Tuesday 13 March 2012

Your Own Private Herb Garden Produces Plenty Of Rewards

By Cody Crescenti

Cultivating your own herbs is simple to do and can be very gratifying as many herbs can be added to culinary dishes to enhance the flavor of our food. You're going to get everything you need to launch your own herb garden from the garden center or nursery down the road, and then you'll need just a small patch of garden for planting, or even using pots will get great results. Simply herbs have numerous uses and positive aspects - let's explore that in some detail.

The most apparent selling point of growing herbs is their addition to cooking, providing flavor and color to food. Herbs are synonymous with cooking, and they are used even in the most basic and humble dishes like soups and salads. There's something exciting about using ingredients cultivated and harvested by yourself, and perhaps that helps to explain the lift they bring to the taste of many meat dishes. When you try out various recipes you'll add variety and new tastes to your daily meals.

Over the ages a range of illnesses and diseases have been successfully treated with herbs, many of which are credited with curative powers. You will uncover a range of remedies based around herbs when you conduct some research. All these herbs are employed either fresh or dried and can be taken internally, such as in drinking teas or tinctures or used externally by being added to poultices and creams that can be applied to affected areas. Peppermint tea is a superb example of a remedy for an upset stomach and chamomile tea is acknowledged for its soothing effect and can help to calm you when taken before bedtime to help you gain a restful sleep.

Another popular method of using herbs which you have grown by yourself is to slice them and dry them. Utilize them as you did the fresh variation, in teas and as a culinary flavorant. They might also be stored when dry and used as adornment, such as adding to potpourri. The primary perk of this is the pleasant aromatic aroma of the dried herbs. A bunch of dried lavender connected with twine and strung from a kitchen ceiling offers an attractive countryside feel and provides the lovely lavender color and scent.

It is rather easy to grow your own herbs in your own home, even if you have a small garden or little space. In fact most herbs grow very well in pots and mint is a good example of this. It grows and spreads very vigorously and can take over other plants whenever given the chance. Cultivating mint in a container will constrict this growth pattern nicely. Don't forget to water your potted herbs on a regular basis, as with any 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 plenty of reasons to start growing your own herbs and you will quickly reap the benefits of your efforts.

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