Wednesday 29 August 2012

The Enjoyment As Well As Other Benefits Of Raising Your Own Herbs

By Robert Wilson

Growing your own herbs is simple to do and can be very rewarding as many herbs can be added to culinary dishes to enhance the flavor of our food. You can use a small portion of your garden, or maybe planting pots, to raise enough herbs to satisfy all your needs - and your neighbourhood garden center or nursery will stock just about everything that's needed for starting out. Let's quickly check out some of the primary advantages of growing herbs and the many uses for them.

Almost certainly the most well-known use of herbs is in cooking, chiefly to add taste but sometimes also color. There isn't really a meal, including salads and soups, that they can't be added to. There are lots 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. When you try out various recipes you'll add variety and new tastes to your daily meals.

Over the ages an array of illnesses and diseases have been successfully treated with herbs, many of which are credited with curative powers. Several natural remedies can be found for various health complaints which are easily obtained with a bit of research. All these herbs are put to use either fresh or dried out and can be taken internally, such as in drinking teas or tinctures or used externally by being applied to poultices and creams that can be applied to affected areas. If you find it difficult to fall asleep, take camomile to calm and soothe you into a peaceful slumber, while if an upset stomach is your trouble then the way to settle it is with peppermint tea.

Another popular way of using herbs which you have grown on your own is to chop them and dry them. Employ them as you did the fresh variation, in teas and as a culinary flavorant. They could also be put away when dry and used as decoration, such as adding to potpourri. Dried herbs exude a aroma that's very agreeable to the senses. A bouquet of dried lavender tied up with twine and installed from a kitchen ceiling offers an attractive countryside feel and provides the lovely lavender color and scent.

It does not matter if you only have a small garden, herbs are very easily grown at home even with limited space. Believe it or not most herbs grow very well in pots and mint is a good model of this. Some other plants grown near mint are not recommended, since its active and lusty spreading habit will soon suffocate them. This development is usually contained effectively when cultivated in a pot. As with most container gardening you will need to water the pots on a regular basis to prevent them from drying out.

Growing your personal herbs is also a great way of getting children involved in gardening as it can be cheap and easy to do. You may just kindle a fondness for cooking by letting your children to experience the different flavors obtained from adding the various herbs they have grown. For an introduction, let your children to sow some cress seeds inside a pot on a windowsill - observing the growth process will fascinate them. Apart from the ease with which it grows, cress boasts the fun and tasty benefit that it can be cut and added to their food.

So there are plenty of reasons to start growing your own herbs and you will quickly reap the benefits of your efforts.

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