Thinking about Herbs

Alongside the vegetables this year, I am keen to try and grow a lot more herbs. These little beauties tend to take up relatively little space yet really pack a punch in the flavour department. There is absolutely nothing like fresh home grown herbs, picked minutes, or even seconds, before eating.

The windowsill propagator is full with a variety of little seedlings but the basil that I planted at the end of February is already maturing nicely and providing a plentiful supply of deliciously sweet leaves.

This basil is invaluable. It is one of those herbs that is immeasurably better fresh than dried and can be used to perk up salads as well as being added when cooking most tomato dishes. Of course you can buy it fresh from the supermarket but they don't seem to last long (or taste as good). An ideal herb to grow yourself then.

I simply sowed a handful of seeds into a 4 inch pot and sealed it in a plastic bag. As I had started them so early, I sat them on the propagator to give them a bit of bottom heat and they didn't take long to come up. Once the leaves appeared, I removed the bag and have just kept them on the conservatory windowsill, remembering to keep them well watered. I now simply pick off the whole stems as needed.

The only thing to remember is to plant some more in plenty of time before the first lot is all gone.