The Pleasure of Herbsand Edible Flowers

The Pleasure of Herbsand Edible Flowers

Herbs are tactile plants that activate all of our senses, inviting us to touch, smell, and taste them. This is their enchantment. With few exceptions, they are beautiful, ornamental, and elegant in their own right. Their beauty extends from the garden to our plates—herbs make our food come alive and taste better. They inspire new culinary adventures and daydreams. They make us happy.

Herbs for Everyone

Anyone can grow at least one herb plant. No matter where you live or how much money you have in your wallet, there is an herb for you. One you’ll like, too! Herbs are the perfect plants for small-space gardeners who want to grow some of their own food, or for anyone who loves good food and wants more of it. If you have even the smallest inkling that you’d like to try to grow an herb, you should!

On the whole, most culinary herbs and edible flowers are a joy and a delight no matter what sort of growing conditions you’re starting with; thankfully, persnickety varieties—or botanical brats—are rare. Barring giants like angelica, borage, and lovage that practically require an estate to accommodate their girth, most stay relatively small or can be trained to stay that way. They are by and large tolerant plants that thrive in cramped quarters and are forgiving enough to put up with trial and error and occasional neglect.

 

With the exception of rare and foreign varieties, common culinary herbs are affordable to grow if you use your imagination and know where to find cheap plants. Just a few examples:

• Plastic buckets, discarded olive oil cans, and wooden crates make good containers and are free for the taking from the curbside.

• Use thrift store cutlery as digging tools.

• Anything that will hold water can serve as a watering can in a pinch.

• A pack of seeds is cheaper than transplants and offers a heck of a lot more mileage.

• Split the cost of a plant with a friend and cut it up to make several more.

Why Grow Your Own?

Because you’re reading this book, chances are that you’ve got an interest in growing herbs and your own reasons for doing so. If you’re not already convinced, the following should seal the deal.

Easy Growing

Herbs are generally undemanding plants that are less susceptible to pests and disease and rarely require special attention to grow lush and productive. For this reason, they are much easier to grow organically than tomatoes or potatoes and are more cost effective to boot. A single pot of basil is prolific, adding sparkle to dozens of summertime meals and a few winter meals, too.

Know What You Grow

Cultivating your own herbs organically ensures that there was nothing on, in, or around them during the growing process that you’d rather not ingest.

Fresh Is Best

Like tomatoes, carrots, and peas, store-bought herbs, even those from the best stores and markets, can’t hold a candle to a homegrown herb that has gone directly from your garden to the plate.

Natural Essence

Your homegrown herbs were cultivated outside, basking in the heat and warmth of the sun. The potency of their aromatic, volatile oils is the direct result of this basic, natural alchemy. Herbs that have spent their lives in a greenhouse under artificial lights are a nice midwinter substitute, but a poor imitation for what you can achieve in a pot stuck outside your front door.

Pretty Delicious

Most herbs are as beautiful as they are useful. There is no need to sacrifice aesthetics for the sake of a practical, useful garden. In fact, you may already have an herb or two tucked in among the delphiniums and the daffodils right now, moonlighting as an ornamental. With an herb garden you can indeed have it all, and eat it, too.

Quick Results

Unlike many of our favorite vegetables and fruits that require three months to several years to get to a harvest, many herbs get to their first feast within a month or even a few weeks of planting. And they’ll keep producing, too. Some live through just one season; others keep coming back every year like a Rolling Stones tour. Your patience is not required.

Convenience Food

Look, it takes some doing to keep an herb garden alive and thriving, but it is still easier than going all the way to the store to buy a bundle. An herb garden offers months of convenience and mealtime spontaneity. Whenever I can avoid a trip to the grocery store by choosing my seasonings at whim from my own garden, I have more time to laze about with a good book. Enough said.

Have It All

Herbs are certainly gaining a regular place in even the most basic grocery stores, and farmers’ markets are catering more and more to a growing demand for the unusual and exotic. Even still, there are all sorts of flowers, roots, seeds, and other delectable plant parts that are too temperamental to find their way to the most sophisticated market stand or gourmet food shop. As a gardener, you have direct access to these seasonal morsels. Lucky you!

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