Your Kitchen Herb Garden

A kitchen herb garden is just a garden that is full of herb plants that you use in your kitchen. Many folks keep these somewhere near their back door so that they can dash outside for a couple of sprigs while they are cooking.

So when you are planning your culinary herb garden think about what you love to cook and start with the herb plants that are listed in your favorite recipes.

Some good herb plants for your kitchen garden are:

• Chives: These are one of the easiest herbs to cultivate and cook with. Chives are also among the simplest herb plants to maintain. If you do have a recipe that calls for fresh chives, just clip the tops off a few of your sprouts and the plant will continue to grow Chives can certainly wake up the other flavors in your meals.

• Dill: Dill is one of those utterly foolproof plants that you just cannot go wrong with. Your dill plant is a self-sower, so if you’re providing the full-sun and well-drained dirt it loves and you don’t want more and more dill plants, clip off the blossoms before they go to seed. The leaves, stems, and seeds are all good to cook with. Add a little dried dill seed to your tuna or chicken salad.

• Cayenne Pepper: This hot and spicy herb can grow to about 3 feet high, so be mindful of placement when you plant it. If you live in a region that has frost during winter months, you’ll want to bring your cayenne pepper plant inside. When starting out with cayenne pepper, you do not have to buy it, you can start with seeds inside and then plant the young pepper plant outside. As summer winds on, harvest your peppers as soon as they begin to ripen, because they will easily and quickly rot on the plant.

• Tarragon: Tarragon has a fantastic taste and aroma. I make a yummy mayonnaise-based vegetable dip with tarragon that never fails to please. Don’t worry about buying seeds, get young herbs from the nursery, greenhouse or home improvement store and go from there, snipping off leaves as you need to use them. You will also want to keep the plant trimmed back, so if you need to give it a manicure and do not have anything on the menu that calls for tarragon; you can also freeze it for the future.

• Cilantro: If you aren’t using cilantro already in your burritos, tacos or salsa, you’re missing out on the rising star of Tex-Mex. It can do well from seeds and can be grown year-round in temperate regions, which is fantastic for those winter pots of chili. You can also take it inside during winter for guaranteed success. The leaves near the bottom of the plant have the best flavor, so begin here when you harvest the leaves for your next Mexican dinner.

• Welch Onions: Although these onions are little, don’t count them out, because their mild taste is reminiscent of scallions. Like pearl onions, I use these in dinners to add some visual appeal. Leave plenty of room for your Welch onion because they tend to grow in big clumps.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Fresh Herb Gardening. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.

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