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The Forgotten Herbs
NoviceHerbs
Posts: 126
in Fruit & veg
Sorrel , Savory , Lovage and Borage seem to be the forgotten herbs
I am considering to plant some Lovage
But from a culinary point of view is it worth planting the others ?
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Posts
I grow sorrel and have grown lovage. I use sorrel in sauces and egg dishes - I really like the flavour. The small leaves are also good in salads.
Lovage is a great addition to a stock, and the leaves are lovely in salads. They do grow into huge plants 6-8ft tall after a couple of years, and take up a fair bit of space.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks Dove , I will defiantly consider these 2 herbs
I have sorrel, lovage and borage in the garden. The sorrel grows wild on the field, I can't say I use it as any more than a snack if I happen to walk past it. I only planted the lovage last year, from one of those herb pots you buy in the supermarket, it didn't do much but it is coming back up this year so there's hope yet.
Borage, well I bought some seeds and planted them in the veg garden to attract bees, two germinated, I then discovered that we already have borage but a white version (we only bought the place a couple of years ago) and it grew huge and was covered in honey bees all summer, however I only use it's flowers as a drink decoration
I use sorrel in sauces too, especially with fish. You can freeze borage flowers in ice cubes for drinks.
Thanks busy lizzie and skandi , Lets hope I can have some success growing the herbs
Winter savoury is supposed to reduce flatulence when cooked with beans and can also reduce the need for salt in seasoning other dishes. It can be used in any recipe that asks for thyme.
Summer savoury is an annual I think and can be used instead of basil.
I find the flavour and texture of lovage very coarse and prefer to use celery.
Borage can be rampant but the flowers are pretty in salads as well as good flavour.
Thanks obelixx
You can expand your repertoire to include varieties of standard herbs eg lemon thyme, white chives and garlic chives, all sorts of different basil from cinnamon to Thai, variegated forms of sage and so on.
I suggest you check out this website from Britain's best known herb grower - https://www.jekkasherbfarm.com/ and also have a look in the library or even charity shops for books by her.
Thats a very good point Obelixx , I should see which herbs work with my garden and maybe explore more varieties of that particular herb.
How many times do you try a herb out before you give up and move on to pastures new
I've tried loads in my time and end up sticking with the ones that will grow for me and which I use for cooking or summer drinks. We moved to a new garden in October with different soil and a less extreme climate so I shall be starting a couple of new herb beds - one for full sun and one for shade.
I have inherited 3 large bay shrubs and some rampant apple mint in the grass and have brought my tub with rosemary, sage and lemon thyme and a trough with ginger mint and white chives. I've already bought some strawberry mint (new one on me), Moroccan mint, oregano, winter savoury, French tarragon, basil and flat leaved parsley.