A raised herb bed

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, April 29, 2007

If you love to cook you ought to grow herbs. The flavor of fresh herbs beats anything that lives dried in a jar in your cabinets. You also can grow herbs you’ll never find at the grocery such as Thai basil. And the best part is herb plants are cheap, especially if you buy them small.

You can grow an herb garden in a pot if space is limited. Pick a spot that gets lots of sun. Raised beds provide excellent drainage and allow you to add decent soil. This weekend the mister and I built two raised beds for a sunny patio area. One is planted with herbs and I planted the other with artichoke starts grown from seed. Love those chokies.

Also on the patio is the Roast Chicken container. It’s a half wine barrel with rosemary, thyme and parsley — all my favorites to dress up poultry.

Here’s what else I’m growing in my herb garden:

garlic chives

cilantro

tarragon

Cuban oregano

sage

flat-leaf parsley

giant flat-leaf parsley

thyme

Roman chamomile

lemon balm

Spanish lavender

French lavender

bee’s balm (also called bergamot)

pineapple sage

basil mammoth sweet

Thai basil

large green basil

sweet basil

ararat basil

mammoth sweet basil