Herbs
A great compliment to any vegetable garden is of course a herb patch. Herbs add a wealth of flavour to your dishes and are relatively easy to implement and maintain.
Perhaps the most popular herbs are Basil, Rosemary, Chilli and Parsley which I will look at a little more closely. Of course there are a number of other great herbs which can be used in various cooking such as thyme, sage, coriander (used in curries), lemon grass (used a lot in Thai cooking), Chives, Oregano and Rocket (all used a lot in salads).
If you like a to cook steak, some fresh sticks of Rosemary are the perfect herbal compliment. Used in roasts and many other dishes, the powerful scent and taste of Rosemary makes it a popular herb in many meat dishes. Not only is this herb a commonly used ingredient in fine cuisine, it is also very straight forward to grow. You can buy a Rosemary plant for a few dollars and given good water and a little shade, it will grow into a large bush which needs little or no maintenance once it gets going. Rosemary can also be dried and stored as a dry seasoning, and is also used in a variety of scented products due to its pleasant odour.
Basil is commonly used in pasta dishes, chopped and mixed in at the last moment to give that divine smell at subtle taste. It is also used to make pesto, a combination of crushed pine nuts and basil. You can buy several varieties of Basil. We have sweet basil which is typically a year long plant with shiny leaves. I prefer the perennial basil which will continue to grow through the years. When you see flowers on your basil plant, be sure to remove them, as it promotes growth in the leaves and prolongs the life of the of the plant
A herb patch wouldn't be complete without a chilli plant or two. Used in almost any dish, chillies will spice things up in your cooking and taste amazing if freshly picked. There are a number of varieties of chilli from the milder type to the baby inferno ones pictured here. They will usually last more than one year and are relatively easy to maintain and get going.
If you are a salad fanatic, Parsley is a must for salads and as a garnish to a variety of dishes. You can grow Italian parsley which has a flat leaf, or the more common parsley used predominantly as a garnish, which has almost a crumpled leaf look.
If you have chosen perennial herbs you will simply need to get the herb patch going and you should have no problems. Start with some basic plants (the tougher varieties) and let them build up the soil a little. Things like Rosemary are very hardy plants and also provide some shade for the other herbs. Apply water and mulch as with your other vegies.
Why not? especially if you are confined spatially. Sometimes you will need to grow a plant in a pot to stop it spreading uncontrollably. A great example is mint. Never plant this in your vegetable garden! It will send out feeler roots and before long you will have a mint forest. This happened to me once, and it took a lot of work to get rid of it. So if you want to plant mint, put it in a pot!
