H is for Herbs

April is a good time to plant horseradish, but I don't have it in my garden and have no plan to grow it  any time soon. So I decided to do a more general post on the herbs I do grow.

Basil growing in the garden

The problem with me when it comes to  things I love - IT gadgets (am a former IT business journalist), books and plants - is that I tend to be very passionate and sometimes have very little common sense.

Like a toddler, when I'm in a store full of things I love, I want it now.. I want more of it. 

Not that I can afford to just buy whatever I want when I want, considering my budgetary constraints as a writer working almost part-time most days.

So when I go shopping, I make a list..  and restrict myself to buying just what's on my list.

I also make shopping for these three things into a sprinting exercise.

usually I look at options online until I'm sure what I want and how much it will cost, and if I go to a brick and mortar store, zoom in on what I  came for and sprint out again. No lingering in the aisles to see what else they have!

That's very rough when I see a lot of things in the store that I want but common sense tells me I can't have. For the record? Clothes, shoes, handbags, make-up etc do not have that effect on me.

sage in the courtyard outside my kitchen

So this morning I had my own version of hell when I went to one of the local nurseries to buy herbs I've been meaning to start growing.

rosemary outside kitchen

And I was good. Really. I only got strawberry and globe artichoke seedlings in addition to the lavender, lemon verbena, catnip and tarragon I went in for. Hehehe!



I love herbs and use them for culinary and medicinal purposes. Some I grow just outside my kitchen and use them almost daily, while others I grow in the main gardens, to be picked in large quantities to frozen dried, make pesto, infuse oils and to be used as ground cover in the yard.

Sometimes the same herb, like thyme and mint fulfill the same function, in which case, I'd have it all over the yard as ground cover. I also grow herbs for their fragrance.

They make a home smell so good, whether you're walking past a bush and bumped against it, or you're chopping it to use.

Herbs in my garden

Currently I grow mint, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage, parsley, dill, fennel, catnip, lemon verbena, pepermint, lavender, borage, chives, coriander (cilantro), garlic, garlic chives, oregano and tarragon.


I still have many more herbs that I want to grow. I'm working my way though this list, planting the herbs as I learn about them and find them.