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Show m ff i i i 8 Farm and Garden Guide Herbs are finding their way to ordinary cuisine Fresh herbs, once found only in gourmet foods, now are adding their unique flavors to more ordinary fare, thanks to the growing interest in growing your own. And herb gardens, once found only outdoors in the summer, have found their way onto windowsills everywhere, providing a unique decorative touch as well as fresh seasonings. If you can keep a spider plant alive, you can grow a windowsill herb garden. Many of the herbs that grow well indoors, for example, basil, parsley and chives, can be started easily from seeds. Herb seeds are available at farm and garden stores, some nurseries and through seed catalogues. With other herbs, such as rosemary and sage, its best to start with small plants which can be purchased at special herb .nurseries and some greenhouses. Most herbs can be grown successfully in regular sterlized potting soil, but suggestions for extra soil ingredients are given with the cultivation instructions. No drainage material, such as gravel, is needed. Plastic pots with drainage holes and saucers are preferable to clay pots because they are lighter, hold moisture better and dont leave water rings on your shelves or windowsill. Most herb plants need to have their soil kept moist. They also need sunlight, so select a window where they will get plenty. You can place the pots on the sill, plant stands and shelves. Hanging them from the ceiling or window frame creates a natural curtain. Glass shelves across the window, supported by inexpensive brackets, give more room for your herbs while allowing light to enter. Just make sure that in winter the plants arent exposed to a chill by sitting too close to the pane. When your plants are mature, harvest the fresh herbs by cutting off short pieces of several branches instead of one entire branch. This helps maintain the plants attractive shape. Fresh Herbs Add Zest When cooking with your homegrown fresh herbs, use two to three times as much as you would with dried herbs. Basil, known as the tomato herb because it tastes so good in tomato dishes, is used in all types of Italian recipes. It also goes well with seafood, fish, lamb, cheese, eggs, peas, potatoes and tossed green salad. Parsley is used to season a wide range of foods: meat, poultry, fish, cheese dishes, most vegetables, eggs and soups. Chervil tastes good with egg and cheese dishes, chicken, peas, cream soups and tossed salads, and is used frequently to season butter sauces, especially those for fish. For variety, add chervil to cottage cheese omelets and scrambled eggs. Chives add flavor to omelets, salads, soups and sauces; in butter, they give a light pungency to fish without overpowering its flavor. Finely chopped chives can be with cottage cheese and cream cheese, and in sour cream, they make a special topping and dip. Sage is used most to season meats and dressings, although it also adds an exciting taste to cheese spreads, creamed soups and dips and a wide variety of vegetables, including Brussel sprouts, carrots, lima mixed and onions beans, traditionally Rosemary, . associated with meat dishes, Create Instantly! Complete land- scaping, sprinkler systems design, installation & maintenance A Lush Lawn Want the greenest lawn on the block? Call especially lamb, can be used successfully in cheese sauces, cream sauces for seafood, poultry stuffing, potatoes and cauliflower. us... BARKLEY'S LANDSCAPING AND MAINTENANCE SERVICES 637-244- 0 For safetys salts... dng, 4 An excellent flavor blend for seasoning many foods is created by mixing the appropriate herb with butter. Simply melt or whip the butter and herb together. Begin with V teaspoon herb for every Vt cup or stick butter. Add more seasoning as desired. V2. ym caflfl Outside the Salt Lake area, call 11 or 4115. toll free (In Wyoming, call Rock Springs, 362-888- 8) It is the digging season. On the farm or in your yard. By calling one number before you dig, you can avoid buried utility cables. 532-500is a central telephone number connected to 0 Mountain Fuel Supply, Mountain Bell, and Utah Power and Light. When you call, an operator will take down the location you want to plant or landscape. The information will be relayed by teletype to the gas, phone and power companies. If utility cables have been buried in your area, these companies will mark them with blue stakes so you can dig around the lines. If no lines are in the area, you'll be called back and notified. Remember... call before you dig. Youll eliminate unnecessary interruptions of service . . . and more important, youll increase your personal safety. 'AA MOUNTAIN FUEL For fifty years, people serving people. |