Cooking with fresh herbs....
By dfinster
@dfinster (3528)
United States
April 11, 2007 1:27pm CST
For the last few years, well more than a few, I've been saying to myself, "this year I'm gonna grow my own herbs." This has just been a little conversation with myself like I said and before now I've never done it.
A few weeks ago I bought one of those herb starter kits. The kind with the seeds the terra cotta pots and the starter soil. I didn't think anything would happen. To my surprise, this morning when I got up and went to the kitchen sink, my little pots all had little sprouts in them! I couldn't believe it, and hope they continue to grow and be usable in my cooking.
My question for you is have you ever used one of these types of kits and has it been successful. And the other is, do you use fresh herbs in your cooking? Do you think they taste better than the dried types? I was just kind of interested to see how many of you go through the growing and maintaining to be able to do this.
3 people like this
4 responses
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
11 Apr 07
when I first started growing my own herbs, I purchased one of those kits too and I had no luck at all with them. I then went to the market and purchased plants and they did wonderful. I am now learning to grow herbs better. Good luck growing htem as they are so much better than purchaseing dried herbs in a jar.
@weemam (13372)
•
11 Apr 07
I would love to try something like this , I often thought about it but to be honest I am never sure what herb goes with what , I cook a lot of soups stews etc but never add any herbs , my hubby loves home cooked meals but I am not so sure he would like herbs in them. I have used spices a lot in cooking and he likes them but I think thats really different , I look forward to reading your replies xx
1 person likes this
@dfinster (3528)
• United States
11 Apr 07
I know that when you cook with fresh herbs you need to add more than you do with dried spices. I've used them in the past in cooking and they're wonderful, but those are the ones I've bought at the grocery store. I don't do that unless absolutely necessary though because they're really expensive that way.
@creativedreamweaver (7297)
• United States
11 Apr 07
I have used fresh herbs in cooking and let me tell you there is nothing that is soooo good. It really brings out the flavors of the herbs in order to compliment the food they are being prepared with. This is my first year growing my own herb garden though. Like you I have wanted to do one for years. I didn't buy a kit. I just planted the seeds from scratch into a newly prepared area in my yard. They are already coming up and I am so excited. Keep us posted on how the kit works and how your herbs are doing.
1 person likes this
@dfinster (3528)
• United States
11 Apr 07
I can't keep herbs outside all year round here where I live because of the winters being so harsh. That's the reason I want to see how they do indoors. If they can be brought in and put in pots I think I'd plant sme more varieties outside in a little area when it gets warmer and the snow is done for the year.
@seamonkey (1976)
• Ireland
11 Apr 07
I had one of those kits many years ago when I was a novice gardener, but I don't really like prepackaged kits anymore. There are so many different varieties of plants, I love getting the new sed catalogues during the winter and picking out what I am going to grow in the spring.
I really love cooking with fresh parsley, chives and rsemary and they practically grow themselves. Fresh basil is wonderful as well, and so is lemon grass. I don't know if you would want to grow your own garlic, which is also great for cooking, but if not chives are a passable subsitute.
Good luck and have fun! If the seeds don't work out, very young plants are available on the cheap at garden centers. They catch up quickly and are a much better deal than the bigger, more expensive pots because they grow up in your garden and are less fussy than older plants.
@dfinster (3528)
• United States
11 Apr 07
I don't have a vegetable garden anymore and am not sure if I'll be having one this year. The wild turkeys where I live a horrible and destroy everything we grow. Can these herbs be transplanted into bigger pots and kept inside successfully? I'd like to know.
