Who doesn’t love adding some extra (healthy) flavour to our food and who doesn’t love knowing exactly how and where your food is grown …… Who doesn’t love where this is going?? Grow your herbs at home!!
What better way to know your food than to grow it your self. You decide whether it gets sprayed with water or nasty pesticides. You decide whether the soil is 100% natural or littered with chemicals to mass produce and you also decide without a trip to the shops whether your food needs a little extra ‘somethin somethin…’.
Growing herbs at home couldn’t be easier, it can be done in a garden or in a pot in your kitchen…. mine are grown in about 4 long pots on my balcony. They get watered daily or every second day, depending on how wet the soil is. I just love being able to go outside and grab some fresh food from my balcony.
Herbs You Should Grow At Home
Basil
Taste: Hint of spice and … lemon. chewy to eat.
Easy To Grow: Yes! Very easy to grow. Will grow indoors or out doors (although Basil is sensitive to frost). needs to be watered regularly. Soil Should be kept damp.
Benefits:
- Contains disease fighting antioxidants.
- Slows down ageing
- Anti inflammatory
- Promotes healthy blood pressure
- Promotes liver function while helping to detoxify the body.
How To Eat: Great in sauces, salads, salad dressing and on pizza’s.
Mint
Taste: Refreshing and ehhh minty? Basically it can taste like detox in your mouth.
Easy To Grow: Mint is so easy to grow, that it has been recommended to me various times to grow it in a separate pot, not in the soil in your garden as it can spread so quickly. What is the problem with that you may ask…. Personally I don’t know, as I love mint. Mint loves damp soil (Hey Ireland).
Benefits:
- Helps aid digestion, highly recommended to drink as mint tea to help with inflammation and bloating.
- Good skin, has antibacterial compounds.
- Clears congestion of nose, throat and lungs.
- Acts as a natural stimulant and helps fight fatigue
- Improves oral health.
How To Eat: Can be drank as a tea when mixed with hot water, or can be drank cold to give extra flavour to water….or vodka. Mix into juices and smoothies. Mix with yogurt and berries, can be used in salads.
Thyme
Taste: Minty lemon flavour (member of the mint family)
Easy to Grow: Very easy to grow, needs sunlight and light shade. Soil needs to be able to drain water fast, if you need to, you can raise your flower bed to assist in this. You can tell if your soil drains fast, if it is still soaked within 10 minutes of watering.
Benefits:
- Fights and aids sore throats.
- Lowers blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
- Moodboosting
- High levels of iron aiding your red blood cells.
- High levels of Vitamin A & C
How To Eat: Thyme goes well with fried or baked foods and is used as a seasoning.
Sage
Taste: If you can imagine a peppery earthy smell, that is Sage.
Easy To Grow: Needs sunlight and some shade. Will grow in well drained and slightly sandy soil.
Benefits
- Increased concentration levels and brain function.
- Bone strengthening.
- Aids skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.
- Helps to reduce inflammation.
- Improves digestion.
How To Eat: A little goes a long way with sage. Sage goes nicely with roasted vegetables and can add a nice flavour to veg or mushroom soup and pastas.
Chives
Taste: Chives taste mildly like onions or the inside of leeks.
Easy To Grow: Chives are easy to grow, they require a well drained rich moist soil.
Benefits:
- Helps to prevent cancer.
- Aids sleep.
- Maintains good help during pregnancy.
- Healthy eyes and vision.
- Detoxifies the body.
How To Eat: Chives add a refreshing taste to your food, so they can be great in salads, salad dressings and potato dishes.
Irish Mountain Child 