There are a variety of herb combinations that can be grown together. What you choose to use for herbs will depend on factors such as the amount of sunlight in a given area and their ultimate use. Kitchen gardens are common, and help to save the home cook money on herbs. Alternately, tea gardens allow you to create your own combinations of teas.
Kitchen Herbs
Kitchen herb gardens provide the home cook with an assortment of herbs for her cooking and baking needs. These herbs can be used fresh while in season, and dried for use during the winter months. There are many herbs that can be grown in a kitchen herb garden successfully. Most will grow in any type of soil, and you do not need a large garden space to begin.
Parsley is an herb that is used in soups and stews. It also works well with rice and pasta dishes. Try both the flat and curly leafed varieties.
Both onion and garlic chives are used on baked potatoes, or diced and thrown into salads. These herbs will come back year after year, and can be cut back for new growth at least twice a year. The flowers are also edible.
These herbs will grow well together in an herb garden. Other pairings include sage and rosemary.
Tea Herbs
Tea drinkers will find it worthwhile to grow their own herbs for use in homemade hot and cold teas. When grown organically, the gardener can harvest and dry the herbs to create their own tea mixes without spending a lot of money.
Chamomile is a popular herb to grow for this purpose. The herb, when brewed, helps relieve stomach problems and sleep issues. Chamomile steeped with lemon balm produces a pleasing flavor. Mint is another tea herb. There are a variety of mints that can be used in the home garden, including peppermint and spearmint. Both are stimulants and are used to help raise energy levels.
Autumn Harvest
There are particular herbs that are best air-dried. The reason that some herbs are better suited to air drying than others is moisture content. Herbs with low moisture content work well for this drying method. These herbs are harvestable during the autumn months, so that you can dry everything pretty much at once.
Grow sage, with its strong aroma, in your garden for autumn air drying, as well as dill. Rosemary has a strong scent, and is another option. These herbs grow well together and, when hung in bundles to dry, give off wonderful aromas. When dry, they are crumbled into jars for storage and use during the winter months.
Sources
The Frugal Life. "Kitchen Herb Garden."
Botanical.com. A Modern Herbal. "Chamomile."
"Heirloom Seeds."
Shannon Buck - Shannon L. Buck is a freelance writer. See what she is doing professionally at http://howtolivethefreelancelife.wordpress.com.
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