It pays to grow some herbs from seed - The Ellsworth American

The herb garden needs a makeover. Some of the sage plants are so old and woody they look like a failed experiment with bonsai. Ornamental flowers of all sorts have stolen in. This year I want fresh new herbs and lots of them, so I can dry them, make herb vinegars, and have a plot that looks neat and productive from the kitchen window. I need to do this on the cheap, and that means no expensive nursery plants, just a bit of extra time growing them from seed.

Annual herbs are easily seed-grown, whether started indoors or sown directly in the garden and then thinned. (The thinnings, of course, are a longed-for spring treat.) Umbelliferae such as dill, cilantro and chervil, with their parasol-shaped flowers, scatter seed all on their own and come back the following year. (In chervil’s case, it’s best to sow in late summer, lest it bolt.)

Since basil is a tender, warm-weather plant, I sow it indoors to get a jump on the season, though I’ve learned from Gertrude Foster and Rosemary Louden’s venerable 1980 guide “Park’s Success with Herbs” that lemon basil is a special case, best sown outdoors, to make it bushier and less prone to bolt.

Perennial herbs, in general, do not germinate or grow as quickly as annual ones do, but that should not deter you. At our farm we start them indoors in soil blocks in a peat/vermiculite mix, and we like the fresh, full-flavored, healthy foliage we get from the transplants. We don’t cover the seed, except in the case of sage, whose fat taproot has a tendency to head upward rather than down.

Thyme and lavender are easy — just a little slow to sprout. So is the biennial parsley, which is productive all winter if given a little protection. Chives don’t need to be thinned: you can transplant them in little clumps. Rosemary can germinate poorly, but Johnny’s Selected Seeds sells “primed” rosemary seed that is more reliable — if you use it within six months of purchase.

There are several herbs best started by other means. The true French tarragon (as opposed to the flavorless Russian type) cannot be grown from seed, so you must buy at least one plant, then propagate more, either by dividing the roots the following year in early spring or by taking cuttings in midsummer and overwintering the little plants in a greenhouse or cold frame.

Lemon verbena also is grown from purchased plants, or from cuttings, but at least it becomes a large plant that — unlike tarragon — can be grown in a pot and brought indoors for dormant winter hibernation.

Mint is rarely seed-grown because it cross-pollinates easily and therefore does not breed true to type. Best to find a friend with lots of mint — a friend with any mint has lots of mint — cut some sprigs and stick them in a glass of water to root. Mint sprouts roots so fast that it’s probably grown an inch before you’ve finished your mint julep.

If you end up with too many little plants by growing herbs from seed, give them as gifts, or use them to edge a flower bed. Herbs can infiltrate the ornamental world as easily as vice versa, and there’s some fine justice in that.

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  Herbed Popovers

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  Herbed Popovers Votes: 0 Rating: 0 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe

  Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
  • ½ Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or ½ tsp. dried thyme
  • ½ Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
  • ½ tsp. dried oregano

  Servings:

  Units:

  Instructions

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 popover or custard cups.

  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Stir with a whisk or fork to blend thoroughly. Whisk the milk, eggs and butter in a small bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the well while beating the batter. Continue beating for 2½ to 3 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps.

  3. Fold in the herbs. Pour into the prepared cups, filling only halfway. Place the cups in the oven on the center rack and immediately lower the heat to 375 degrees F. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until puffed and browned.

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Barbara Damrosch’s latest book is “The Four Season Gardener’s Cookbook.”

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It pays to grow some herbs from seed - The Ellsworth American
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