Herb Gardens

[Marlene]

I thought y'all might like to know that I haven't killed anything yet. In fact, despite me, my garden seems to be doing fine.

We also planted green onions, shallots and garlic. I don't see any action on the shallots and garlic's part, but the green onions are coming up nicely.

[Smithy]

That's wonderful, Marlene!

You realize, of course, that your next blog will have to feature cooking with what you grew.

I just got back from California, where I spent time in the mountains pondering lupines. They seem to to be neither invasive or aggressive in the Sierra Nevada, so I'm guessing the same holds true farther north in Washington and Vancouver. They most definitely are aggressive, non-native and invasive, here in northern Minnesota. (Lovely, but aggressive. Think of your favorite James Bond femme fatale.) The lupines there and here also seem to be different varieties. The advice above about getting gardening information specific to your region is wise.

[kelautz]

Fresh dill is so good you might find yourself looking for ways to use it. 

Here's a good way to preserve dill. An old German lady turned me on to this technique. Dill freezes beautifully. Just wrap folded up dill fronds in plastic wrap and toss the packages in the freezer. When needed, unwrap the package, chop up the frozen dill and use it in your dish. Rewrap unused portion and put back in freezer before it thaws.

This German lady served the simplest of salads: butter lettuce dressed with "salad oil", distilled vinegar (!) and plenty of chopped dill.

(OT) She also taught me that there's a difference between Heinz distilled vinegar and the store brand vinegar. She's right, the store brand tastes better.

[snowangel]

That's wonderful, Marlene! 

You realize, of course, that your next blog will have to feature cooking with what you grew. 

I just got back from California, where I spent time in the mountains pondering lupines.  They seem to to be neither invasive or aggressive in the Sierra Nevada, so I'm guessing the same holds true farther north in Washington and Vancouver.  They most definitely are aggressive, non-native and invasive, here in northern Minnesota.  (Lovely, but aggressive.  Think of your favorite James Bond femme fatale.)  The lupines there and here also seem to be different varieties.  The advice above about getting gardening information specific to your region is wise.

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Totally un-food related, but the lupine display along Highway 73 between Highway 53 and Interstate 35 was absolutely and beyond spectacular this past Monday.

We now return you to food.

Probably time I put my thinking cap on for Marlene on how to preserve some of the other herbs.

[Marlene]

yes please. They are growing faster than I can use them!

[snowangel]

I know that all kinds of basil preserve best when whizzed in the food processor or blender with some olive oil. Lay out in log(s) on plastic wrap, wrap securely in said plastic wrap, and freeze. The oil will keep it from freezing so hard that you can just unwrap frozen log, break off a piece and add to whatever. This is the only worthy manner of preserving Thai and Holy Basils, which lose everything when dried.

If you choose to dry the herbs, cut them off at the stems, grab some dental floss, string, embroidery floss, yarn (whatever is handy), tie the stems together, and hand them on that rod in the laundry room.

There's also nothing wrong with getting a nice jug of nice white wine vinegar, heating it slightly, and adding sprigs of tarragon, thyme, or whatever, and decanting into pretty bottles (or old clean jars with tight fitting lids). The vinegar thing can make impressive hostess gifts. The last one I did was lemongrass. Hostess gift. She thought I worked for hours!

Edited to add: When I dry herbs, I tend not to crush them too much. Seems to me that some of what makes them what they are releases when crushed.

[Smithy]

I'm with Snowangel: drying the herbs doesn't get you nearly as much flavor later. A lot of herbs take kindly to that treatment of whizzing with olive oil in the blender and then freezing. I often also mix compatible herbs - say, rosemary, garlic and parsley (or whatever suits my fancy) into a seasoning blend I'd use, then freeze them in an ice cube tray. One or two cubes go nicely into dishes later, during cooking. I haven't tried the log, but it sounds like it might be more space-efficient than my cubes.

By the way, you can chop up basil, garlic and salt with oil in the proportions you'd use for pesto, then add the nuts and cheese later. It saves time and makes a nice off-season treat.

You can make a wonderful chive oil that freezes well. I mix chives, garlic, and a touch of salt with olive oil to get a beautiful golden-green oil. I keep a jar of it in the freezer and thaw it periodically to have chive oil to drizzle over roasted potatoes. (Freezing it in smaller containers would have been practical, but I was experimenting.)

You can also just freeze leaves - say, from basil or sorrel - but since they'll lose their texture and have to be chopped up anyway, I think it's easier to chop them before freezing.

Snowangel, you did say "white wine vinegar"? My sister-in-law made some wonderful herb vinegars using white vinegar. I tried the same thing and ended up with some nicely-scented paint stripper. SIL insists it was white vinegar, not white wine vinegar, that she'd used. That would certainly be cheaper, but I'm reluctant to try it again with anything cheap. Any recommendations of vinegars that would work without breaking the bank?

[jpr54_]

i also plant nasturiums-they are delicious to eat-

slightly peppery and the flowers are very bright

chervil

scented geraniums

heliotrope

lemon verbena

joanne

[Susan G]

Yay, Marlene! So how does it feel, learning a new kitchen technique? ("Grow your own food").

[edwardsboi]

I'd try chervil since you can never seem to buy it anywhere, and you can use lots of it without overwhelming a dish. unfortunately, I can't seem to find it to grow it either. I've tried Home Depot, Lowe's, Farmer's Market, etc...

[kayb]

I used to go out and harvest a bunch of tarragon when I was about to cook breakfast. It's wonderful in scrambled eggs, as well as in/on any green vegetable.

 

That's the only reason I regret leaving my old house. I had finally established a good herb garden; all I had to plant new each year were basil, parsley, cilantro and tarragon. Everything else reseeded. Of course, the mint was taking over....

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

25 minutes ago, kayb said:

....tarragon... It's wonderful in scrambled eggs,

 

Ahhh.   With chives and thyme in a fine herb omelet!    Bliss.

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Tarragon is finicky in the best of herb gardens.    I somehow miraculously have an abundance, well, abundance in tarragon terms, growing in mine at the moment.    It will die back in the winter and who knows what it will decide to do in the spring.    I depend on dried tarragon for cooking, Bearnaise sauce, chicken, etc.    Works just fine.     And fresh tarragon is no sure find in the produce aisle, even in California..

Odd. When I grew it in Edmonton, which is not exactly known for the mildness of its winters, my tarragon came back in spring before even the dandelions. I had head-high tarragon by early summer, and more of it than I would use in years (despite giving away basketball-sized bunches to anyone who would stand still long enough).