Creating a successful herb garden at home is as easy as sticking a kernel of corn or bean in some potting soil in a Dixie Cup and watching it sprout several days later. That’s all you need to get started!  Then it’s a matter of maintenance. It is not much more complicated.  It’s simply a matter of diligence. The basics are, you need to:

1. learn the hows and when to feed them ;
2. learn how much watering can help or hurt your herbs ; and
3. learn in what kind of environment they like to spend their day.

That is all there is to it.

There is much more to learn about herbs , though.  To start, by definition an herb “is a seed-producing annual, biennial, or perennial that does not develop persistent woody tissue but dies down at the end of a growing season.  It is a plant or parts of various plants cultivated for their aromatic, pungent, or otherwise desirable substances. Spices and herbs consist of rhizomes, bulbs, barks, flower buds, stigmas, fruits, seeds, and leaves. They are commonly divided into the categories of spices, spice seeds, and herbs.”

Historically, the use of herbs dates back to our earliest civilizations, China, Egypt and India. Chinese medicine has a long history of employing a wide variety of herbs in its concoctions. Herbs were used in the embalming fluids in Egypt. Ayurveda has combined herbs for both diet and medicine for millenia.

Spices and herbs continue to have their place in medicine today, even in conventional Western medicine.  Plants contain many phytochemicals , such as beta-carotene, that affects the body. However, forethought and education is essential before using herbs for medical purposes . We usually add culinary herbs in our dinner, but   some herbs can be toxic in larger quantities, e.g. extracts of St. John’s-wort or kava, used for relief of depression and stress. Larger amounts can result in serious toxicity.   And yet, any modern drugs have their origins in herbal medicines.

It is the essential oil of these herbs that make them so valuable . It is for this reason that herbs are used extensively in the food industry in processed meats, sausages, sauces, vinegars, mustards, pickles, chutneys, preserves, salad dressings, biscuits, cookies, cakes, confections, and beverages as well as a number of liqueurs like absinthe, anisette, benedictine, and others.  They are used in everyday consumables like perfume, cosmetics, toiletries, lotions, hair products, toothpastes, and soaps.

Most of us are interested in herbs for their culinary use.   The culinary use of herbs employs the leafy part of the plant or the seeds and is used in comparatively small amounts to furnish flavor and not as food itself.

Herbs are annuals – such as basil and chervil; biennials – such as parsley; or perennials – such as thyme or lavender and shrubs like rosemary and trees like bay laurel. Some plants are used as both spice (the seed) and herb (the leaf), such as dill seed and dill weed or coriander seeds and coriander leaves (cilantro). Chamomile tea uses the flower . Then there are some herbs such as those in the mint family that are used for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

You can create your herb garden anywhere in your home, out of doors in a garden, in pots on a terrace or balcony, or in a container on the windowsill of your kitchen.  When done with a bit of ingeniousness, your herb garden will brighten the look of any spot you put it, filling the space with its fragrance and beauty!

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