Herb gardens

[ektaylor]

I'm growing sage, oregano, sweet basil, italian parsley, mint, cilantro, english lavender, and curry leaf at the moment. They're all doing pretty well. I have a spot that only gets direct sun for 5-6 hours a day so I've been experimenting more with shade herbs this season.

For instance, last summer I decided to try cilantro without any knowledge of the plant's preferences. Needless to say, it died within a week. Apparently, once the soil gets above 75 degrees F cilantro flowers, drops its seeds, and dies. This season it's doing quite well in the shade, it's held on for 5 weeks so far.

I'm also interested in a few 'exotic' herbs, but I can only find them in seed form (which are probably of a low quality). I think the season has past for seeding in California. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll have a stable enough residence to continue a garden through the year.

 

[Milpool]

Curry leaf sounds pretty cool. How is that to grow and most importantly, have you had a taste of it yet???

 

[Milpool]

Originally Posted by foodguy

i've grown hyssop, lovage, sorrel ... lovage is a great herb, but it sprawls like a mother, too. tastes a lot like celery, but in a more gentle way. i've always had sorrel ... just a little tossed in a salad is great, also nice in soups and braised and added to omelets.

Sorrel sounds like a good one. I'm making my "wish list" for next year.

 

[ektaylor]

Originally Posted by Milpool

Curry leaf sounds pretty cool. How is that to grow and most importantly, have you had a taste of it yet???
It's too young to harvest, I only recently transplanted it. If it tastes how it smells, it should be an interesting addition to a sauce. I actually became interested after reading Harold McGee's musings on it.

 

[why]

It shouldn't be too late to plant herbs from a seed in California -- but I guess that depends where in California.

 

[TheButler]

Originally Posted by crazyquik

The mint at my house is out of control. Literally. I tear it up by the handfuls and use it as mulch around the more useful plants. And still have enough for all the cooking/bourbon needs.
This. I love mint but its so terribly invasive.

I made the mistake of planting horseradish as well. Damned stuff also never goes away, even through a Canadian winter. It burrows deep into the ground and pops up in all kinds of unlikely places with huge stalks and leaves. Nice accompaniment to the occasional prime rib but a big hassle.

This year the bugs are eating my basil. I think the mint has put them up to it.

 

[crazyquik]

This year, among other herbs, I'm growing 3 basils. The old standby, plus lemon basil (which tastes like basil with lemon) and Thai basil (which has a bit of a licorice taste).

 

[acidboy]

among the herbs we grew, I appreciate our kaffir lime and rosemary the most. rosemary's kinda hard to grow in our tropical climate but I really appreciate having some around when roasting's on the menu.

 

[foodguy]

my standard perennials are tarragon, sorrel, oregano, basil, thyme, a roman mint, rosemary, lavender, lemon verbena. i have many sages around the house, but none are culinary. the others i play with to find out what they're like. some stick around (that's how i found sorrel, verbena and roman mint) and others get swapped out.

 

[samus]

Originally Posted by crazyquik

This year, among other herbs, I'm growing 3 basils. The old standby, plus lemon basil (which tastes like basil with lemon) and Thai basil (which has a bit of a licorice taste).

A thai place near me uses their basil in mojitos - try it, it's really good.

 

[Mark from Plano]

I've never tried it before, but with the amount of my cooking increasing I've taken to keeping a few plants in the window sill above my kitchen sink. Right now it's just basil, thyme, mint and rosemary. Probably need more basil plants, I've harvested most of the larger leaves off the one I have. I use the others less.

It was nice, making stock yesterday, to have at least a few of the herbs I needed for the bouquet garni on the windowsill.

 

[TheButler]

If you get a chance, try a tree for bay leaves as well. Its a small, twiggy plant like a bush and is fairly easy to keep alive if your thumb is not brown. Fresh bay leaves are very different than their dried siblings.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by TheButler

If you get a chance, try a tree for bay leaves as well. Its a small, twiggy plant like a bush and is fairly easy to keep alive if your thumb is not brown. Fresh bay leaves are very different than their dried siblings.

these are good, too. but be sure you get european bay rather than California Bay, which is a common landscaping plant. the smell is similar, but much more acrid in the california. not so sure about small twiggy, though. the one i've got (about 25 years old) is only 10 feet because we trim it back rigorously.

 

[TheButler]

Point granted. I've never seen one more than a few years old.

 

[oDD_LotS]

I'm growing four basils, spearmint, peppermint, two kinds of fennel, a creeping rosemary, a couple of thyme plants, some oregano, some tarragon, cilantro, and chives. I grow all of my herbs in pots, in a Miracle-Gro soil mix (the organic choice) with a handful of Milorganite fertilizer (which has made for amazing growth this year). I mulch the pots with grass clippings and water when I remember. I've had a really great harvest so far. My vegetables are grown in three raised beds totalling 120 sq. ft., with 6 kinds of tomatoes, okra, 5 different peppers, a few squash, and brussel sprouts. We've got a couple of flats of mixed marigolds that we use to keep "pests" out.

We were a little behind schedule planting this year (hence the small variety of vegetables), but we had a lot of work to do with the soil and repairing the drip irrigation. We're going to plant a fall garden in a few weeks, though.

I definitely recommend mixing a little milorganite (you can find it in the lawn fertilizer section) to your herb pots. I just mixed in a little with the soil as I was potting.