Mint is a robust perennial herb with unmistakably aromatic leaves. There are 25 species and over 600 of varieties widely distributed throughout the world. However, the most valuable and most commonly raised are the following varieties; spearmint - M. spicata, apple mint M. rotundifolia, peppermint - M. piperita, - Pineapple mint - M. suaveolens ‘Variegata’,

All mint has square stems and white or mauve flowers in terminal heads or spikes that appear from midway to late-summer. Mints grow well and overspread quickly wherever they are plant. They favor a well dug, very damp soil and a sunny or partially sunny location. Propagation is mostly by root division, in spring or autumn, since plants true to the parent are hard to come by from seeds.

Mint is vulnerable to rust disease. If signs of rust appear, the plants should be dug out and destroyed. Rust shows up as orange freckles on the lower leafage and stems. Regular harvesting is good for mints as they become much bushier and attractive. Leaves could be used either dried out or fresh.

In addition to its popularity as a culinary herb, mint is popular for its role in cosmetics, as a pest repellent, and in potpourri. Mint is perfect for soups, salads, poultry, meats, fish, sauces, stews, chocolate dishes and tangy sweets. Peppermint is most frequently used for teas and desserts.

Pennyroyal the most pungent member of the mint family rubbed on pet’s fur will assist to deter fleas. However, essential oil of pennyroyal is so potent that it should be considered a poison. In the interest of safety, never use essential oil for anything, just leave pennyroyal oil alone. If a pet or person could be expecting, don’t use, not ever, pennyroyal at all.

One of the most tall-growing and most ornamental of all the herbs is Angelica. This is a biennial herbaceous plant that could convert to a near perennial if allowed the seeds to sow themselves. It could grow up to two meters tall and has large concave leaves with solid stems and strong aroma. Green beautiful umbels of green flowers come along in late summer.

Angelica favors an open semi-shady location with fertile and moist soil. This herb can stand moderated frosts. Seeds planted in late summer will develop stalks that could be used in candying by the next summer. If it is permitted to flower and seed will very shortly produce seedlings that could be plant out the following spring.

Angelica plants should be irrigated on a regular basis and the soil dressed with compost. If the stems require growing more before they are ready for harvesting, then the flowers should be removed since once the plant blooms it dies. Harvest leaves as called for on early summer and stems prior to flowering.

Use the leaves fresh or dried. Infuse leaves in boiling water for a herbal tea or to make the basis for a skin tonic. The dried out leaves also make an appealing and aromatic add-on to potpourris. The stems might be crystallized and then utilized for cake decoration or to flavor food such as jam.

For all those people without a garden it is possible to raise most of the herbs in pots or window boxes. Growing herbs indoors has the added up rewards of enabling some herbs to grow all year round which in colder climates will simply do well outside in the summer months. Though the case-by-case demands of each herb regarding soil type, watering, fertilizing and position might somewhat differ here are some all-purpose tips.

Suitable Herbs

The most suited herbs for pots and window boxes are low-growing herbs such as mint, oregano, basil, chives, parsley and tarragon. Bigger herbs such as sage and borage will incline to become dwarfed naturally once grown in confined areas. Those herbs with a spreading root system such as mint and lemon balm will require to be grown in separate pots which then could be placed in a window box.

Planting of Herbs

These days you can purchase ready to sprout herbs in small peat pots which make gardening easier. Aside from checking that temperature is within reason even and they are well aired the additional crucial points are watering and feeding.

Each herb has particular requirements but broadly feed your plants on a regular basis with liquid organic plant food according to the manufacturer’s instructions and never allow them permanently waterlogged, it is actually essential to aloud the soil to virtually dry between watering. Additionally, the soil in pots or window boxes need to be a good potting mix for herbs such as one made from same parts of sand, leaf mold and soil.

Herbs should be placed in a south or west fronting window that gets good deal of sun light. If you turn them on a regular basis around 45° you will prevent them from growing constantly towards the light and turn distorted in shape.

Harvesting of Herbs

Do not remove more than a one-fifth of the leaves from one plant at one time and make certain new leaf development has commenced before cutting again. The only exclusion to the rule will be chives of which all the leaves could be cut off at once. Healthy indoor herbs besides being of value they are pleasing aromatic plants.

Grow Herbs Indoors

Sweet Cicely is a beautiful, easy to care, perennial herbaceous plant with large haired finely separated fern alike leaves and umbels of white flowers. Sweet Cicely has a mild Anise flavor and young sprouts, foliage and seeds supply sweetness when cooked with fruit.

Sweet Cicely needs a few years to achieve its full height of 1.5 meters. It could be used fresh for just about the whole year since it is one of the first, if not the first, herb to come out in spring and the last one to die out in fall.

Propagation of Sweet Cicely

Plant directly outdoors in very early spring or fall small plants, sow seeds with a light cover of about 2 cm deep or by root division. Distance plants about 45cm apart and pinch out flower buds to advance development. If flowering is permitted to go ahead the herb will rapidly go to seed.

Pick leaves as needed but for drying out pick them in spring. Roots could be cooked and used as vegetables. Fresh leaves can be added in salads or stewed fruit and since it is very sweet will cut back the amount of sugar ordinarily needed. As well for delightful citrus-sweet herb tea blends some leaves with mint and lemon balm can be used.

Sweet Cicely

Sweet Bay is an evergreen, shrub-like tree. It is a native of the Mediterranean region belonging to the Laurel family Lauraceae. The genus includes three species: Laurus novocanariensis, Laurus azorica and Laurus nobilis. Sweet Bay is also known as Bay Laurel, True Laurel or Grecian Laurel. It is the source of the seasoning (herb) Bay leaf. It was used particularly by the ancient Greeks for making Laurel wreaths to honor athletes, soldiers and poets.

