Make use of windowsill sunshine

IF YOUR experience with herbs
has been limited to shaking a few
flakes of dried oregano out of a
jar, there’s a whole world of en-
joyment and satisfaction you can
explore right in your own kitchen.

Most herbs — including culi-
nary (for cooking), fragrance and
medicinal types — will thrive in-
doors in a sunny window, under
fluorescent lights, or using a
combination of both.

Your own windowsill herb
garden can supply the precious
ingredients for exciting recipes,
healthy herbal teas, natural, gentle
cosmetics and fragrant sachets and
potpourri to use at home or as
thoughtful gifts.

Herbs are easy, inexpensive and
truly rewarding to grow at home.
Here’s how:

@ What kinds to choose:

Herbs are available at garden
centres as seeds or started
transplants. Generally speaking,
herbs are either annuals, which
grow for a season or two and die,
or perennials, which can live for
many years and become quite
large.

Sweet Bay, for example, the
secret {0 savory soups and stews,
will grow into a medium-sized
tree indoors. Other familiar culi-
nary herbs include annuals such as
basil, coriander, dill and parsley,
as well as perennials such as mar-
joram, oregano, rosemary, sage
and thyme.

You also can grow catnip, a
perennial, for a nerve-soothing
tea and contented housecats. Lav-
ender, lemon verbena, and scented
geraniums are all long-lived
perennials: that will lend | their
heady aromas to herbal
bathwaters, sachets and potpour-

vis.

_ Lovage,-a hardy perennial that
can reach six feet (1.8 m) in height
indoors, has long been used to
make natural mouthwashes, while
both spearmint and pepperimint
are said to be effective against
headaches and indigestion.

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@ How to grow herbs indoors:

Whether you start herbs from
seed or transplants, grow them in
a light mix of potting soil with
some sand or vermiculite added
for good drainage.

Perennial herb seed can be
started in shallow pans or flats
and transplanted to individual
four-inch (10 cm) pots when the
plants are a couple of inches tall.

Annual herbs like parsley, dill,
coriander and caraway seeds don’t
transplant well and should be
sown in the container in which
they will remain.

Keep seeded containers in a
warm spo! and uniformly moist
until the seeds sprout, then move
them into a sunny spot. If natural
light is insufficient (at least four
hours of sun per day) supplement
it with fluorescent grow lights.

Plants growing in strong light
need regular watering and feeding
with a good liquid fertilizer. Using
this combination, you can produce
a surprisingly large harvest in-
doors.

@ Enjoying the harvest:

As a general rule, you may
harvest herbs gradually, snipping
off a couple of inches as needed,
but never removing more than
about a third of the total plant.

Some herbs, especially if grown
for seed (dill is one example)
might be allowed to mature, then
harvested and used whole.

@ Herbal vinegars:

Use these to add zest to a salad,
as a bracing faciat splash, or nat-
ural after-shampoo conditioner.

Begin by combining either white
or red wine vinegars and your
favorite herbs. Some chefs like to
let the herbs steep in the vinegar
for a few weeks, and then drain
and rebottle, but this is not strict-
ly necessary. For added flavor and
decorative appeal, you can add
garlic cloves, .olives, jalapeno
peppers, or pimento on wooden
skewers.

Try a few different food color-
ings for variety, and use clear,

clean glass bottles. Fancy liquor
and wine bottles with corks are
perfect. Herb vinegars make love-
Jy, thoughtful housewarming gifts
that soon become a_ favorite
kitchen item.

®@ Potpourris and sachets:

Recipes for these generally call

for the addition of scented oils,

possible to make your own,
bur you would probably need
more herbs than you can prac-
tically grow indoors.

Scented oils and powdered orris
root, a fixative, are available at
crafts stores, along with other
dried items, like rose petals, that
you can use along with your own
herbs to make personal potpourri
combinations.

Choose a combination you like
-- maybe lavender, rosemary, and
scented geranium — crumble the
ingredients together,
about 2 half-ounce of the fixative
and a few drops of scented oil to
every three to four cups of herbs
or flower petals.

Seal the mixture up in tightly
covered jars for a few weeks while
the scent blends and fixes, then
use uncovered in. baskets, jars or
sewn up into sachets.

@ Enhancing home-cooked meals:

With herbs at your fingertips in
the kitchen, you'll discover cre-
ative cooking impulses you never
knew you had. Herbs can turn
ordinary foods into gourmet
treats, and they’re a great way to
add flavor and excitement to
salt-free diets.

Use your windowsill herbs in
salads, soups and stews, pasta
Sauces, Omelettes, stuffings, rice
and vegetables. Remember that
fresh herbs, though more flavorful
than dried, are less strong, so
where a recipe calls for a teaspoon
of dried herbs, double that
amount when using fresh herbs.

And ‘after that fabulous meal,
chewing a sprig of fresh parsley
makes the world’s best natural
breath freshener.

and add.

Sunday, June 27,1 23 - North Shore News - 23

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