5/23/20

Resources

The information contained in Growing Groceries presentations is based on WSU home gardening publications and other science and research based materials. Resource lists are provided on the King County Growing Groceries website and at the end of some presentations. Growing Herbs To enliven the learning experience, speakers may use Presentation Created by and Presented by examples from their own garden experience and draw from Emilie Castle their personal gardening successes and failures. 5/27/2020

What is an Herb Why Grow Your Own Herbs? • Google dictionary defines Herb as: 1. Any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for • Rewarding flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume. • Fresh garden material on hand anytime 2. Botany: any seed-bearing plant which does not have a • You know what has/hasn’t been sprayed on them woody stem and dies down to the ground after flowering. • #2 excludes common herbs such as Rosemary, Thyme and • More varieties available Sage. • Add beauty and enhance your garden • “A plant, some part of which, roots, stems, leaves, flowers or • Economical way to get fresh ingredients fruits is used for food, medicine, flavouring or scent.” – Growing Herbs: design, planting, harvesting and using, by Jessica Houdret

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General Culture Uses • Food/Flavoring • Most herbs prefer full sun and well-drained soil • Teas • Scents • With ideal conditions, herbs are disease and pest free • Medicinally • Fertilize like you would a vegetable garden ▪ If herbs have officinalis in their name they were • Herbs taste best before they flower previously used in medicine ▪ Make sure you take care in use. Some herbs are • To discourage flowering, pinch off developing buds toxic and can be dangerous when not used correctly. Please use care in self medicating and check with your doctor before using.

Traditional Herb Garden Design Herb Basics Included

• Herb garden design • Formal • Propagation • Traditional • Harvesting • Straight lines • Preserving • Geometric shapes • Specifics on individual herbs • Often edged with boxwood shrubs • Topiary, sphere and pyramidal shapes • Knot garden • Rigid patterns and symmetry

Image from Davesgarden.com

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Informal Herb Garden Design Raised Beds Herb Garden Design

• Relaxed look • Can use wood, bricks, stones and more • Simple framework ▪ Careful with woods that have chemicals • Meandering beds imbedded in them • No complex • Useful for improving garden conditions patterns or ▪ soil symmetry ▪ drainage • Generally, taller • Easier access, less bending plants towards the • As flowers are higher up, easier to view and enjoy back Photo from advicefromtheherblady.com

Container Gardening with Herbs Container Gardening with Herbs (continued)

• Containers allow plants to be located in ideal growing • Use a good potting soil, not garden soil conditions ▪ Not enough nutrients ▪ On a deck, with more sun ▪ Garden soil may harbor pests ▪ Close to kitchen, more likely to use • Watch roots • Useful for improving garden conditions ▪ Give roots room to spread ▪ Can improve soil, drainage ▪ Move to a bigger pot as needed • Easier access, less bending • Fertilize more often than if in the ground • As flowers are higher up, easier to view and enjoy • Regular watering important • Use clay, plastic or metal containers • Depending on the size of the pot, one plant per container or mix among annuals and perennials

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Container Gardening with Herbs (continued) Aero Garden with Herbs

• Hydroponic herbs Good drainage is key • Pros ▪ Make sure container has a hole or holes in bottom ▪ Plants are indoors ▪ Hardware cloth, coffee filters block soil ▪ Easy access ▪ Do not add gravel or stones to the bottom ot the ▪ Good for tender herbs: basil pot • Cons ▪ Some proprietary systems can be costly ▪ Not large harvests ▪ Not as big a selection

Considerations with Planning an Herb Garden Rosemary Bush 4 feet tall by 8 feet wide • Read descriptions on plant tags or seed packets • Look at final height and width at maturity • Some herbs have varieties that are tall and also low • Tall herbs in back of beds ▪ Angelica, Artichokes, Fennel and Rosemary • Climbers ▪ Hops, Jasmine, Wild Honeysuckle and Roses • Creepers and low growers toward the front of borders, or pathways ▪ Creeping Mint/Thyme, Vinca Minor, Dwarf Comfrey

