Grow Your Own Cooking Accoutrements

Cooking can involve so many wonderful ingredients that produce fantastic smells and flavors. Different recipes call for various spices and herbs that you can find bottled at the local grocery store. To enhance those dishes, you may want to consider growing your own herbs and having the opportunity to pick the freshest of herbs and add them to your dish can make a big difference in taste and quality of the dish. Growing your own herbs enables you to pick what you need whenever you need it.

Herbs are not very difficult to maintain provided you have a enough space in a well-light area of your kitchen. Herbs do not require much space to grow and need about six hours worth of sunlight during the daylight hours. Depending on which herbs you use in your cooking, you will have a difference between those that are perennials, which means they grow year after year without needing to replant seeds and there are annuals, which means the plants last only one season and when they die off, new seeds must be planted to re-grow the herbs.

Some classic examples of perennial plants are mint, lavender, chives, tarragon, and thyme. Annual herb plants include dill, chamomile, parsley, cilantro, and basil. For the cooks who do not necessarily have a green thumb, it may be easier to purchase grown plants rather than starting from see. Some of the more common plants may prove to be difficult to grow directly from seed if you are not an experienced gardener. The choice of plants, which can be found at most nurseries or home improvement stores, is up to the chef and what herbs are most likely to be used in regular cooking.

For some ideas on which herbs you may want to cultivate in your own kitchen, here are some of the most common herbs used in recipes:

Sage

Sage is a perennial that comes in different varieties which affect the taste of the herb and the dishes to which sage is added. It can be used in breads, stuffing, and pork dishes. A variation known as pineapple sage is used for sweetening desserts.

Rosemary

Rosemary is a perennial and a member of the mint family. It is also one of the oldest herbs on record. Rosemary has been used for everything from a cooking ingredient to a healing agent that cures headaches. It is a strong herb that is most often added to chicken dishes, breads, and vegetable dishes. Rosemary plants can turn into a shrub after several years of growing.

Oregano

Oregano is a perennial that is most often used in tomato sauces, on pizzas, or to season meats. Oregano plants can grow up to two feet tall and makes an attractive addition to outdoor gardens.

Dill

Dill is an annual that is best known for making pickles. It can also be used with potatoes and in salmon dishes.

Parsley

Parsley is a biennial, meaning it can grow for two full seasons before needing to be replanted from seed. Parsley is most often used in a number of recipes including soups, salad dressings, sauces, and it is also used as a simple garnish for decoration.