Growing Herbs at Home

I know I have written about growing herbs at home before but I thought it was high time I updated you on this years (hopefully) bumper crop.

This year my prized herb is Thai basil. Exotic I know, but I actually picked the plant up cheap from a supermarket as a ‘living’ herb and replanted in a larger pot the minute I got home. However It has been more tricky to grow than I expected, you see they tightly pack lots of basil plants in a tiny pot to give you that big bunch appearance in store. For growing them further this doesn’t do.

I thinned out the basil by pulling out the smaller ones and trimming the bigger. But I still had a problem, this plant does not like being in damp soil…all the stem started to rot, luckily it was a really hot day so I got them outside and dried the soil out. It was a close thing but I managed to save them.

So glad I was able too, I have cooked with it already and it’s an amazing flavour, deep, rich and aniseedy with a beautiful sweetness.

As I trim it down I am freezing it for a raining day.

I still grow lemongrass (to go with the Thai basil obviously) and in my garden I have my ever giving rosemary, sage and bay. Unfortunately my thyme bush gave up the ghost after the very hard winter we just endured, I’m going to look for a replacement as it’s an essential in the kitchen.

It’s not just herbs though, I have a few tiny chilli plants poking through and might do something this year, I have a new fig which is just a baby, who knows if or when any fruit will arrive…but I don’t care I love figs!

Also new this year is a raspberry plant which is doing well so far…I’ll maybe even get a pot of jam out of it!

It’s so nice to be able to grab some super fresh produce from your own backyard, window box or even pots scattered around the house.

So what are your growing this year? Anything exotic or unusual? Please tell me about it in the comments below.

Michael Robinson

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The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator