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What is Your Favorite herb?

12 years ago

What is your favorite herb? Tell the reason behind it, whether it be a childhood memory or you just love the taste. Personally, mine is mint. My parents had a little (miraculously contained) patch of mint, and I would pick it for them and eat it between playing.

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Comments (25)

queenbee_1
12 years ago
I love basil. I use it for cooked and fresh dishes.
lavender_lass
12 years ago
Lavender...I know, big surprise! :)
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Alicia, There are SO many herbs that I must have: Lavender, rosemary, basil, garlic, dill, thyme, oregano, calendula. The list is too long! I use them for cooking, for teas, and even medicinal things like oils (calendula is very good). My two cents on herbal medicine: Everything in moderation. :) I can take a turmeric capsule after a strenuous day of gardening and feel great the next day. There is a wonderful, local "Herb Lady" who makes them. Granite, Your gardens are making me drool! What I would give for that much FLAT land! Mine is so hilly that I must terrace everything. . . TriangleJohn, Your previous assortment of pets sounds very interesting! I love sheep and llamas, and have thought of one day having a few, but not sure I have the energy to keep up with them. Sounds like a full-time job! LOL Maybe just a few chickens, when I get a place built out there - but like Marsha and others said: They would have a home for life. :) Happy herb gardening, all! Rosemary
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The best way to find out is to experiment for yourself. 'One man's meat is another man's poison', as they say. For myself, I think any of the lemon-y herbs are quite nice as tea, and mint goes with a lot of things. Ginger and lemon for an upset tummy. However, please do remember that one cup per day of ANY tea made from ANY plant is a medicinal dosage for an adult. ALL herbs have medicinal actions - some are good, and some are bad - even in the same plant. Do some homework and learn what these actions are in any herbs you choose. Be especially careful if you are taking any herbal supplements or conventional medications. Overdosing and adverse interactions are easily possible. Of course, pregnancy and pre-existing conditions (blood pressure problems, kidney problems, heart problems, diabetes just to name a very few) can influence what you should or shouldn't take. I don't drink herbal teas unless I'm treating some ailment or other. The exception is ordinary tea, Camellia sinensis - which my urologist has forbidden! - and I restrict myself to 2 cups per day, and take it very, very weak. Here is a link that might be useful: herb tea recipes
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The last 5 years we worked to remove all of our lawn; have finally reached the point today that our whole yard is a garden filled with flowers and edibles and NO LAWN! The bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and numerous other birds are very happy to find Dill, Holy Basil, Lime Basil, Red Rubin Basil, Lemon Basil, (plus more), Comfrey, Bee Balm, Elephant Garlic, Detroit Red Beets, Onions, Egyptian Walking Onions, various Swiss Chard, Strawberries, Carrots, Crinums, Amaryllis, Rain Lilies, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, various other bulbs (what can I say...they are EASY), Agastache, Salvias, Iris, Cannas, Bluebonnets, Mums, Spiderwort, Asparagus, various Mints, and Blackberries, Blueberries, Pomegranates, Peach Trees, Apricot Trees, Pear Tree, Plum Tree, Apple Tree and Pecan Trees make nice with Red Oaks, Redbud, various Crepe Myrtles, Russian Sage, Hardy Asters, various roses (yes, I CAN grow roses!), Oleanders, various Hibiscus, various lantanas, Caryopteris, etc. And to all that are mixed in the veggies and annual flowers. I'm an open book...still learning how to use everything we are growing, such as teas, etc. Next on the list of "To Do" are ponds and chickens (our one bunny is lonely). Thanks to all the great people on GW who shared their seeds, cuttings, plants, bulbs, advise, etc., I now have a wonderful place to escape the world while I enjoy Mother Nature! Peggy
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During peak herb season, I like to go and cut fresh sprigs of what ever needs a pruning, sage, loveage, the various thymes, chives, rosemary, basil, ect, it's a matter of personal taste and what's growing at the time, and then stuff them into a cavity of a chicken or rabbit. I'll also throw in some onions, garlic, carrots. Nothing is chopped, just cut or folded small enough to fit inside, us working girls have to find shortcuts where we can. Slow roast covered at about 200 to 250 degrees for a couple hours as you go about your gardening chores. Then uncover, turn the heat up and put some butter or oil on the skin to brown it. Let that cook until brown, take out, remove what ever you shoved inside and serve. The meat will be be fall off the bone tender and infused with all the flavors of whatever you shoved inside. I also like to take my lemon thyme and lay it on fresh fish before I bake it. And for those drinkers amonst us, take a stalk of loveage and put it in your bloody mary instead of a celery stalk, just crush it a little first, it does have a stronger celery taste than cerery, adds a kick to the drink. Loveage is also good in anything that calls for chopped cerery, turkey stuffing for example. Just remember, it has a stronger taste and the stems do tend to be tough, just chop the leaves and use less than you would of celery. Loveage seeds are also interchangeable with celery seeds in a recipe. Loveage is a plant well worth growing if you have the space, mine get's about 6 to 7 feet tall. I use it to hide my ac unit, the only down side, it will fall over after a hard rain, it's best to stake it up. And if you do kabobs, especially lamb, use the woodier stems of rosemary to string them on. If it's fresh cut rosemary, you really don't have to soak it, just strip the leaves. But if you dried rosemary stems for this reason, soak them first. Woodier sage stems are also great for chicken kabobs. Nasturgium leaves and flowers add a extra kick to any salad, especially if you you use the flowers, they add such a pretty accent to any salad. Sorry the hostaholic in me talking here, also throw in some chopped hosta leave for texture and color. Yes they are perfectly edible, are a food source, not a decorative plant, in their native land, I chew on broken leaves all the time as I garden. I just don't use the ones I paid $100 for, only the more common, can't get rid of if I paid you, varieties. Lol. PS, take a hosta leaf, take out the main rib, spread with some cream cheese and ham, salami or pepperoni, roll and cut into bite size pieces, taste great. a wonderful appitizer and conversation piece at your next party. If people don't think your nuts before then, they sure will after that, lol. Somebody stop me, I'm a herbaholic when it comes to cooking, I use so little salt, my herbs supply all the flavor I need.
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4hleader
12 years ago
Basil, without a doubt.
fatamorgana2121
12 years ago
"Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?"

