Topic: herbs

6 Ideas For Your Summer Garden (No Yard Required)

6 Ideas For Your Summer Garden (No Yard Required)

It’s June, and maybe you had big plans for a backyard garden that have failed miserably. Maybe you have a really crappy backyard with sandy, toxic soil, or you have no backyard at all, or you just don’t think you’d regularly remember to go out into a yard and water things. Regardless: You can still start a summer container garden still. With no digging, soil testing or mulch required, container gardening can be a lot simpler than growing a real deal in-the-ground garden. Container herbs and plants can thrive on any porch, windowsill, fire escape, rooftop or patio where there’s enough sunlight (and can also be moved around easily, if need be). Here are few container gardening photos and ideas to get you inspired. More »

Spring Table: Salmon with French Sorrel Yogurt Sauce

Spring Table: Salmon with French Sorrel Yogurt Sauce

French sorrel is leafy green herb that can be tossed in salads or used in cooking. Like spinach, sorrel is high in vitamins A and C and potassium, but it’s strong, lemon-y taste make it unique (and a good accent for salmon, which pairs well with lemon and other citrus-y flavors). Kate from the blog and meal-planning service Kate’s Thoughts for Food shared this recipe for salmon with french sorrel yogurt sauce, which can be made in about three steps and 20 minutes. More »

Spring Table: Herb Pesto (No Basil Required)

Spring Table: Herb Pesto (No Basil Required)

You don’t need to wait until high basil season to enjoy fresh pesto—many different herbs will do. “Try sage, arugula, oregano or marjoram,” advises Nishanga Bliss in her new cookbook and guide to seasonal eating Real Food All Year. “Pesto is also a great way to use the stems of parsley and cilantro when you have used the leaves for other dishes.” It’s also not dependent on pine nuts, though many pesto recipes call for them. Swapping other raw nuts and herbs for pine nuts and basil can also help keep down pesto-making costs. More »

Green Thumb Guide: How To Grow Chives

Green Thumb Guide: How To Grow Chives

The chive plant is a member of the onion, leek and garlic family that’s often used in cooking. Chives are great for adding a mild onion flavor to dishes—and one serving of raw chives (about 1 tablespoon) provides a good source of a whole slew of nutrients, like thiamin, niacin, phosphorus, zinc, dietary fiber, riboflavin, folate, and Vitamins A, C and B6. With their pink flowered tips, chives can also make a pretty ornamental plant. Want to grow chives at home? Here’s how to get started … More »

Green Thumb Guide: How To Grow Oregano

Green Thumb Guide: How To Grow Oregano

Oregano is quite popular when it comes sprinkled from a jar, but—as with most herbs—it’s so much more flavorful when fresh. It’s also good for you, with strong anti-bacterial properties and numerous phytonutrients. On a per gram weight basis, fresh oregano has 42 times more antioxidant activity than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges and 4 times more than blueberries. Want to grow oregano at home? Here’s how to get started: More »

Green Thumb Guide: How to Grow Thyme

Green Thumb Guide: How to Grow Thyme

Thyme is a popular cooking herb that’s also got medicinal properties and a pleasant smell. This low, bushy plant produces small gray-green leaves that are high in anti-oxidant capacity, antibacterial properties, and nutrients such as manganese, iron, Vitamin K and calcium. It’s also a low-maintenance plant—it needs little attention once it gets going. Want to grow thyme at home? Here’s how to get started: More »

Coriander Oil Works Where Antibiotics Don’t

Coriander Oil Works Where Antibiotics Don't

Coriander is like some sort of Super-Herb, kicking food-borne-illness’s ass. A new Portuguese study reports that coriander oil proved “toxic to a broad range of harmful bacteria,” able to fight food poisoning and even antibiotic-resistant infections when used in foods and medicines. Coriander oil is picking up the slack where antibiotics fail us; score one nutritional/plant-based medicine, yes? More »

Green Thumb Guide: How to Grow Mint

Green Thumb Guide: How to Grow Mint

Used in cooking, cocktails, medicine or just for it’s lovely scent, mint is one versatile herb. There are actually hundreds of mint varieties, but the kinds people most commonly grow in U.S. gardens are spearmint or peppermint Peppermint, which is actually a hybrid of spearmint and watermint, is the most therapeutic of the mint varieties; it can help treat irritable bowel syndrome, and reduce all sorts of not-to-be-mentioned in polite company problems, like gas, flatulence, diarrhea, constipation and cramps. And peppermint’s oils may also help relieve headaches. More »

Summer Seasonables: Chilled Garlic Soup

Summer Seasonables: Chilled Garlic Soup

Though I add copious fresh garlic to nearly everything I cook, I tend to think of it as a condiment—something to add flavor to dishes, not nutrients. But garlic is actually a nutritional powerhouse in and of itself—it’s been shown to help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, protect your heart, fight inflammation and fight bacterial infections. It’s rich in health-promoting sulfur compounds, Vitamin C, selenium and manganese. More »

Green Thumb Guide: How To Keep Your Basil Plants Alive

Green Thumb Guide: How To Keep Your Basil Plants Alive

Last week, I brought you basil recipes to help you take advantage of abundant summer crops. But many of our Facebook fans balked; basil is a tricky herb to grow. Unlike some herbs (I’m looking at you, rosemary), it’s easy to start from seed. But keeping it alive? Oof. Not so simple. I bought a tall, lovely basil plant about two weeks ago—you were right: this week, it’s dropping leaves faster than the temperature is rising, and what’s left is quickly becoming flecked with holes and brown spots. So what gives? I asked gardening guru Kimberly Sevilla (co-owner of Brooklyn’s Rose Red & Lavender floral and garden shop) for advice. More »

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