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Soil Prep Before Planting Considerations with Planning

• Similar prep as a vegetable garden • Most plants like dry, well-drained soil • Test soil composition ▪ Mints, Angelicas and Monarda didyma (bee • Test soil drainage balm) can do well in wetter conditions • Work to improve as necessary • Many are drought tolerant • Herbs are adaptable ▪ Can use less water once established ▪ Will grow where planted, but not thrive • Not suited to clay soils ▪ Can introduce disease and pests • Most like full sun ▪ Best to try and make it as ideal as possible ▪ 6 hours minimum ▪ Parsley, Chives, Angelicas, and Mint can tolerate some shade

Choosing Herbs Choosing Herbs • Look at color and texture • Many herbs enhance garden with flowers: • Look for different colored and shaped ▪ Blue: Ajuga, Borage and Rosemary leaves ▪ Yellow: Lady’s Mantle & Sunflowers • Foliar interest can prolong visual interest ▪ Orange: Calendula and Nasturtiums in design ▪ Purples: Lavender, Oregano, Salvia • Colors include: ▪ Pinks: Dianthus, Rose, Thyme ▪ Silver: Dianthus, Lavender, Salvia, Sage ▪ Red: Dianthus, Bee Balm, Rose Sweet Woodruff ▪ White: Yarrow, Foxglove, Thyme, ▪ Bronze: Fennel, Ajuga Sweet Woodruff ▪ Purple: Basil, Fennel, Sage, Salvia • Flowers can attract and nourish pollinators ▪ Gold: Golden Bay, Lemon Balm, • Sometimes smaller flowers, can plant en Mints, Thyme masse for effect ▪ Variegations: Mint, Salvia, Sage Thymus × citriodorus ‘Silver Queen’

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Choosing Herbs Growth Seasons of Herbs

Taste variety before purchasing/planting • Herbs classified as ▪ Some flavors vary within variety ▪ Annuals ▪ Ask friends for samples and cuttings ▪ Perennials ▪ Biennials • Depends on if they grow from seed each year, return from crowns, roots, bulbs and cuttings

Annual Herbs Perennial Herbs • Annuals are plants only last one year • From seed to flower to seed in one growing season • Perennial herbs last can live for many years • Many are easy to grow from seed • Often spread and grow in size each year ▪ Generally best to grow in spring • Some can be raised from seed ▪ Hardy annuals can be sown in autumn • Some don’t produce seed ■ Cervil, Cilantro (Coriander), Calendula ▪ French Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) ▪ Tender herbs like Basil shouldn’t go into the ▪ non-flowering Golden Sage (Salvia officinalis garden until June ‘Icterina’) • Harvest all of plant before last frost • Caraway (blooms second year), Catnip, Chicory, • Some can self seed (dill) if allowed to flower Chives, Echinacea, Fennel, Ginger, Horseradish, • Basil, Chervil, Cilantro/Coriander, Dill, German Lemon Balm, Lemon Grass, Lovage, Marjoram, Mint, Chamomile, Summer Savory Oregano, Sorrel, Tarragon and Winter Savory

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Evergreen Perennial Herbs Biennials

• Some hardy perennial herbs form woody, shrub-like • Biennial herbs have a 2-year life cycle stems and are evergreen • Can start in late summer or early fall • Good for including with landscape design • Their life cycle is complete after they flower • Include: Bay, Hyssop, Lavender, Rosemary and ▪ Angelica (Angelica archangelica), Caraway Thyme (Carum carvi), Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) and • Careful to plant annual and perennial plants together Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) as you can disturb the perennial plants roots ▪ Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) • Careful with pruning woody stems ■ Best to seed every year ● Woody stem and leaves not great the second year ■ Readily reseeds

Vernalization of Herbs Propagation of Herbs

• Some herbs require a period of intense cold to • Various techniques to get an identical copy of the germinate original plant • You can put seeds in a plastic bag with sand for 4–6 • Includes weeks in the freezer ▪ Stem cuttings ▪ Layering ▪ Aconitum or ▪ Primula spp ▪ Root division monkshood ▪ Rosa ▪ Arnica ▪ Sweet Cicely ▪ Agrimony ▪ Sweet Woodruff ▪ Juniper ▪ Sweet Violet

