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More on herbs, including tips, recipes (ice cream combos included)
Herbs keep getting more and more popular. If our other two stories today aren’t enough, we’ve got more, including a plethora of tips, recipes (including ice creams!) and places to visit pioneer herb gardens. Check out these online resources:
Here are some past tips we had on starting them from seed. The six easy steps are: Preparation, planting, watering, growing, preparing the outdoor beds and moving the herbs outside in the spring. Plus there’s a list of 10 to start from seed.
In the article from the Oregonian’s former magazine Homes + Gardens Northwest, Patty Hicks, a veteran nursery worker and propagator who gives demonstrations on how to grow herbs, says “even something as easy as starting herbs is part science and part art. The first year I ever did any gardening of my own, I tried lavender and rosemary. I had no idea what I was doing, and I had success.” She says she still has no luck with dill so don’t feel bad if all your first efforts aren’t successes. She says those new to starting plants from seeds should start with the basics, she says, limiting themselves to especially easy crops, such as chives, oregano, sage and parsley.
If you aren’t a plan-ahead sort, you can still plant herbs. Here’s how to have an instant herb garden (with refers to another set of books and an herb gallery with a growing guide you can check out).
For those who already have an herb garden, here are some ways to protect from winter damage. Things to watch for: poor drainage, cold snaps and sudden warm periods during winter.
VegKitchen has some great recipes with various herbs, including Zucchini with Mint, Tofu Scramble with Jalapeño and Cilantro and Chickpea Salad with Zucchini, Vegan Mozzarella and Basil.
Don’t overlook herbs at dessert time. FOODday has a cool list of ice cream with herb recipes, including Fresh Mint Ice Cream, Cinnamon-Basil Ice Cream With Peach Compote, Rosemary-Orange Ice Cream, Strawberry-Rose Geranium Ice Cream, Blueberry-Basil Ice Cream, Thyme Ice Cream With Candied Orange Peel. YUM!
For a step-by-step on planting pots of herbs, check out eHow.
Herb Garden includes links to 20 facets of herb gardening, including several design and layout ideas, plus a video of planting a container herb garden in an old basket that is then put in a decorative metal container.
And (in season) check out the herb garden at the James F. Bybee House and Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island or the pioneer herb garden at Mission Mill in Salem.
– Peggy McMullen
Bill & Sheila’s A-Z of herbs
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