Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Twelve herbs

Best loved magazine in my life, the Kings Seeds catalogue. Tonight I picked out 12 herbs which I've never grown before and would like to grow this coming summer.

Here they are, with aspects which appealed:
Anise Hyssop (perennial) - bees love it, grows in light shade as well as full sun. Looks pretty.

Astragalus Milk Vetch (perennial) - Chinese medicinal herb. a legume. Roots harvested 3rd or 4th year. So I'm thinking that as a legume, it could nitrogen fix and leave the soil in nice condition as well as provide roots to stimulate the immune system.

Bergamot Lemon (annual) - bees love it, pretty, the lemon flavouring will be useful in cooking.

Borage (annual) - edible flowers and leaves, pretty, bees like it. Contains GLA (gamma linoleic acid) which is good stuff.

Chamomile German (annual) - I'll make tea with this.

Chervil (annual) - on the list of must have herbs in several books so will give it a try. I have loved a lot of foods without once knowingly trying chervil so life obviously has more pleasure in store for me.

Garlic chives (perennial) - I've had these before, but resent paying shop prices for a whole plant so I'll try them from scratch instead

Cumin (annual) - I love cumin in lots of dishes. Not sure I can grow pungent cumin in our climate, but I'm confident it will be fun to try.

Lavender (perennial) - I was loathe to grow this last year as I associated it with pretentious gardens in Christchurch's leafier suburbs. But really, no herb garden is complete without some.

Motherwort (perennial) - apparently this relieves stress, regulates a woman's menstrual cycle and calms the nervious system. How could I not have it in the garden then?

Self Heal (perennial) - another medicinal herb for stimulating the immune system. My catalogue also says it is easy to grow, which adds to it's appeal.

Sorrel (perennial) - isn't this a weed in some places? Anyway, I'd like to try eating it - I've seen it in a few English recipes.

Half of my choices are perennials which I'm pleased about. I'd like to increase the plants which are permanent in my garden and thus reduce the time spent putting in new crops in every garden patch.

7 comments:

Sharonnz said...

Jealous...wish I had more space to do this. I had a great herb garden when I lived at home. I've got that sorrel in atm - it's great with cream cheese on sammies!

Nik said...

I'm doing the big herbal thing this year as well and made a big order from Kings a few weeks back. My front garden is going to be a beautifully scented and flowered place to hang out eventually - can't wait! Then just need to find out about harvesting and storing.

Anonymous said...

Note to self: Motherwort - Must Buy Some.

Rach said...

How exciting for you. In another year or two we'll be coming to you for seeds and skipping the Kings Catalogue! You'll be rich and famous yet.

Robbyn said...

Can't wait to see how they grow for you! The pollinators are going to loooooove these!

Sandra said...

Tis definitely exciting. I've been thinking about where they will all go today. Sounds a yummy combo Sharon.

Rachael it's not rich and famous, it's queen of reciprocity! I've been thinking about reciprocity and a low-cash lifestyle, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to expound in a separate post.

Chickenpox round two is proving much harder than round one, for everybody.

Robbyn, I'm looking forward to lots of bees and beneficial insects!

Nikki I'd love to read what herbs you have chosen.

Tania great herb name aye? I've been imagining the stories and incidents which led to the name hundreds of years ago.

Unknown said...

Sandra, do you know where I can source Astragalus milk vetch seeds or seedlings? Thanks