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Stem Cutting of Herbs Layering of Herbs • Choose non-flowering stems • Bend side shoot down to ground to create new roots • Remove all but top two or three • Remove middle leaves and ‘plant’ the middle stem leaves • Anchor using a rock or a peg • Can use rooting hormone • Keep watch for new roots • Insert stem in pot with moist soil • Once rooted, move plant to new location • Make a “greenhouse” with bag or cover to increase humidity • Rooting will take 2–4 weeks (softwood) to 4–6 weeks for hardwood • Sometimes can root in water

Disease in Herbs Root Division of Herbs • Best to remove affected foliage • Some herbs are easy to propagate by division ▪ Make sure not to add to compost • Dig up a clump of herbs and pull apart roots with • Careful using insecticides with residue fingers or fork or chopstick • Ideal environmental conditions are best to combat • Cut some of top growth to let plant recover disease and pests • Chives (Allium schoenoprasum), Oregano (Origanum ▪ Keep free from weeds and assure good air spp.), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis), Lovage circulation (Levisticum officinale) and Comfrey (Symphytum ▪ Inadequate air movement can lead to mildews spp.) and botrytis • Always use clean pruners when pruning and clean between cuts • Watch for overwatering, can lead to rot

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Deer Resistant Herbs Rabbit Resistant Herbs • Many herbs are deer resistant • Similar to deer • Hungry and young deer will eat almost anything • Tender starts are sometimes eaten • Don’t care for strong scents/tastes

● Mint ● Chives ▪ Fennel ▪ Rosemary ● Lavender ● Sage ▪ Chives ▪ Russian Sage ● Rosemary ● Yarrow ▪ Garlic Chives ▪ Chamomile ● Thyme ● Catmint ▪ Mint ▪ Basil ● Bee Balm ▪ Dill ▪ Bee Balm ▪ Lavender

Beware of Invasive Herbs Harvesting Herbs

• Harvesting should be a continual process • Mints can take over a garden bed ▪ Not once per year ▪ Spreads via runners (rhizomes) ▪ Repeat picking encourages new growth ▪ Oregano is in the mint family ▪ Do not remove all foliage ▪ Make sure to plant in containers or dig in a ■ Mints, Chives and Lovage can be cut to the container without a bottom ground • Lemon Balm and Bronze Fennel reseed easily • Try to harvest on a sunny day • Horseradish can start from a part of a root • Mid-morning is best: highest oil content and increase flavor and scent • Harvest before flower

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Harvesting Herbs Harvesting Herbs • Leaves ▪ Pick before flowering • Roots and rhizomes ▪ Don’t make big cuts in shrubby herbs later in ▪ Collect during the dormant period season ▪ Horseradish is hardy and will regrow from a • Flowers portion of the root ▪ Pick as soon as they open • Bulbs ▪ Lavender should be picked with long stem ▪ Garlic/Onions ▪ Borage collect just individual flower ▪ Dig in late summer/early fall • Seeds • Bark ▪ Pick as soon as they are ripe, no longer green, ▪ Don’t harvest from young trees but before they drop/fall ▪ Do not go all around a tree

Preserving Herbs Drying Herbs • Tie up bunches of harvested herbs and hang upside • Drying down or lay flat on paper towels or newspaper • Freezing • Can use a dehydrator to dry herbs • Oils and vinegars • Do not expose dried herbs to light • Pestos/Chimichurri ▪ Reduces flavor/color • Herb Salt • Use for teas, flavoring sauces, soups and stews • Tinctures • Make sure completely dry before storing ▪ Moisture leads to mold