Bay Laurel generally grows 1-3m in height but can reach up to 15m in his native Mediterranean region. Leaves are shiny, aromatic, leathery, dark green. Flowers are small yellow produced in clusters in spring, followed, on the female plants, by shiny black or purple berries.

Sweet Bay grows best in partially shaded area, though will withstand full sun, in rich well-drained soil. It is an ideal herb for tubs and large pots (40-45cm). In cooler regions bring indoors in winter. Propagation is by seeds or cuttings. Seeds are slow to germinate and often rot. Cuttings from semi-hard, green tip shoots in summer will root in 6-7 months.

Oil pressed from the berries was once a popular liniment for arthritis and sore muscles; it is used today in perfumes, candles and soaps. Pick leaves fresh as required. Drying of leaves should take place in a dark dry room to ensure retention of color. Their principal use is culinary and they are one of the principal ingredients of bouquet garni.

Stevia is a genus of about 150 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family Asteraceae, This special herb is native South and Central America. Was once cultivated heavily by the Mayans and Incas. The leaves of these plants are intensely sweet and may be used in place of sugar. In recent years, there has been much interest in the medicinal and culinary uses of this herb.

The leaves contain a substance called steviocide that is 300 sweeter than sucrose. The dried and fresh leaves can be used in place of sugar. Stevia can be added to teas and coffees to sweeten, but just a leaf or two is all that is needed. Stevia extracts regardless of their intense sweet taste have negligible effect on blood glucose.

Dried and powdered stevia leaves can be purchased in virtually any shop in the US, Canada, Japan, and many other countries. However in the UK, shops are not allowed to sell it because it threatens the UK’s sugar beet industries. Stevia is recommended for diabetics since it has no calories and no effect on blood sugar levels. Stevia is non-toxic and it is without side effects. Stevia also has shown promise in medical research for treating conditions such as obesity and high blood pressure.

This herb is a short lived perennial growing to .5 meters. It requires a moist and a well drained soil. It is frost sensitive, so keep inside for the winter. It is best if you cut the flowering shoots right back and disallow the plant to flower since it will die soon afterwards. Feed regularly in spring and summer but sparingly in winter time

The Leaves can be eaten having a very sweet licorice-like taste. Dried and fresh leaves can be used in place of sugar for baking and making preserves to sweeten tea or coffee. The leaves may also be added to teas and coffees to sweeten and has zero calories.

stevia

Bergamot is hardy perennial herb native to North America and a member of the Lamiaceae family. It is both fragrant and decorative. It grows to a height of 50 to150cm and leaves are opposite, serrated, 5-15 cm long, 3-6cm wide and dark green with reddish leaf veins. It is flowering from July to late August and flowers are spiky, tubular, 3-4cm long ranging in color from white, pink, mauve through to bright red. It is particularly attractive to bees and hummingbirds and a welcome addition to any herb garden when controlled (it could become invasive). It grows best in full sun, but tolerates light shade and will thrive in any moist soil that is rich and well-drained.

Besides its medicinal qualities, the flowers and leaves are good ingredients for potpourri making. Both may be used fresh or dried but drying should take place in darkness to preserve color. Leaves and flowers are used in salads and with pork dishes but the herb is mostly known for making Oswego tea (as drunk by the Oswego Indians). Propagation is by root division in spring, by cuttings in autumn or by seeds. Harvest leaves any time once plant is established and flowers when in full bloom. Powdery mildew may become a problem.

bergamot

This is a small to medium, up to 2 feet, upright biennial herb with feathery, aromatic, bright green foliage. Leaves resemble those of carrots. The flowers are white tiny and appear in mid summer, followed by seed cases each containing two ribbed brown seeds, if the summer is long and warm. It takes two years for the herb to mature and bear flowers. Seedlings do not transplant well so plant in the garden in clumps in spring or autumn and thin later to about 15cm/6inc apart. The plant prefers a well drained soil and a sunny spot for best results.

Use the young leaves when required in salads and soups for a dill-like flavor. The pungent seeds are much used in bread, confectionery, dumplings, cream cheese, meat dishes such as pork casserole. The roots can be boiled and used as vegetables with white a sauce. In combination with other herbs such as pansy and sage, caraway has been used medicinally to ease coughs and sooth sore throats and laryngitis

Native to Eurasia both the black and white mustard are annual herbs from the brassicacae family, found on waste land and gardens. Mustard is also cultivated as a pasture herb. Black mustard varies in height from 90 to 180 cm while white mustard grows from 30 to 90 cm. Leaves are cross-form, hot, biting. Both types of herb have typical yellow crucifer flowers. Seeds are long, narrow and very hot. Good mustard is a mixture of the powdered white and black seeds.

Both mustards prefer a sunny position and they do well on average soil, however, while black mustard likes plenty of moist, white mustard should not be to damp little lime is advisable on acid soils. Mustards are grown from seed usually at spring time with black mustard sown one or two weeks earlier than white mustard. You must water only to keep the soil lightly damp but not wet.

The tender young leaves are cut to be used in sandwich and salads. The whole seeds are added to curries, soups, stews, pickles and sauces Mustards are also used a) in herbal medicine as a remedy for colds, congested lungs, pneumonia, pains and stiffness. b) as a green manure crop, dug in the soil just at flowering time, returns nitrogen to the soil stored in mustard biomass and c) as an effective weed suppressor due to mustard’s ability to grow fast and its allelopathic inhibition. This is, chemicals found in most species of the genus brassica inhibit weed seed germination.

Mustard