TOP FIVE EDIBLE ANTIOXIDANT HER BS AND THEIR USES

Five common edible herbs with high levels of antioxidants.

Oregano:  Use in italian dishes. Great for pestos, tomato sauces, pizza, stew and chicken dishes. Dried leaves are best.

Sage: -Use sparingly in dressing, chicken, pork. Add to charcoal when grilling to add flavor to meats.

Peppermint:  Add to chilled drinks, salads, hot and cold soup, fish, cooked peas, mint jelly, peppermint tea, and ice cream.

Thyme: Soups, casseroles, breads and pizza.

Lemon Balm: Fruit salad, herb butter, fruit drinks, sorbet, egg dishes, custard, soup and casseroles.

ANNUAL HERBS

Basil:  Grow from seed in full sun. Use in anything with tomatoes.

Coriander: Seed should be sown in spring in sun or partial shade. Coriander Seed is used in leaves in salad, confections, oriental and eastern food.

Dill: Seed sown in early spring in sun or partial shade. Dill has feathery foliage and the seeds used for flavoring and pickling. Attracts butterflies.

Parsley: Grow from seed. Parsley is slow to germinate. Sun. Biennial (reseeds on it’s own.)This herb brings out the flavors of other herbs and is high in vitamin C. Attracts butterflies.

PERENNIAL HERBS

Catnip:  Hardy; sun or shade. You can plant by seed or division. Use leaves for soothing tea.

Chives & Garlic Chives: You can plant by seed or division and should divide when overcrowded.

                       

Lemon Verbena: Tender perennial; propagate from cuttings. Sun or partial shade. Strong lemon scent. Used in teas or in potpourri

                                               

Mints:  Grow from cuttings or division. Sun or partial shade. Aromatic; used as flavoring.

Oregano: Grow from seed, cuttings, or division. Sun. Flavoring for tomato/pasta dishes.

                       

Rosemary:  Grows in well-drained nonacid soil from cuttings. Sun. Leaves flavor sauces, poultry, soups. Good for meats, rice. Grown as topiary, and bonsai.

                                   

Sage:  From seed or cuttings. Sun. Used for seasoning meats, great on pork and also used in herbal teas.

           

Thyme: Light soil, well-drained. Cutting or division. Sun. Aromatic foliage for seasoning. Varieties include lemon, orange, and wooly.

March Gardening

It's time to plant warm-season annuals, such as cosmos, petunias, lantanas and marigolds, these will add easy color to your garden.