so growing conditions are the same.
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"Once the relation between poetry and the soil is well established in the mind, all growing things are endowed with more than material beauty." -Elizabeth Lawrence
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gardenmama
Showing Great Promise
Joined: 26 May 2008
Location: Vermont
Posts: 575
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| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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Thyme and sage are wonder and hearty. So easy to grow as well.
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lexxivexx
Showing Great Promise
Joined: 05 Aug 2007
Location: The Willamette Valley, Oregon (Map)
Posts: 276
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| Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:08 am Post subject: |
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My suggestion is as many as you can get your hands on. Herbs can give just about anything that fresh-from-the-garden taste, even if all the other ingredients are store bought.
I agree with Toni on Basil, it's awesome! I like the sweet green and purple varieties. One summer I planted 50 and still didn't have enough freezer pesto to last me through winter!
Rosemary is a definite must, very handsome and fragrant.
Salad Burnet is extremely cool if you like the taste of cucumber. For some reason it's not a really common choice, but it's extremely hardy and tolerant of most climates. It looks kind of like parsley but it gets huge!
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herbgarden
Just Arrived
Joined: 04 Oct 2009
Location: USA
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:19 am Post subject: |
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For me, I prefer to plant those that are frequently use for cooking and flavorings such as thyme, basil, mint, etc. They are also easy to grow.
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