[Why should a man die while sage grows in his garden?]

FataMorgana
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
12 years ago
Basil!
vv79
12 years ago
Definitely basil.
perle_de_or
12 years ago
Rosemary. Love it. Easy to root, its evergreen, love it for cooking. I have several that I started from just sticking a broken off cutting in potting soil.
gjcore
12 years ago
Hmmm, so many to chose from. I've really enjoyed thyme recently for use in a variety of recipes. Honorable mentions go to rosemary, winter savory, Italian parsley and chives.
eibren
12 years ago
I have a special fondness for horehound, which to my surprise can sometimes winter over in zone 5 in a pot. It is good for bronchitis, and so bitter it has few enemies.

For culinary use, I find thyme and oregano the most handy, and for teas, I like pineapple sage and pineapple mint together, or lemon balm.
flora_uk
12 years ago
I love basil but can only grow it under glass in mid summer so I'd go for rosemary, sage, thyme and bay which are totally trouble free, hardy and which I use in large quantities all the year round.
t-bird
12 years ago
flora - I have had great success growing basil with my tom/pepper/eggplant seedling under shop lights. I have 2 pots -6 inch, 4 plants - one genovese, one aromata. and have had several harvests from each and actually - I need to tell myself to plan a basil dish because there is too much! There is probably 3 dishes worth now to be harvested - but Ds isn't home and those are his favs so I am waiting!

