Keep cooking with herbs through autumn and beyond with advice from two keen growers
|
| Potted herbs under glass
|
'If you pot up herbs that are already growing in your garden, these plants will be available to you all year round.'
Some good buys this autumn
Anyone with no herbs to harvest can top up on supplies at a good garden centre. This autumn,
Gardens Monthly editor Liz Dobbs managed to find a large pot of French tarragon for £3 that looked a lot more substantial than the small pot she had bought in spring. 'I've already harvested young growth for stuffing a roast chicken, and the plant will continue to provide leaves,' says Liz, 'but I'll need to remember it isn't totally hardy.'
Also on sale now are made-up containers (some wicker hanging ones and terracotta bowls) with three or more herbs – all planted up and growing well for £12. Thyme is particularly worth buying like this as plants in the ground tend be very muddy over winter.
Help with herbs from Sarah Wain
|
| Sarah Wain of West Dean gardens
|
Sarah and her team grow a lot of herbs both in the restored greenhouses of the 1891-1900s and around the walled garden. In autumn, they pot up herbs and make a beautiful display out of them in one of the greenhouses – an idea that anyone with a cool greenhouse, conservatory or porch could copy on a smaller scale. Pick over herbs regularly to remove discoloured foliage.
Growing as a vegetable crop
Sarah also crops herbs as a vegetable crop, that is, in rows within the vegetable plot and in the rather grand cold frames. Old-fashioned barn cloches are invaluable for protecting rows of herbs growing outdoors. She often grows two different types of herb under each cloche – the tops can be opened on one side if heights vary.
It is worth putting a cloche over rows of smaller herbs even if the herb is hardy, as the protection of the glass keeps the foliage fresh and tender. Sarah sows a second row of parsley in midsummer, then uses cloches over winter to protect the leaves from rain and splashes of mud.
Sarah recommends being ruthless with vigorous herbs growing outside in beds. She keeps mint and oregano in partly-sunken plastic pots to stop them spreading. This works up to a point, but remember to lift and divide such contained plants either in autumn or spring. This is then a good opportunity to pot up some extras to take indoors.
* Sarah Wain is head gardener (walled garden) at West Dean Gardens in Sussex, along with Jim Buckland.
|
| Herbs make attractive potted plants
|
Help with herbs from Sue Hamilton
In my kitchen at home, parsley, both flat-leafed and curled, is a favourite which you can lifted from the garden at the end of September, pot up and place on the kitchen windowsill for use throughout the winter.
Potting up herbs
If you pot up herbs that are already growing in your garden, these plants will be available to you all year round. Evergreen herbs such as sage and rosemary perform very well in pots, and if brought into a sheltered part of the garden, or a cold greenhouse, will keep you in herbs for cooking until spring.
Thyme, mint and marjoram also work well as container plants and, although none are actively growing at this time of year at Barnsdale, they will have put on enough growth to sustain the requirements of any average household kitchen.
For a really professional look, I like to store some of my herbs in bottles that then stand on a shelf in the kitchen. Herbs such as mint, basil and rosemary can be infused in oil and look particularly splendid in bottles with a good shape. If potting up herbs for winter use is not an option, then sage, thyme and bay can be picked, hung in an airy place to dry and used throughout the winter.
Chives in ice-cube trays
We have lots of chives at Barnsdale but they don't lend themselves to drying. I cut fresh herbs into small pieces and drop some into each square of an ice cube tray, filled with water, before placing the tray in the freezer. When required, the cubes containing the chives can either be thawed before use or added during cooking, when the water will quickly melt and release all those small pieces.
Sue and Nick Hamilton run Barnsdale Gardens in Leicestershire.
denotes Subscriber-only content | Wednesday 23 July 2008 | Help | Glossary 
