Episode 39 – Favorite herbs, the secret to cilantro, and a new, non-toxic way to manage slugs

Got “thyme” on your hands? Grow some herbs, it’s easy – all you need is sunshine and some containers. It’s easy, ornamental, healthy, and flavorful. Convenient for cooking. Plus, herbs tend to be pest-free! 

Lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus: Great botanical name and smells and tastes like Froot Loops! Though it is a tropical plant and only hardy to USDA zone 10, it can be grown as a seasonal container plant, harvested at the end of the season and frozen for future use in Southeast Asian cooking. Beware when you harvest, though – the leaves are like razor blades.

Basil, Oscimum basilicum: Growing this popular herb is incredibly easy – in fact, the hardest part is choosing which of the dozens of varieties you’ll add to your garden! Two recent Proven Winners introductions, Pesto Besto and Amazel Basil Italian sweet basil, are both resistant to downy mildew, a disease that often plagues basil in warm, humid climates. Both are sterile and non-flowering, so they produce a higher yield of usable, deliciously aromatic leaves. For best flavor and leaf production, harvest and or pinch regularly to promote fresh tender growth. And of course, provide plenty of sun and keep from any chill – the basil season ends once nights start dipping into the 40s. Another fun option to look for: ‘Pesto Perpetuo’ basil, a variegated variety that is also sterile. It’s so pretty, you might just use it as a filler in your flower containers! Bonus: both it and the Proven Winners varieties seem to be less susceptible to Asiatic garden beetles, one of the few insect pests that preys on herbs, particularly members of the mint family. 

Thyme, Thymus sp.: Unlike the previous two, thyme is a woody perennial herb that if planted in the right conditions, will provide fresh leaves for you for years to come. For culinary purposes, French and English thyme are best, but don’t neglect wooly thyme, Thymus pseudolanuginosus. Woolly thyme is a perennial herb, with medicinal and culinary uses in addition to ornamental use. Try growing woolly thyme in the cracks between paving stones, along a gravel path, or as part of a xeriscape or drought-tolerant garden. The herb doesn’t mind a bit of rough handling and can be trod upon with no ill effects. In fact, when stepped on, woolly thyme ground cover emits a pleasant fragrance.

Dill, Anethum graveolens: A summer classic for pickles and dilly beans, dill is a wonderful herb for adding a fresh, seasonal taste to nearly anything. I used to grow and pick this on the farm when a kid. Like its relatives fennel and chervil, it attracts lots of bees! Sometimes dill is known as the “meeting house herb,” as it was chewed by Early American children to lull them through long sermons. My parents used peppermint candies during eternal sermons about eternity. Who else remembers being handed a white or pink peppermint at the start of a sermon as a kid? I remember these absorbent discs tasting like cologne if out of my Dad’s pocket or perfume if out of my Mom’s purse. Many people call them “church mints.” We love our herbs and mint is an important plant in our herb collections. But exactly what was in those peppermints we would be passed to get us through those eternal church services as a kid? I remember a guy who sneezed and the mint shot out into the ladies bouffant hairstyle stiffened by Aqua Net. The mint stayed there the whole service. Dill is a short-lived annual, so to keep a supply of lush foliage, you must keep sowing seed through the season. Let some of it flower and go to seed, and soon you’ll find the dill manages that task for you, popping up here and there as conditions allow. Dill really is best started from seed directly in your garden, rather than as a transplant. Sow the seeds in a location that receives at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. Choose a spot protected from high winds because the tall, hollow stalks can easily blow over if you do not stake them. This same growing advice goes for growing fennel (not the bulb type), chervil, and parsley.

Cilantro, Coriandrum sativum: Now here’s one very divisive herb. People either love it or can’t stand the taste. Julia Child famously validated a hatred for cilantro in a 2002 interview with Larry King when she admitted she detested cilantro, saying it has a “dead taste” to her. Others say it leaves a soap-like aftertaste in their mouths, and some have even likened the taste to crushed bugs. But there’s more to a repulsion of cilantro than picky taste buds: it’s biological. According to a genetic survey by researchers at Cornell University, there’s a very specific gene that makes some people strongly dislike the taste of cilantro. After surveying nearly 30,000 people, the scientists singled it down to the OR6A2 gene. It’s why anecdotally people say cilantro tastes like soap. But aside from the taste, success with cilantro in the garden seems to elude many. That’s because the grocery store has given us unrealistic ideas of how cilantro grows. When you buy a bunch at the grocery store, you’re purchasing probably 8-12 plants’-worth. Like dill, cilantro has to be sown continually to maintain a supply of it. If you’re a big cilantro eater, every two weeks or so should suffice – but be aware that the warmer the weather, the faster cilantro will bolt, or go to seed. Once it does, even the biggest cilantro fan would be hard-pressed to enjoy it. However, it can be allowed to go to seed and will self-sow in some areas; the seeds can also be allowed to mature and used as the spice coriander. 

Lavender, Lavandula sp.: Gardeners around the world have been growing lavender for centuries for its intensely fragrant flowers, beautiful appearance, and ease of culture. Along comes SWEET ROMANCE™ lavender, destined to become a favorite because of its ability to bloom the first year.  Additionally, it begins to flower a bit earlier in the season, typically in early summer and lasting into early fall. Many people think lavender is difficult to grow, but there are two easy solutions: choose a variety that’s hardy in your area, and plant in full sun and very well-drained soil – especially important during winter. The hardiest lavenders include English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, and lavandin, L. x intermedia. The most fragrant lavenders are French (L. dentata) and Spanish (L. stoechas), but these are considerably less cold tolerant and are unlikely to thrive in USDA zone 6 or colder, even if growing conditions are ideal.  Lavender pruning seems confuses people, but it’s best treated just like buddleia: take a little off the top in spring but don’t cut back hard into the woody stems. 

Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis: This fragrant evergreen herb is native to the Mediterranean and loves hot, sunny, dry spots. It’s generally considered hardy to USDA zone 7 so cold climate gardeners often treat it like an annual. However, out here in the super sandy soils of the Lakeshore, Stacey has had it overwinter for over three years, thanks to the excellent drainage and reliable snow cover. To some (including Rick!), rosemary tastes like pine needles, or as he says, “reminds me of pine sol…better off with thyme or sage.” It can be difficult to grow successfully indoors, but if you want to try it, give it as much light as possible, avoid wet soil and watch out for powdery mildew.

Chives, Allium schoenoprasum: Another easy-to-grow perennial herb is chives, an onion-family plant that sends up slender 16- to 18-inch-tall tubular stalks that produce walnut-sized purplish-pink flowers in spring. They’re attractive enough to go in a perennial garden, where you can snip the onion-flavored stalks as you need them to season potatoes. Once chives flower in early summer, their leaf production kind of peters out. To keep your chive plant productive, cut the whole thing back to stubs after it finishes flowering, keep it well-watered, and it will grow a fresh crop of lush leaves for you to enjoy.