Maybe a pot in a sunny window with some supplemental lighting would work for you.
User
12 years ago
Rosemary, no comparison--I agree with Perle above. Why? Aromatic, deer-proof, severe drought tolerance, evergreen (I harvest year-round, in all weather), gorgeously stunning, blue/lavender flowers from February into Spring, delicious on chicken... I could go on.
moonwolf_gw
12 years ago
I am going to be different (big surprise lol). My favorite herb of all is Sweet Annie. I love the fragrance :). I am growing it from seed (Winter Sowing) for the first time and hopefully I'll have enough to share with my sister. From what I understand, if it grows for me, I'll have enough to share each year.

Brad AKA Moonwolf
flora_uk
12 years ago
Thanks for the tips t-bird. But I am rather anti growing under lights. I don't like using electricity simply to grow a few plants. It is very unusual over here to grow under lights indoors in a domestic setting and also unnecessary given our climate. I raise my tomato and pepper plants in my glass porch in natural light in the spring but it is too cold for basil in the winter. I have already sown basil for this summer but it is not harvestable yet. It will stay in the porch even in the summer because we just don't get enough heat for it to really thrive outside. My home is very short on window sills and my climate is very short on sun in winter. So I'll just stick to enjoying basil in season. But I can have outdoor rosemary and bay 12 months of the year so there are compensations.
jolj
12 years ago
Rosemary, it smells good, pretty,great on lamb.
Then basil for smell & cooking.
Then Mint pretty & gives a salad a kick.
dowbright
12 years ago
Basil makes me happy when I eat it, smell it, cut it, toss it in dishes that you wouldn't expect it in, and even just seeing it sprout. It's just such a happy, non-demanding plant for me. I even mulch other pots with clippings because it makes the air sweet while I work.

Have I gone beyond the bend on this? !!
thatannagirl
12 years ago
I love my basil!! I want every kind! do you have a basil? I want that one too! I love using it with bruschetta, I love it in salads, layered on a sandwich instead of lettuce, I love munching on it when I'm in my garden, I love using it instead of spinach, wilted in a skillet in a buttery sauce. I had thousands of basil seedlings earlier this year! Then, because our winter was not so wintery, came the bugs, and the slugs, and the snails,... and my roommate's new 25 pound "puppy."
I have lost entire patches of basil. I hover protectively over the remainders when I am outside. I find myself pondering whether this seedling has been attacked again, or if it was eaten so much yesterday. Is that new digging spot a roaming cat, a gopher, or that blasted PUPPY!?
I am le sad :( *sigh*

srsly, dog, there's some greenbriar over there that you could try chewing on *chuckle*.
uncle_t
12 years ago
Basil to be certain. Even the best store-bought is never as fresh and always costs a small fortune for the pathetic amount you get. I grow about a dozen 5 gal. containers. My wife always chuckles when I call it "Project Basil" at the start of the season. She says it sounds like some sort of runway fashion show. Bring on those Thai and Genovese models!
tracydr
12 years ago
Basil, without a doubt. I love so many types of basil. I love the way it tastes, the ea it looks. I have always loved the flavor, since I was young.
suprneko
12 years ago
I love basil but I'll have to say rosemary since it survives my neglect!

If you asked my kiddo, she'd say stevia. I got one last year on a whim and she went bananas over her 'sweet leaf' and demanded we grow it again this year.
ejh805
12 years ago
Rosemary, by far :)

I love the way it smells, the way it tastes (I use it in EVERYTHING), the way it looks, and how well it grows here.

Love me some rosemary :)
joannepr1
12 years ago
pineapple sage for it beautiful aroma
and
basils of all sorts
EmmaGardener
9 years ago
My favorite herbs:

Mint
Chive
Basil
Parlsy
drmbear Cherry
9 years ago
Does garlic count? My life wouldn't be the same without garlic.
Pyewacket
9 years ago
Fresh use - coriander, hands down.

Rosemary and thyme are up there because I use them (and some marjoram) to make roast potatoes. But I really don't use them for anything else, and I use coriander nearly every day.

Seeds - it's a tie between cardamom and cumin.

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