Grow an Herb Garden

Cooking with fresh herbs can make a good dish great and also add flavor which reduces the need for extra salt. Having fresh herbs at your fingertips in your own herb garden makes using herbs in cooking practical and easy. No longer will you have to make special trips to the store just for fresh herbs when you have an herb garden just a few steps from your kitchen.

Recently scientists have found that herbs, both dried and fresh, are high in anti-oxidants, which reduce the risk for cancer and heart disease.

When you grow your own herbs, you can choose to use them fresh, dry them for later use or even freeze them. In all instances, your herbs will probably be fresher than not only what's sitting in the little bottle in your spice rack, but also what is sitting in the little bottle at your grocery store's spice aisle.

To decide which herbs to grow, consider your most common cooking needs and tastes. If you don't enjoy the taste or smell of rosemary, don't grow it in your garden. On the other hand, if you find yourself using lots of fresh parsley in your cooking, make sure you plant a lot in your garden.

Herb gardens do very well in containers. Some herbs like parsley, but especially mint, can take over a garden in just a season and will be difficult to get rid of entirely. By planting your herbs in containers, you will be able to control their growth.

When substituting fresh herbs for dry in a recipe, use 3 times the amount of fresh herbs as you would dry herbs. Here are a few popular garden herbs to consider.

Basil - Basil is almost synonymous with Italian cooking. It will taste great whenever you pair it with tomatoes, but especially in fresh tomato, mozzarella and basil salads, tomato sauce and pizza sauce. When growing basil, be sure to pinch off flowering heads when they appear and the basil will grow bushier. If the flowers are allowed to grow, the plant will go to seed and the leaves will stop producing.