Wednesday 28 March 2012

Raising Your Own Herbs Is, In Fact, Fun And Has Numerous Benefits

By Edna Manista

Cultivating your own herbs is not difficult to do and can be very gratifying as many herbs can be added to culinary dishes to enhance the flavor of our food. There is only the need for small patches of garden or simple pots to grow a variety of herbs and most of what you need to get started can be found at your local garden center or nursery. Let's quickly look at some of the benefits of growing herbs and the many uses for them.

Most likely the most well-known use of herbs is in cooking, primarily to add taste but sometimes also color. Herbs are identified with food preparation, and they are used even in the most basic and humble dishes like soups and salads. There are plenty of meat dishes where herbs help you to improve the overall taste and if using your own, you will know that these are freshly picked from your garden. Quality recipes can be modified to bring new culinary satisfaction to meals that were becoming a little mundane and everyday.

Over the ages an array of illnesses and ailments have been successfully treated with herbs, many of which are credited with curative powers. A little research will provide you with many natural remedies to aid in various ways. A lot of these herbs are employed either fresh or dehydrated and can be taken internally, such as in drinking teas or tinctures or used externally by being put in to poultices and creams that can be applied to affected areas. If you struggle to fall asleep, take camomile to calm and soothe you into a restful slumber, while if an upset stomach is your trouble then the way to settle it is with peppermint tea.

Pick or slice your surplus herbs, which usually stimulates further growth, and then dry them for keeping. Dried herbs can once more be used in teas and put into cooking for additional flavor. One more use for dried herbs is just as a decoration and for preparing potpourri. Dried herbs release a scent that's very pleasing to the senses. Take a bunch of dried lavender, resplendent with delicate grey-green stalks and purple blossoms, tie it with twine and suspend it from the ceiling or a crossbeam to give your kitchen a rustic atmosphere.

A little garden or just a little space will fruitfully grow herbs at home. Actually the majority of herbs grow very well in pots and mint is a good illustration of this. Provide it with half a chance and it will quickly cover other plants with its energetic growth. Growing mint in a plant container will limit this growth pattern nicely. Never forget to water your potted herbs frequently, like every other plant.

Another benefit of growing herbs at home is actually that it offers an affordable and handy opportunity to introduce children to gardening. This kind of participation can be extended to cooking, by allowing them to add the herbs they have grown and witness the transformation in the flavor and aroma of a dish. A simple but interesting way to get them started is to permit them to sow and then watch grow some cress in a windowsill planter. They're certain to be successful at it, after which there's the fun of cutting it to add a tasty bite to their meals.

So you will find lots of reasons to start growing your own herbs and you will soon reap the benefits of your efforts.

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