Herb Garden

dreadnut

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No, not that kind of herb...even though it's legal now in Michigan...

My herb garden is on my upper deck right off the kitchen, so I don't have to go up and down stairs to tend to it. Just like with guitar, I'm all about economy of effort.

Especially with my nearly salt-free diet, fresh herbs are my lifeline to flavor.

I have so much basil left from 2 years previous that I'm not even growing any of that this year. I grew like 10 different kinds, then I harvested them and dried them in my food dehydrator and put them in baggies.

This years crop includes chives, English Thyme, Golden Lemon Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Purple Sage, Lemon Grass, and Summer Savory. I'm already clipping some of them. What we don't eat fresh will be dried & bagged.

What I really would like to do this summer is some major canning! Anyone do that? I have all the equipment and the kitchen to pull it off, but it's usually so hot and humid here in August (harvest time for local crops) that it's hard to get motivated. Anyway, I want to put up a bunch of salsa, jams, and a lot of other new small-batch recipes that I have.
 

FNG

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Love fresh thyme and chives.

Sweet corn is coming in here, bought 5 dz ears today. Got it all prepped and in the freezer.

Watermelons and cantaloupes are ready, snagged two huge melons for 2 bucks each. Then I had some cantaloupe! DOH

2-3 weeks for purple hull peas, which are similar to blackeyed peas only better. Gonna freeze a bushel of those.

Never canned, but would like to. They had some pickling cukes, big try a batch of bread and butter pickles.
 

CA-35

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Especially with my nearly salt-free diet, fresh herbs are my lifeline to flavor.

Don't worry so much about salt, it's the sugar that's the real killer.

Don't forget Italian Flat Leaf Parsley and Oregano.
 

gjmalcyon

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Don't forget Italian Flat Leaf Parsley and Oregano.

+1.

Fresh oregano is so different from the dried kind. I do a Margherita pizza that uses fresh oregano instead of basil and it is pretty dang fine. Down here in the tropics of South Jersey the oregano overwinters most years, as does the thyme and rosemary.

My back steps have a lineup of pots with thyme, basil (lots of basil), rosemary and cilantro. The oregano is a few steps further in one of raised beds where I transplanted it at the end of last summer.
 

F312

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I've been growing Thai basil, and It's so hardy It's spreading everywhere over a few years, and it's very tasty.

Ralph
 

dreadnut

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Thanks you guys, I have room for a few more so I will get some oregano for sure!

From Jim Croce's "Hard Time Losin' Man:"

"Oh, Friday night, feelin' right
I head out on the street
Standin' in the doorway
Was a dealer known as Pete
Well he sold me a dime of some super fine
Dynamite from Mexico
I spent all that night
Just tryin' to get right
On an ounce of oregano"

Ralph, Thai basil is one of the favorites that I grew. The Spicy Globe, and Lime Basils were also very good. And of course, purple basil.
 

gjmalcyon

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Thanks you guys, I have room for a few more so I will get some oregano for sure!

Once my tomatoes are in (couple of more weeks) I often do a quick pasta dish with olive oil, fresh oregano, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and fresh tomatoes.

It makes a delicious and different pesto - substitute fresh oregano for fresh basil in your go-to pesto recipe.
 

crank

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Rosemary, dill, cilantro, oregano, thyme, basil, tarragon and mint.

Use herbs all the time and always dry some as well.

I let some dill and cilantro go to seed and then it will pop up all over the place the following spring.

Canned a boatload of jalepeno peppers one year a long time ago but don't grow a lot of veggies these days. We have 1 cherry tomato plant and one early girl plant.
 

FNG

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I like that the grocery store now stocks live herb plants. For 2 bucks I can get all the fresh basil I usually need. Thai basil and a big bowl of pho, yeah baby!

Made 2 quarts of bread and butter pickles. Pretty easy, taste pretty dang good.

Made 4 quarts of pickled okra, those will need a couple of weeks in the fridge.
 
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