Hooray for humble herbs

Herbs have a glorious ability to assault the senses and add that extra zing to a recipe and there is a happily raised awareness, acceptance and enthusiasm for fresh herbs these days. By Penny Gorrie.

Herbs have a glorious ability to assault the senses and add that extra zing to a recipe and there is a happily raised awareness, acceptance and enthusiasm for fresh herbs these days.

The Pottager garden of old, that formalised and stylized cultivation of herbs for culinary and medical uses, need not be surrounded in mystique ... simplified, it can be accessible to us all. The most popular and easily grown herbs like mint, thyme, basil, coriander and parsley can all be grown on kitchen window sills, in window boxes, in patio pots, in specific herb garden areas close to the house for easy access or even between flowers in flowerbeds. They offer an abundance of aroma and flavour to be cut and to come back again and again.

There are annuals like basil, dill, coriander and borage that can be grown from seed and there are perennials like chives, rosemary, sage, lavender , oregano and marjoram which with a little care thrive year after year. There are root spreaders like all the many varieties of mint and lemon balm that need to be contained to prevent them invading the rest of your herb area and there are landscape herbs such as low-clumping thyme and camomile used in path plantings which when trodden on release their glorious scent underfoot.

Some herbs are used to dissuade unwanted pests from veggie gardens ... rue's pungent smell is unpleasant to cats and planting French and English marigold among your prize veggies keeps away the dreaded carrot root fly.

Herbs can also be used for a myriad of medicinal purposes and three quick tips are:

Lemon balm, dill and peppermint can ease nausea and vomiting, while peppermint (tisane) and ginger are both popular digestive settlers.

Herbal sting rubs -Rub basil leaves or lavender flowerheads directly onto wasp stings or insect bites to prevent swelling and relieve pain.

Use the gel from inside the succulent aloe vera leaf to soothe insect bites, stings, sunburn or other burns.

There are so many herb varieties to choose from. Think of the humble mint - apple mint, common mint, variegated pineapple mint, peppermint, spearmint, ginger mint, chocolate mint, eau de cologne mint, horse mint, field mint , pennyroyal, Corsican mint, and water mint - and these are just a few!

Now imagine lamb without rosemary or mint sauce, fish without parsley or coriander or Christmas turkey without a hearty sage and onion stuffing. We owe a lot to the humble herb for enriching our lives with flavour and aroma.