by Glory Lennon

Created on: April 04, 2009

If you like to flavor your food with herbs you probably already know that the fresher the herb the better it will taste. Knowing this it would no doubt occur to you that having your own herb garden would be the easiest and best way to get the freshest herbs for cooking. Having them growing right outside your kitchen door therefore makes the utmost sense. With this in mind, let us go over some growing tips and uses for herbs.

As previously stated the perfect spot for an herb garden is right outside the kitchen. This serves two purposes. One being you are more likely to run out there to snip at this parsley and that oregano if it is within easy reach while you are cooking. Secondly, the more you snip, the bushier the plants become and the prettier they look. There is nothing saying a useful herb garden cannot be as attractive a part of your yard as any other garden bed.

If the spot near the kitchen door is sunny and consisting of rich, loamy, well-draining soil you are halfway to herb heaven. If however you are not so lucky pick a place close by with ample sun and fix the soil using copious amounts of compost. Once the spot is picked clean of rocks, debris and unwanted vegetation you are ready to plant. What to plant is up to your personal taste but here are a few of the more popular herbs and how to use them.

Oregano.

As any Italian cook will tell you Oregano is indispensable for ziti, pizza, meatballs and spaghetti and virtually any Italian dish you can think of. Italian Oregano is the more likely cultivar available at garden centers or in seed form. It is easy to dry for winter use and keeps well. You may want to try some funky newer varieties like the Cuban Oregano which has more fleshy type leaves like those on succulents. These don't dry well like Italian Oregano but it makes a great house plant so you can use these wonderfully pungent tasting leaves all winter long. Roots easily in water too. Always a good thing if you like making more plants to give away as gifts to other herb enthusiasts.

Mint.

There is a wide range of Mints including the peppermint and spearmint but now you can readily get pineapple mint, chocolate mint and apple mint plants at any good nursery. Needless to say your fruit salads, jellies, hot and iced teas will have a taste of the exotic with these unusual plants. All mints, however, should be placed in large pots set apart from the herb garden because they have a tendency of taking over entire flower beds. They like ample moisture but rampant

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