Every year I plant something new that I’ve never grown before. This year, it is an herb called fenugreek. Fenugreek does triple duty – it is both a culinary and medicinal herb, and as a nitrogen-fixer, it improves the soil as well. It is thought that fenugreek was first cultivated in the [Continue]
The International Herb Association has chosen parsley for its 2021 Herb of the Year. Now wait . . . don’t throw this article aside like you might toss aside the parsley served by a restaurant along with your entrée. That restaurant parsley had likely been stored, shipped a long distance, and stored again before [Continue]
Our homes, businesses and hands are probably more germ-free than ever before, and we’ve been buying all manner of chemical cleaners and sanitizers to make them that way. Did you know that there are many herbs with antiseptic properties that you can easily grow in your own garden? Here are just four of them, all [Continue]
Just when you’re all ready to harvest big bunches of basil to make pesto, basil jam, a salad, a fruity basil drink or margherita pizza, you notice that your basil isn’t looking so good. What happened? Basil is generally easy to grow and has few problems, but there is a new basil disease, downy [Continue]
The International Herb Association has chosen anise hyssop – Agastache foeniculum – as 2019 Herb of the Year. Anise hyssop is a wildflower native to the Upper Midwest and Great Plains with tiny, tightly whorled flowers on 3-6 inch spikes. Flower color varies from pale blue to lavender to dusky dull indigo to [Continue]
There are many herbs that can help you relax when the holiday shopping, baking, wrapping and planning get to be too much. While it’s too late for this year, three of them are easy to grow and harvest to be ready for next year’s holiday rush. All three can be dried for tea or potpourri [Continue]
Ginger is an exotic plant that grows in climates far warmer than we have here in Wisconsin. The good news is that we can grow it in containers either permanently indoors, or outdoors in full sun in summer and moved inside for the winter when night temperatures drop below 50° F. The part the ginger [Continue]
The International Herb Association has chosen hops as its 2018 Herb of the Year. Hops are known for use in beer making, but also serve as pretty ornamental vines that have other uses as well. Hops are a perennial vine with vigorous growth – up to one foot a day! Vines get to 25 [Continue]
The International Herb Association has chosen cilantro and coriander as the 2017 Herb of the Year. It may seem as though they’ve chosen two herbs, but they’ve actually selected just one – coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant. People tend to either love or hate the taste of cilantro. The taste has been [Continue]
Just like the plants in your flower garden, herbs can be annual or perennial plants. Some of them will withstand a Wisconsin winter and grow again next year, while others will be killed by the lightest of frosts. Basil is probably the herb most sensitive to cool temperatures. Low 30s will turn the leaves [Continue]