Hi, everybody. I just found this herb forum, and I love all the things you are talking about. 3gardengirls you reminded me of the Moosewood book, and I looked at it again with fresh eyes, and it is very good! I like her other books, too.

Breezy, you design theme gardens? So you must have tried a lot of herbs, and I am still experimenting, so I would love to hear about the unusual but good ones. I don't want to freak anybody out too much with strange flavors!

Do you all prefer cooking with fresh herbs or with dried? Maybe it's just a convenience thing?

Ericah, I have mint in a large pot in the deep shade and it's just a mess. I thought it liked shade! Maybe it's the dirt, I don't know.

Thanks for your input, and I look forward to all the interesting ideas here

Yes - I had a small herbal landscaping business back when herbs were really taking off (late 70's/early 80's). I gave my clients a little bound book with descriptions & uses of everything I planted, ESPECIALLY the caveats when someone requested a medicinal garden, since many of those herbs can be highly toxic.

As far as cooking - which is where I currently enjoy my herbs the most - dried vs. fresh really depends on what I'm cooking. Do you have any particular types of cooking or ethnic cuisines you really enjoy?

Breezy, a little bound book, how fancy, but I can see how it would be important. People think because it's a plant it's okay to do anything with it! When we were kids we used to find weeds and taste them all the time, I don't know how we survived!

I like Indian, Spanish, Thai (green curry paste and herbs in coconut milk) and I recently saw a show on traditional Brazilian/Bahian foods with great lemon, garlic and chili oil marinades, and they use some interesting herbs, urucum seeds and dende (palm) oil. the colors are bright reds and oranges, yellows, beautiful things. So of course you have to dress up in those colors, take your shoes off and dance around while you cook! ha, ha!

And I've been meaning to find out, can I start lemon grass from a lemon grass plant from the store? Stick it in water or dirt and it will root? Or what's the best way?

I've never done it myself, but do know folks who have had success with it. The big issue is the shape/condition of the material. If you go to an Asian market where they sell the lemon grass in long stalks with the roots & leafy tops still in place, you'd probably have a better chance of success than with the short 6" pieces regular supermarkets sell. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If dealing with the former, I'd probably go ahead & plant it in a good loose potting mix; if the latter, I'd probably try plain water. Hopefully someone here has tried it & will chime in.

Welcome Fresh Tarragon!

Another Thai food lover! I grow all of my own lemongrass, Thai basil and other basils, mint, rau ram, curry leaves, and kaffir lime leaves, plus, of course, many chili peppers, garlic, and shallots to go with it.

Funny thing...I just made a batch of green curry paste last weekend, since I had all of those mature green peppers (and only a few ripening).

I start my lemongrass 3 weeks before last frost date from stalks I get at the Asian market. Just cut off the very bottom, and a few outer layers, making sure you have gotten a stalk with a generous root base (that 1/2" or so you have to trim off before slicing, etc.). Put it in some water, and change it every day or two. In a week you should see a sign of root growth on most, and after 3 weeks a lot of roots all over them. Then I just stick them in the ground about 2" in, and wait! They are slow, but worth waiting for.

With a very few exceptions, there is no substitute for fresh herbs, IMO. Oregano is one that is almost better dried, but most are just nothing close to the fresh.

Dave

Welcome Tarragon! Most of the herbs I grow fall in two categories kid resistant and kid sensitive! We use lots of mint, sage, thyme, and oregano dried. I like basil and parsley fresh or I'll freeze them in a paste with a little oil/water.
We do a lot of basic middle American cooking. My few forays in Asian cooking have been complete disaster.
Enjoy OG's boards. I love them.

Breezy, that's encouraging. I'll hunt down some with roots.

Pepperhead, don't you love the beauty of Thai basil? Oh, heavens, it's gorgeous, I almost hate to deadhead it. I tried some curly purple basil this year and it's not very happy. I got it as a transplant, and maybe it just couldn't make the transition. I'm glad you mentioned that the lemon grass is slow, so I won't give up too soon!

I have a Kaffir lime tree, too, and I like experimenting with it. Have you seen that TV show Diary of a Foodie? They go into the most remote corners of the world and show recipes done in their most basic form, really interesting. It's by Gourmet Magazine, and they cover the show on their website. Oregano is surprisingly good. To taste it straight is kind of off-putting, but when mixed with other things, it's very nice.

3gardengirls, good idea about freezing the paste. I tend to hang them upside down when I'm in a hurry, and I think they lose some of their character when dried. Quick stir fries with fresh vegetables in olive oil (not very Asian, but it's one of those good fats!), then fresh chopped herbs stirred in in the last minute, literally, works nicely. the herbs just heated through, rarely cooked, for Asian dishes is great.

Thanks, all, for the welcome.

If you love Thai basil, FT, then this should interest you: hydroponics Thai basil. I started two winters ago growing it indoors, so I don't need to grow as much to freeze now, and, of course, nothing is like fresh!

You know about the lime leaves then...once you have had them, there is nothing like them! I have a friend who moved and found a Thai restaurant nearby, but she said something was missing in the dishes, and she didn't know what it was. So when she came back, she wanted a Thai dinner, and figured out it was those leaves that were missing!

Do you bring your plant inside for the winter, or do you live in a warm zone?

Dave

Don't feel too badly about the curly purple basil. Years ago I grew "Purple Ruffles" a couple of seasons from seed & didn't have much luck with it, nor did I like it much.

For one, compared to other basils it was very slow growing; for another, the plants themselves were very heavy-leaved/top-heavy/floppy. Heavy rains were devastating to them & thus ruined any decorative value they might have had. I also didn't care for the flavor - way too clove-scented/flavored for my taste.

I imagine other folks had problems with the "Purple Ruffles" & "Green Ruffles" varieties because I don't see them much - if at all - anymore. I imagine (at least I hope) that perhaps improvements have been made & new varieties are better. But if not, keep in mind that you're not alone if your curly basil doesn't look "happy".

Ack, I spelled my name wrong, so I re-signed up! That's what I get for growing it and not buying a bottle of it now and then!

Dave, it's mild where I live, and I have a little greenhouse, so I can keep basil almost all year. It's very slow in Dec/Jan and doesn't bolt, it just kind of peters out. That's interesting about the lime leaves and their flavor. I need to experiment more with them. Citrus can be outside here all year, so it's not a problem.

Breezy, that's the stuff! It looks interesting and it's just not hardy at all. I bought 4 of them, and two died within just a few days. They were also in that white puffy stuff in the dirt mix, which I think makes for very weak plants in the first place. I try not to buy transplants that have it in there because I don't want it in my garden. So they must be practically growing them hydroponically before the transplants get to the nursery, and like Dave said, it does well hydroponically. Then we stick it in the ground and it stresses out.

Too bad about the flavor because it's lovely looking.

Can you post a picture of your little green house???


I'm so wanting one!