HERBS, SWEET AND CONDIMENTAL.
A great variety of plants, medicinal, flavoring and decorative, are
herbs, but we will consider only those used for cookery and usually
called “sweet herbs.” The very name brings memories of fragrant smells.
If we cannot all say, “I know a bank whereon the wild thyme grows,”
yet few who have ever known a garden are unacquainted with the odorous
bed of thyme, sage and mint. Although there is not such heavy demand
for them in this country as in Europe, yet their use is growing, the
favorite being sage.
Sweet herbs may be divided, both as to culture and as to products,
into two classes:—the annuals and the perennials: those grown for
their foliage, and those for their fruits. All are easily grown and
demand little attention, and though they may be bought at any drug
store, yet they who have once raised their own herbs find a pleasure
in them that they will not like to miss. Annuals and perennials may
be grown together and a very little plot of ground is enough to grow
them all. Choose a place where they will not interfere with plowing
and cultivating and let them stay, planting the annuals in the same
place each year, and renewing the perennials as soon as they begin
to lose their aromatic qualities or otherwise to fail. The annuals
should be sown every year, but perennials may be propagated by division
of clumps. Discard all the older clumps and replant only the newer,
younger portions.
Those that are prized for their foliage, such as sage, thyme, hyssop,
mints, tansy, horehound and wormwood, are usually cut when the plant is
in full growth before the stalks have become woody. Cut the stems near
the ground, tie them in bunches and hang them to dry in the attic, if
you are fortunate enough to have such a treasure-hole, or in some cool,
dry place. You may also cut the herbage from time to time during the
season, but this weakens the plant and necessitates replanting. Those
that are grown for seeds, such as caraway, coriander and dill, are
allowed to ripen, but are picked before the seeds begin to fall. They
are dried in-doors and the seeds threshed out for winter use. Bailey,
in his “Vegetable Gardening,” has a list divided as follows:—
ANNUALS (OR GROWN AS SUCH).
Anise
Sweet basil
Summer savory
Coriander
Caraway (biennial)
Clary (biennial)
Dill (biennial)
Sweet marjoram (biennial or perennial)
PERENNIAL.
Sage
Lavender
Peppermint
Spearmint
Hyssop
Marjoram
Balm
Catnip
Pennyroyal
Rosemary
Horehound
Fennel
Lovage
Winter savory
Tansy
Wormwood
Costmary
Tarragon.