Off the Urban Grid

5 Uncommon Herbs for Your Garden

Herbs are a great addition to the urban or suburban garden.  They don’t take a lot of space, many varieties are easy to grow in pots, and some of them can even be beneficial for your vegetable garden (by keeping pest insects away–not everything likes the smell of mint as much as we do!). Also, since herbs cost a fortune in the store, it really makes sense to grow your favorites at home.

If you’ve had a herb garden before, you’ve probably tried the standards: dill, basil, oregano, chives, rosemary, and mint.  If you’re a fan of tarragon, sage, and fennel, maybe you’ve tried them too.

These are all great herbs, but maybe you’d like to try growing some interesting edible and medicinal herbs that aren’t easy to find at the store (or are expensive if they are).  Here’s a list you can mine for ideas:

5 Uncommon Herbs for Your Garden

Stevia — If you’re into sugar substitutes, you may have heard of stevia before.  The body doesn’t metabolize the sweet glycosides from the stevia leaf–or any of its processed forms–so there is no caloric intake.  And it’s very concentrated so it only takes a bit to sweeten a dish.  Think of it like an all-natural version of Equal (but less bitter).  As for growing it, stevia is originally from sub-humid subtropical climates, but it can be grown in northern lattitudes as an annual.  Try some in your garden, and you may never have to buy sugar or other artifical sweeteners again.

Lavender — We have a lot of lavender farms on the Olympic Peninsula up here in Western Washington, so I’ve been treated to some interesting uses of the pleasant-smelling herb.  Examples include lavender shortbread cookies, lavender chocolate, lavender coffee, lavender salad dressing, lavender mustard, and my favorite (so far) lavender lemonade.  In addition to being useful in food, lavender oil is considered a very good antidote for insect bites, stings, and burns. These shrubs can get quite big, though, with extensive root systems, so if you’re going to try growing lavdender, look for lavender species suitable for container growing.

Garlic Chives — If you’re a garlic lover, you may appreciate chives with the subtle taste of garlic to them.  They’re not nearly as powerful as the real deal, but they can be great for adding a bit of flavor to a dish, and they perform the same function garlic does in a garden: driving off many pest species that don’t care for the scent.  Like many herbs, they are are invasive in a garden, so use containers to grow them.

Grapefruit Mint – Mint is a pretty common garden herb, but why grow just mint when there are so many interesting variations these days?  Orange mint, grapefruit mint, pineapple mint, lavender mint, lemon mint, lime minte, and even chocolate mint are available at speciality garden stores.  And, yes, the leaves smell like their namesakes!  Try them in salads, beverages, or whatever you’d like to enhance with a minty taste.

Lovage — You’ll love lovage (har), since it’s a perennial herb that comes back every year and isn’t difficult to grow.  It can reach six feet in height though so make sure you’ve got some space for it.  In the kitchen, lovage can sweeten up your soup, salad, or turkey stuffing.  It’s similar to celery in taste, but it has a sweeter and more robust flavor.

That’s all I have time to write about right now.  Are there any herbs you enjoy growing?

Tags: gardening, herbs