Herbs in the Garden and the Kitchen

There is something magical about herbs growing in the garden and being able to fetch the leaves from the garden and use them immediately in the kitchen.

The Chives are in bud in the raised bed - these are nice chopped into mayonnaise over new potatoes, the flowers look colourful in a salad, too.

Flat-leafed parsley - lovely chopped into mushroom and pea rissotto.

Rosemary - laid on top of home made Focaccia bread with halved olives before baking in the oven.

Mint - wonderful chopped in with cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions and bulgar wheat to make a tabouleh. Or just put a sprig in the pan with new potatoes or peas.

and in the conservatory windowsill - Basil - roughly torn and placed in a mozzarella and tomato sandwich or scattered over a homemade pizza. Just brush the leaves and smell your fingers as you pass by!

and coriander which we use to make carrot and coriander soup.

I love herbs in the garden and in cooking! Do you have a favourite herb that you often use?

There's Rosemary.......

This afternoon we've spent time in the garden busy with our plan to clear some of the raised beds and move some of the plants to others areas. Many of the lavenders and the thyme have been lost over the wet winter and other plants need moving or replacing. The idea is to use an area at the side of the greenhouse for container planting of herbs, strawberries and other smaller vegetables and use the raised bed that housed the herbs for planting other vegetables. The only problem with this is a rather large Rosemary bush. I love this bush but it had grown so much that it was taking over most of the bed pushing out the chives, thyme, hyssop and good king Henry; in order to move it the bush first needed to be pruned and cuttings to be taken. Paul was doing this as I was removing the nettles, dandelions and buttercups from under the gooseberries and blackcurants; whilst I was working and occasionally wincing as I either scratched myself on the gooseberry thorns or stung myself on the nettles (don't worry there are plenty more of these fine plants left for the wildlife elsewhere in the garden) I could smell the gorgeous scent of the rosemary as it was being pruned.

We've put some of the clippings in a bowl in the house to scent the sitting room. Cuttings have been also taken and potted up ready for re-planting.

Now the original plant is only half the size it was this morning we can leave it to rest a few days before moving it, you can see how old it is from the woody stem.

Our plant is Rosmarinus officinalis, the vertical variety, which, according to my herb book means "dew of the sea". Medicinally it is considered to be useful for all things to do with the head as it increases the supply of blood to the area and has a relaxing and anti-depressive action helping such conditions as head colds, nervous headaches, premature baldness, poor circulation and forgetfulness. It symbolises remembrance - I think most people will know of Ophelia's speech from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5 -
"There's Rosemary, thats for remembrance; pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts."

Hmm - maybe this is something I should keep around the house as I often run up the stairs, open a draw or cupboard or wander into the pantry and have no idea why I've done it or what I was looking for!

Perhaps Rosemary Tea would be the answer.

Recipe for 1 cup

"As a remedy for headache, colic or colds take 2 or 3 tops of rosemary, either flowering or not, and place in a small teapot, then pour one cup of boiling water over them. Cover and infuse for several minutes, then strain and drink warm. The tea many be sweetened with honey if wished."
Quote from 'Herbs for All Seasons' by Rosemary Hemphill


If you want to dry rosemary it needs to be collected in late summer or early autumn.

"Pick in the early morning after the dew has evaporated from the leaves. Tie the herbs in bundles and hang in the shade or lay the branches on airy racks. When quite dry, crumble the leaves from the stems and store in airtight containers, or pack the whole dried stalks with leaves still on them into boxes or jars and close tightly."
Another quote from - Herbs for all Seasons

Oh, what a wonderful scene this drying of herbs and flowers like lavender and rosemary conjours up - what a lovely thing to do if one had an old cottage with a huge kitchen or even better a still room in which to dry flowers and herbs, make pot pourii, bottle fruits and make jams and preserves. Well, I can dream!