Get Some Fresh Italian Flavor from your Home Grown Italian Herbs
It’s time to have your own little Italian herb garden! You’ll have so much fun and may even catch yourself singing, “Oh sol a mia!” in your herb garden, creating fun, memorable experiences for the whole family!
What type of herbs will you grow? The Italian herbs that are the foundation for Italian cuisine:
• Basil
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Fennel
• and many more!
Imagine cooking your next Italian pasta meal for family, friends and guests at a party with the aroma of Italian spices filling the home. Your guests will have a hard time waiting for the food!
Basil: More Than Just Flavor for Food
To start your Italian herb garden, use a chef’s trick: plant the basil very close to your peppers and tomatoes. The vegetables will pick up the scent and flavor of basil and once in the pan, the results will be a culinary delight. This little trick, by the way, is also a tip for fly and mosquito control in the garden.
Oregano and Rosemary: Beauty Plus Flavor
The small purple flowers that the oregano plant has are beautiful enough to put in flower vases in the home. And did you know that the essential oil of oregano kills mold and other microbes in the air. When taken for medicinal purposes, it helps control fungal over-growths. When growing oregano, harvest it after flowering.
Rosemary’s small pretty blue flowers are simply heavenly. This Italian herb grows into a shrub, so keep that in mind when planning your Italian herb garden. Crush a few rosemary needles between your fingers and you’ll smell rosemary for hours; add it to your barbecued foods and it will eliminate any carcinogens caused by barbecuing.
Garlic – Everyone Wants and Needs It
What’s Italian cuisine without garlic? Plant plenty of rows of garlic cloves in your Italian herb garden; you’ll use every bit of it for foods and even medicine. Garlic has been associated with the ability to ward off a cold, stop the flu, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, help strengthen the heart, and a lot more!
Garlic cloves remain edible for months after harvesting them and they may be frozen or pickled as well.
Sage is a Flavor Enhancer
The gentle flavor of sage blends well with other Italian herbs from your herb garden. It is more of a flavor enhancer than an Italian herb used as a primary flavor in cooking. Try adding it to soups, meat entrees, and even salads. This herb will need a little tender care on your part, but not much. Your goal is to keep the new shoots coming out of the soil – that’s where all the flavor is.
Fennel: Flavor Enhancer, Breath Sweetener
Fennel is a perennial plant so you can expect it to be back next year, too. You may also want to replant it to keep its flavor strong. As the plant grows, it begins to lose its flavor. Fennel sweetens the breath, just like parsley does. That’s why every Indian restaurant has fennel candy in the dish by the cash register!
In cooking, fennel has a taste of its own and also enhances other Italian herb flavors. Fennel has fine leaves that lead down to a stalk somewhat like a celery stalk. More and more often, you will find fennel in grocery stores sold as the entire stalk and leaves. One good use of fennel is in Italian sausage.
Parsley: Dark Green and So Good for Us
Parsley can be finicky to grow in the hot weather but it’s used in several cuisines as a garnish. Don’t limit yourself to just garnishes; the curly parsley herb is full of vitamin A and it helps sweeten the breath. The herb is also used for those with kidney disorders. Adding a handful of parsley that is chopped finely to potato salads, pasta salads, pasta dishes, soups, and sprinkled onto meats is a sure way to add color and a little health to your family’s meals.
Before you plant your Italian herb garden, make a list of the herbs you want to include. Each one has its own requirements; by strategically meeting all the plants’ needs, your Italian herb garden will flourish in its first season.
Remember that not only do Italian herbs complement your Italian dishes but they also can become important parts of the landscape in your backyard. When placed along a sidewalk, your Italian plants can become a memorable garden with such wonderful aromas that guests feel as if they are in Italy. What could be better than that?
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