Easy to grow Herbs

 

 

If you have a very sunny spot in your garden you can grow some herbs. For the most part they only require well drained soil. Do not plant them where your rain spout drains as they prefer dry feet. A wet shady location will rot their roots. Most will grow in any type of soil and don't need special care. Herbs like Thyme, Parsley, Lavender, Dill, Sage, Mint, Garlic, Chives, and Basil are easy to grow. USES: Most of the herbs are good for cooking and drying. Use fresh in every day meals and dried for tea, flavored oil and vinegar, jelly, in dried wreaths and placing in a cloth bags to hang in a closet to repel moths.

 

GROWING: The perennial herbs that come back every year like Lavender, Sage, Thyme, Mint are all hardy tough plants. They attract butterflies to your garden and at the same time repel the pests who come to feed on your plants. These aromatic plants are also not preferred by many animals like deer, squirrels and rabbits because their leaves contain essential oils that are poisonous to them.

 

CARE: Just cut herbs back in spring to promote new growth. The plants will produce lots of branching and the blooms will form on the new growth. Parsley, basil, Dill can be grown from seeds so you have fresh each year. You can start seeds indoors or pot them to take indoors to enjoy in a sunny window all year round. Some herbs have fragrant flowers. Chives, Sage, and Thyme bloom in spring, Lavender and Mint bloom early summer and Rosemary in late summer. You can add lots of color and scent by growing a few herbs in your flower and vegetable gardens.I grow a large pot of peppermint and place it on the porch to keep ants, spiders and mosquitos away. They hate the smell and I will have fresh peppermint all summer to add to ice tea. One teaspoon of dry herbs is equal to two teaspoon of fresh. Herbs have been used for centuries to treat excess gas or to treat wounds. Mint and dill are good for the stomach while parsley is rich in vitamin C and minerals and can be a gargle for sore throat. Garlic has both antiseptic and antibiotic properties along with many other health benefits. Lavender oil is often used for headache, asthma, depression, insomnia, and insect bites.

 

MEDICINAL: Many of the common herbs are used in teas for a variety of reasons but medicinal herbs have been used to heal, flavor food, repel pests and treat various types of ailments for many hundreds of years. They contain oils that can be infused by simply placing fresh leaves and stems in a pot, cover with water and simmer. Strain the liquid and cool to use as a compress for sore muscles, headaches and stiff joints. Dried Mint, Rosemary and Artimesia can be placed in cloth bags and lay in chest of drawers or hang closets to keep moths and other pests away from wool coats and sweaters. Many herbal oils are ingredients for natural skin creams and bath products. Lavender sachets have been used for years as room fresheners, in perfumes, soaps, candles, bath salts.