Growing Herbs, A Novices' Tale - Part 1 by Dianne Mason

Very many books have been written on the subject of herbs; how to grow them, how to cook them and all known contemporary and historical uses of them. I shall not present information which could be readily found in many other places but shall relate the tale of a novice’s journey into this increasingly popular area.

My interest in herbs began in 2003 when I was taken to Southport summer show by Betty Wall. Although I had entered many small shows, Southport had always seemed unattainably difficult to me, the sort of show experts entered. Betty, an expert, let me stage some of her entries and generally broke down my terror barrier. After a really good look around the show, I decided to make a definite attempt at something and decided on herbs as my best chance. My reasoning was that there was so much scope in this area, if one herb went wrong there would be plenty more to save my skin.

I had grown herbs here and there to eat for a number of years and entered them in a number of small shows, but in honour of Southport show I started a bold, large, new herb bed which measures around one metre by seven metres - plenty of space!

The next thing to do was tour my plots, dig up all perennial herbs and move them to the new luxury herb bed. The final step was, in spring, to grow a lavish assortment of new plants from seed - in large quantities. As is the way with all messy gardeners, the new herb bed also became home for many annual plants which would not fit anywhere else, the resulting medley was glorious to behold!

This brings us to my optimistic return to Southport show in 2004. You might guess that I spent a long, long time cutting three vases of herbs. After about three hours I had produced a generous quantity each of Parsley, Mint and Rosemary.

There was an additional effect of this exercise: Having decided to enter Southport show with my herbs and broken through the fear barrier, I thought I might as well take a few other things as well and actually took twelve entries, encouraged again by Betty. Arriving at Southport, I had a good look at the one entry of herbs already on the table, assumed an assertive posture and staged mine better. What was the outcome of this exercise? I won. Furthermore, I came second with ten shallots, three collerette dahlias and three vases of seed raised flowers. The prize money was all spent ringing my friends and family to tell them about it.

Obviously I was back at Southport in 2005 and incredibly my herbs won again. Having won twice, I guess this makes me a sort of novice expert so now I shall impart my experience and wisdom.

The Rosemary after this terrible winter

Parsley is made of sterner stuff!

Oregano, Tarragon and Dill will die very readily in winter. Mint and Fennel wisely retreat underground to emerge when the weather is kinder. As an aside, I never grow Mint confined to a bucket to stop it wandering, which is the advice in all of the books. I let the Mint wander where it will and it moves around the bed from year to year, it repays me by never getting out of hand. One of the most interesting things about Lovage is its vigorous appearance at this time of year.

The renegade this year has been the Sage, which is not generally a lover of nasty cold weather but has managed to surprise me by surviving very well.

What Herbs to Grow

There are very many herbs and there is a number of ways of dividing them up but the main consideration is this - is it culinary? This is a question subject to debate wherever it arises. From an eating point of view and generally from a showing point of view, your herb must be culinary. To be safe and to avoid conflict at the shows, stick to things which are widely accepted as edible. When you eventually show them, you will want to know the botanical name (for the labels) so the following list is herbs which I grow which are undeniably culinary along with their botanical name;

• Parsley - Petroselinum crispum
• Rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis
• Sage - Salvia officinalis
• Mint - Mentha crispa
• Tarragon - Artemisia dracunculoides
• Dill - Anethum graveolens
• Oregano - Origanum vulgare
• Lovage - Levisticum officinale
• Thyme - Thymus vulgaris
• Fennel - Foeniculum vulgare
• Chervil - Anthriscus cerefolium
• Coriander - Coriandrum sativum

There are others. My herb bed also includes plants which are actually edible but which you might have to defend as such at some shows;

• Horehound - Marrubium vulgare
• Chamomile - Anthemis nobile
• Marigold - Calendula officinalis
• Bergamot - Monarda didyma
• Chives - Allium schoenoprasum reputedly a salading vegetable and not a herb.

Additionally, I grow a number of species outside of my official herb bed which I seriously doubt would avoid the NAS at any show;

• Lavender - Lavandula angustifolia
• Lady’s Mantle - Alchemilla mollis
• Coltsfoot - Tussilago farfara
• Elecampane - Inula helenium

To round this section up, here are some plants which although actually herbs and actually edible, will doubtless never be seen entered in a show;

• Chickweed - Stellaria media
• Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale
• Nettle - Urtica dioica
• Daisy - Bellis perennis

So deciding what to grow could be a minefield but if in doubt, it’s probably best to stick to the kind of thing you could buy in the supermarket. However, a herb bed is a hugely interesting thing for visitors, especially children, as the plants can be smelled, tasted and generally interacted with and it’s always worth growing things you never plan to eat or show just for

their entertainment value!

Growing Your Herb Plants

Every herb I grow is easy to grow. Herbs are notoriously trouble free in terms of pests and diseases. Many of my plants are perennial, every year I raise annual and biennial ones from seed and the bed is generally trouble free.

A great deal of advice can be found concerning the creation of herb beds and the selection of plants to put in it but my advice is this, just use a piece of land in reasonable condition and put in whatever plants you want, they will grow despite what the books say. There are certain exceptions e.g. Coltsfoot likes heavy, damp, even boggy ground which suits very few other plants of any type, which is why I grow it elsewhere.

Herb plants are very widely available but in honesty they are really easy to grow from seed, just sow them, prick them out then set them out after the last frost. When I set the small plants out, they are watered in and given the protection of a few slug pellets but after that they are never watered, fed or sprayed.

Cutting for shows counts as summer pruning and perennials are cut back in the spring to remove old growth and stimulate new shoots. Coriander, like lettuce, should ideally be sown in reasonably small amounts every few weeks as it grows fast and bolts at the slightest provocation.

The only plant I have bought is Rosemary. My original shrub was transplanted from a very mature group of three in a different garden. Subsequently I bought a small Rosemary in a pot from a well known supermarket. Both shrubs thrived and the foliage was very well used. However, the vicious winter we have just had has killed them both, so I bought another one, £1.99 in a one and a half litre pot, which is thriving.

Interestingly, some of the earliest perennial plants to start growing in the spring are herbs. The photographs in this article were taken on the third week of April. Chives are very early in growth and can be cut for eating in very early Spring. In the North of England they are starting to flower in late April. Parsley is a biennial plant which survives the coldest and nastiest winter and is still edible the following Spring, after which it will of course run to seed and needs to be replaced with fresh plants.

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