This herbal sauce is served with baked fish and it is also great with stewed beef

You will need:

2tbsp chopped French tarragon

2 large slices white bread

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Salt and fresh ground pepper (white)

Cut the bread with a knife into small thin pieces and pour the olive oil over it. Chop the garlic finely and sprinkle over the bread and leave to marinate for 2 hours covered with plastic wrap at room temperature

Next add the marinate of both red wine vinegar and balsamic, salt and pepper to a food processor. If need to thin the sauce down add fish or meat sauce.

1 cup roasted, ground Sesame seed

1 dried, ground Celery tops

2 cups dried, ground Parsley

2 teaspoons dried, ground Garlic

2 teaspoons dried, ground Thyme

2 teaspoons dried (seeds), ground Coriander

2 teaspoons dried, ground Marjoram

2 teaspoons ground Paprika

1 teaspoon dried (seed), ground Dill

1 teaspoon, ground sea salt

Mix well the herbs and spices and pass trough a fine sieve. Keep enough to use and place the rest in airtight container and keep in the freezer

by steve stamos

Basil is an annual aromatic herb introduced from the East in the sixteen century as a culinary herb and it is still very popular today. Several types of the herb are in cultivation including, Bush Basil, Sweet Basil, Holy Basil, Creek basil, Lettuce-leaf Basil, Thai Basil, Purple Basil….

Basil is propagated from seeds in spring. It likes a fertile well-drained soil and a warm sunny site, so get such a site in your garden to plant it. Acid soils will need a dressing of lime and a liquid fertilizer given once a month will keep the plants happy. Basil makes a good pot plant in cool climates and an excellent companion plant. It repels fruit fly and aphids from other plants and rubbed onto the skin repels mosquitoes.

Pick leaves throughout the season to use fresh or dry. To improve bushiness and keep leaves coming keep flowering tips pinched out. Dried powdered leaf once taken as snuff. Basil oil is used as a commercial flavoring and in perfumery. Add fresh chopped leaves in salads pasta dishes, meat dishes; particularly compatible with tomatoes. The fresh leaves aid digestion.

basil

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The quadrant garden design is very old, but also very popular way to display herbs. It is a simple square or rectangular space with paths cutting the area into four equal parts. This garden design usually, outline each of the four equal parts with a fence and the perimeter boarders inside each fence is planted with perennial herbs such as lavender, chives, mints, lemon balm or thyme.

The inner squares are used to grow annual herbs such as parsley, basil, chervil or chamomile. These can be rotated with deferent herb beds each year.

Very small spaces can be effectively planted using a guardant plan. The design was very popular with Colonial gardens.
A quadrant garden can be rather plain in design. However, it can be decorated, by using color paving for the paths and by placing an ornament such as a Sun Clock in the center of the garden, and transform it into a head turning herb garden.

Quadrant Garden

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Horse radish is a perennial herb of the Crucifer family. Found in waste lands and cultivated in the gardens. Leaves are long, rough with a biting taste.
Flowers are small, cross-form and whitish. The root is the medicinal part of the herb. It is long stringy with white or pink color and it has a hot taste. Oil that contains a sulfur compound imparts the pungent odor and the hot taste of the root.

It is a valued remedy for destroying harmful bacteria and for expelling worms. Horse radish is a good remedy for urinary troubles and for stimulating the appetite. One or two roots are grated finely and taken raw in teaspoon doses daily before meals.

horse radish

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This is a popular combination of basil and garlic and a delicious sauce for pasta.

 4 cups of fresh basil

5 gloves of garlic

2/3 cup of pine nuts

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of grated pecorino cheese

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Wash basil and chop. Peel the garlic and chop coarsely. In a mortar pound the chopped garlic, pine nuts and salt. Add to the mixture the chopped basil and make it into a fine paste. Gradually add the finely grated cheeses and stir with care. Last add the olive oil very slowly (in a trickle) and stir in well. Pour the sauce into a glass jar and top with a little olive oil. Place the sauce into the refrigerator. It keeps for over a week.

This is an effective recipe after a long and stressful day to calm you down.

1 bottle Dry white wine, empty into a clean jug
1 tablespoon Rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons Lemon balm, chopped
4 Cloves
2 tablespoons Honey
1×3cm Cinnamon stick

Place the herbs, spice and honey in the empty bottle and top with the wine
Shake daily until the honey is dissolved. Strain well and return the wine to the bottle.
Drink after ten days.
This nerve calming wine has been around for…..ever.

Lemon grass is an annual herb that flourishes in the tropics. It reaches a height of 1.5 m and a spread of 1 m. It is used extensively in Asia, India and Thailand for a very long time. Lemon grass has a strong lemon flavor due to citral, essential oil it contains. It is now grown commercially for its widely used essential oil. The herb can successfully grow outside, in the garden, in temperate climates but rarely flowers. In cool climates, grow as a pot plant.

The best flavored leaves are obtained from the lower 12cm part of the plant. This part is white and thick and is used fresh or dried wherever fresh lemon flavor is required. Lemon grass is used in many dishes especially fish and seafood dishes, curries, vegetables, drinks and sweet dishes. Harvest the stems during the summer months. The taste of lemon grass complements those of coriander, onion and chili. The stems are cut into 2 cm long cooked with the food and then removed before serving.

A tea made from the fresh leaves of the herb is a tummy and stomach relaxant.

lemon grass

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Paving on sand can create ideal conditions for herbs that prefer a sunny and well-draining ground. Herbs such as Thyme can creep and spread out through the cracks. A Chequerboard pattern of slabs with plants in the spaces between is a simple design but effective showpiece for herbs, planted to create blocks of colors that highlight the design. Paving slabs come in a wide range of shapes and colors which makes it easier to blend your design with the surroundings and the herbs you are going to plant.

You can have several different materials, colors and/or shapes to create an informal effect or keep your design uniform. Slabs are usually square or rectangular but other shapes are available. First you will need to mark out the perimetry (use some pegs and string), level the area and with a rake smooth out the space. Take some planks make a frame that will surround the edges of the designated area and firmly hold to the ground using some wooden begs on the inside corners and middle of the wooden frame but, make sure you spirit level the frame as you go along.

Cover the base inside the frame with 6cm sharp sand, level and smooth out, and check with the spirit level to get a level surface. Lay all of the slabs in place leaving a gap equal to the length of a slab between each one. Make some sand-cement mixture with sufficient water for a stiff mortar. Lift slabs, one at a time, and place sufficient mortar in the center and each corner then replace the slabs back. Now place some mortar along the inside edge of each space to secure the slab. Tamp each slab with the handle of a club hammer against some piece of wood and make sure the slab aligns with the frame. Check again with your spirit level.

When you have finished with the slabs scoop the sand from around their edges and seal with mortar to keep the sand under the slabs secure. When the mortar is fully set fill the planting area with soil and plant your herbs such as Lemon balm, Marjoram, Nasturtiums, Tansy, Mint and/or Thyme.

Chequerboard Herb Garden

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