Italian Herb Garden

Imagine serving your own special tomato sauce seasoned with your own fresh picked herbs, basil and oregano.   And don’t forget crisp Italian  garlic bread, served with your own freshly made pesto sauce.   The list is endless.   Growing an Italian herb garden is fun  and relatively easy.    Here are a few of the best known Italian herbs to get you started.

Basil, a well known Italian herb, name means “royal.”  Basil has a spicy-sweet flavor with peppery undertones.  Its fragrance is strong, fresh and very pungent.  If you want to improve the flavor of your pepper and tomato plants, you must plant  this herb next to them.  Not only is this herb delicious to taste, but is a very beautiful ornamental.  In addition, flies and mosquitoes are repelled by it., so make sure you grace your picnic table with  freshly cut basil in a vase.

Parsley is such a versatile herb that you can add to almost any dish.  Its flavor is tangy with undertones of sweetness, The fragrance is fresh and clean.  Before the invention of breath mints, fresh parsley was passed around after a  flavorful meal to eradicate bad breath.  Hence even today we use parsley as a garnish.

Oregano, when it is mature will sprout beautiful purple flowers.   Although we often think of pizza when we think of oregano, its culinary uses were secondary to its medicinal uses.  Oregano tea clears the nasal passage and eases sore throats.  It is an herb that is both spicy and pungent and is highly aromatic.

Fennel  leaves and seeds have mild licorice/anise flavor.  This herb needs to be harvested   before the plant blooms.  The actual plant loses its sweet flavor as it matures.  Every few years it needs to be divided and replanted to maintain its flavor.  In your garden it helps to repel both nasty slugs and snails.

Rosemary was an herb that Greek student  made into garlands to be worn  in their hair.  It was thought to strengthen memory.  The flavor of rosemary  is strong with a hint of pine.  The plant consists of tiny pink to purple flowers and makes a fragrant foundation planting that attracts bees; however, it is very sensitive to frost.

Sage has a warm, homey aroma.  We can use either fresh or dried in dishes ranging from stuffing to vegetables to meats.  The new shoots of the plant contain the most flavor.  You can pick individual leaves anytime.

Garlic is synonymous with Italian herbs.  No Italian garden can be complete without this useful herb.  Garlic can be added to many vegetables, sauces, breads and even oils.   However, if added to oil, we need to soak it in vinegar for 8-24 hours before adding.  .  Doing this acidifies the garlic and curtails  bacterial growth.  Garlic cloves can be planted and will thrive with very little attention  in just about any garden.

In order to make your Italian Herb Garden your own, you need to think about which herbs you will actually use.  In addition, the growing conditions of each plant needs to be taken into consideration.  In addition to the great taste they add to so many dishes, they also make amazing additions to our landscape designs.  These herbs add not only color, and fragrant flowers but also lingering aromas.   As you walk through your Italian herb garden you will feel like you are in  Tuscany.