Growing herbs that are ready to be picked from your herb garden to add to the dishes you are preparing is an enjoyable thing to do. An outdoor herb garden with plenty of light and good soil drainage can produce a variety of flavors for many foods. An indoor herb garden makes it possible to have fresh herbs throughout the year. Indoors, a sunny window and pots with good drainage are needed. When growing herbs, the flavors are best when picking them and using them when fresh. However, herbs can be stored either frozen or dried.
Herbs add special flavors to your food. Try experimenting with small amounts of individual herbs by mixing them with a small amount of butter and spreading the mixture on crackers. You will soon learn the flavor of that particular herb. When adding herbs to dishes that take a longer period of time to cook, such as soups and stews, the herbs should be added near the end of the cooking time to preserve the flavor.
A favorite with many people, chives are very easy to grow, producing grass-like leaves that grow to be about twelve inches long. The leaves can be cut with a pair of scissors. Chopped chives can be sprinkled on a variety of foods. The chive flowers can also be eaten, often being tossed on a salad as a special addition. The chives leaves do not have as good a flavor after the plant has bloomed so the flowers can be cut off when they begin to appear, leaving the leaves to be at their best.
Sweet basil, also a very popular herb, is great for salads, vegetable dishes, vinegars and pesto. Begin picking the leaves when the plants are twelve to eighteen inches high and pick them regularly to keep the new growth coming on. Dill weed is also a common herb. Dill weed is actually the feathery leaves of the dill plant. The seeds of the dill plant are called dill seeds and are considered to be spices rather than herbs.
If you are interested in learning more about herb gardens, here is a good source for that information: CHIVES GROWING TIPS.
Tags: chives, dill weed, growing herbs, herb, herb garden, herbs, sweet basil