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Show Garden goodies Herbs and Spices can add good things to your diet By CHERIE HUBER Little cans of spices often have big price tags. Of course spices add a lot of variety and interest to food so they can be well worth the investment. However, there is another alternative. Many of the spices that are used frequently in cooking can be grown in the garden during the summer and some can be maintained in a sunny window inside all winter. All of the plants are interesting interest-ing and some are even attractive. One of the first steps in deciding which herbs and spices should be included in the garden is to check the kitchen spice rack to see just which spices are really being used. Of course, it doesn't hurt to be a little adventurous and add something new either. Some popular seasoning, like black pepper, can't be grown successfully anywhere in the United States. Others like sage, parsley, tarragon, tarra-gon, oregano, thyme and basil can be right at home in a Utah garden. There are several ways to add herbs to a garden. Many are sold as either seeds or plants through catalogues. Local greenhouses also carry many varieties. Friends and neighbors can be sources of starts and information on how to use the plants. Late in the spring, the price of herbs is usually usual-ly reduced as the nurseries clear out the remaining re-maining stock. That's a good time to add the more exotic varieties that you weren't completely com-pletely convinced you needed the first time around. Herbs are usually marked "annual" or "perrenial." The annuals will die with the first frost. Perrenials will come back up each spring and give years of flavoring. A favorite perrenial herb in this area is sage. This pungent herb is always used as part of the seasoning for poultry stuffing. Many people use a mild tea of sage leaves for a sure cure from the miseries of colds and flu, too. One healthy sage plant can supply enough sage seasoning sea-soning for an entire neighborhood for decades. Peppermint and spearmint are also soothing teas in the winter and add a special flair to lemonade in the summer. Mints like to take over an area so be sure to plant them where they can't spread enough to be pests. There are many varieties of mint, all with subtle differences in fragrance. During the summer a small sprig of mint will usually root in water in less than a week. Lemon mint and pineapple mint are especially nice varieties to add to an herb collection if you can find them. Parsley can be started from seed or the plants can be bought from the nursery. While parsley I only lives two years before going to seed and I dying, once it is established it will reseed itself I forever. I The parsley can be used fresh all summer and any excess can be dried for winter use. Parsley will also thrive in a sunny window all winter in the house. Just snip it off and use it to flavor soups, vegetables and salads. The chive plant is another asset in the garden. gar-den. There are several varieties. Some taste more like green onions while others have a stronger garlic flavor. The leaves can be snipped snip-ped as a garnish for salads or added to a stir-fry meal. The attractive lavender flowers can be dried and added to arrangements too. Chives can also be grown indoors during the winter. A small investment in the spring can bring big returns throughout the growing season as H the homegrown herbs are used to flavor other I homegrown vegetables. R HBHaDnBBBHHHH |