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Herbal Teas Herb Vinegars • Use fresh or dried herbs • Vinegar is a better preservative than oil • Be generous with soft stems • Herb vinegars can be used as antiseptics for • Be careful with hard sprigs cleaning or as toners for use on face ▪ 1 sprig of rosemary is okay • Can use fresh or dried herbs • Herbs to use: • Cover bruised herbs with vinegar ▪ Chamomile said to help with insomnia • Store in a cool dark place for 2 weeks ▪ Lemon Balm • Strain herbs ▪ Lemon Verbena • Can last for 6 months ▪ Mint ▪ Sage ▪ Thyme

Freezing Herbs Pestos • Add chopped and washed herbs to ice cube trays • Traditionally pesto is made of fresh basil leaves, • Cover with water olive oil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and pine nuts • Good for basil, parsley and mint • Can use alternative herbs and nuts • Can add to soups, stews and cooked dishes • With or without cheese • Borage flowers in ice cubes • Add to pasta, salmon and chicken and more ▪ Fun and elegant • Chimichurri ▪ Parsley, cilantro, oil, vinegar and garlic ▪ Can be used as a marinade or condiment

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Preserve Herbs with Salt Preserve Herbs with Sugar • Herbal salts can be added to meats and vegetables, • Fragrant herbal sugars can be used in baked goods and can be used as “finishing” salts. • Lavender sugar in scones or pound cake, or a • Herb Salt Recipe tablespoonful of mint sugar in a cup of tea ▪ ½ cup coarse sea salt • Lemon Verbena Sugar ▪ ½ cup herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage or oregano) ▪ Chop 6 sprigs of Lemon Verbena ▪ 1 cup sea salt ▪ Add to food processor with 2 cups sugar ▪ Add ½ cup coarse sea salt and the herbs in the ▪ Pulse until blended bowl of a food processor and pulse to fine ▪ Store in airtight container for 6 months consistency. Add 1 cup of sea salt and pulse to combine. Pour mixture into a shallow baking dish and let air dry for about 2 hours. • Transfer to a glass jar with a lid.

Bay (Laurus nobilis) Preserve Herbs via Tincture • Evergreen tree • Preserve herbs in alcohol for medicinal use • May need to be wrapped in the winter • Tinctures will last forever • Can be kept in a pot • Shelf stable • Full sun or partial shade ▪ Use 80 proof or higher alcohol (vodka) • Well-drained soil that stays evenly moist Bay leaves ▪ Store in glass jars ▪ Best to use fresh herbs, but can do dried • Rated hardy to about 20–25 degrees, but established plants can tolerate temps in the teens • Don’t let soil become bone-dry or waterlogged • Best to harvest mid to late summer, essential oils are at peak

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Basil (Ocimum basilicum) Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

• Tender annual • Hardy perennial • Likes full sun • Can harvest throughout the • Constant cutting will prevent year • Full sun or light shade flowering • Harvest by cutting to the • Pinch growing tip after ground transplanting for bushiness • Lift and split plants • Don’t put in garden until June ▪ Divide every couple of • Many varieties available years • Edible flower

Cilantro/Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) Dill (Anethum graveoelens) • Fast growing annual • Tall annual with feathery leaves • Best grown from seeds: early spring to late summer, • Member of the carrot family direct sow. • Seed can take a while to germinate • If transplanting, be careful with the roots. Cilantro • Likes sunny, well-drained soil can develop a long taproot. • Can be grown in part shade • Harvest leaves as needed, ideally before flower buds • Flourishes in cool nights and sunny days appear • Easy to bolt in hot weather (above 75 degrees) • Harvest seed heads after • Can willingly reseed seeds have turned brown • Use the leaves (Cilantro) and the seeds (Coriander)

Self seeded Cilantro Dill that self seeded

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Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

• Hardy perennial ● Foeniculum vulgare is harvested like an herb — the • Likes sunny, well-drained soil, can cope with some shade stems, leaves and seeds are utilized. • Easily propagates in the garden by seed ○ Grows 3–5 feet tall • Sweet licorice flavor • Careful not to plant near dill, it can cross with fennel ○ It has feathery foliage reminiscent of dill • Can attract two species of beneficial flies: the Syrphid fly ● Florence fennel, also known as finocchio is grown for and the Tachinid fly the bulb at its base. • In Pacific Northwest it is the primary host for the anise ○ Shorter with darker green leaves swallowtail, a butterfly • Some grown for bulb, some for foliage and some seeds

Bronze Fennel with Bay and Sweet Cicely

Lavender (Lavandula) French Tarragon (Artemisia dracunuculus) • Full sun (at least 5–6 hours) • Anise-like flavor used in cooking • Average to poor, alkaline soil with good drainage • Perennial • Allow for space between plants for circulation • Best in full sun (less flavorful in shade) • Pruning: Generally, 1/3 off in early spring and 1/3 off • Needs steady watering after flowering, careful with cutting woody parts • Best propagated by division ▪ Lift plant in spring and gently pull roots apart • Good in containers or well-drained locations

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Mint (Mentha) Marjoram (Origanum majorana) • Hardy perennial • Half-hardy perennial • Many varieties: orange, apple, chocolate • Grown from seed in sunny and well-drained soil • Most common is spearmint • Same genus as oregano • Invasive roots: plant in a container • Soft small light green leaves with floral fragrance • Cut to the ground midsummer for a second • Likes dry alkaline soil crop • Cut to the ground as winter approaches • Peppermint loves partial shade • Spearmint tolerates more sun and drier soil

Intergrowing Golden Marjoram and Oregano

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) • Half-hardy perennial • Grown from seed in sunny and • Hardy biennial well-drained soil • Soak seeds in hot water before planting • Same genus as marjoram • Germination takes 2–3 weeks • Has larger, stiffer dark leaves • Doesn’t like having roots disturbed with more pungent flavor • Cultivars are similar except for leaf shape (flat/curly) • Likes dry alkaline soil • Thrives in full sun; can tolerate some shade • Cut back plants after they flower Oregano and Golden Oregano • Flavor can vary from plant to • Likes well-drained soil plant • Easily reseeds • Rarely bothered by pests

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Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) • Evergreen perennial/shrub • Can grow up to 5-feet tall and wide • Not reliably hardy in cold • Best raised from semi-ripe cuttings • Best cold tolerant cultivars • Full sun, ideally 6 hours+ and good ○ Alcalde (zone 6–9) ○ Arp (zone 6 with protection) drainage ○ Athens Blue Spire (zone 5 • Can be grown in a container with protection) • Leaves and flowers are edible ○ Madalene Hill (zone 6) • Harvest year round • Use mulch in winter • Lightly prune in spring. Careful with • A frost blanket can help pruning woody parts • Make sure not to have wet feet

Sage (Salvia officinalis) Sage (Salvia officinalis) • Evergreen perennial/sub-shrub • Can grow up to 2-feet tall • Prune by a third in spring, before • Gray, but tricolor, variegated and purple new growth but after threat of frost varieties • Not reliably hardy in very cold • Best raised from semi-ripe cuttings, but regions can be sown from seeds • In early spring before growth starts • Can grow by layering cut plants back by about 1/3 • Needs full sun and good air circulation Sage interspersed • Best leaves are from the last 4 (to prevent root rot and mildews) with Golden Oregano inches of the plant • Does best in soil that is not too fertile • Best to plant among perennials than • Can harvest all year if mild winter vegetables • Pick leaves as needed

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Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) Resources Used • Low growing shrub (up to 18” high) • Growing Vegetables and Herbs, by Mitchell Beazley • Easily propagated from seed • Growing Vegetables & Herbs, edited by Ruth Lively • Needs well-drained soil • Delicious Recipes and Growing tips to Transform Your • Sunny, sheltered spot Food Herbs, by Judith Hann • Harvest all year • Growing herbs: design, planting, harvesting, using, by • Most useful: French, lemon, oregano scented and Jessica Houdret caraway thyme • The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Herbs, by Holly • Prune after flowering and a month before frost Farrell • Mulch with lightly colored gravel, preferably limestone; • Delicious Recipes and Growing Tips to Transform Your helps with fungal diseases Food, by Judith Hann

http://www.mgfkc.org/resources/growinggroceries

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