Here we will focus on individual herbs including their history and uses in both cuisine and medicine. Some of the herbs we will start with are staples in most gardener’s gardens: rosemary, basil, thyme, mint, oregano, parsley, sage.
Photo: Rosemary by Herbscapes.com 2023
Although I have a very few people who just don’t care much for rosemary, most herb gardeners not only love the plant but have one or several in their gardens. Although basil frequently is awarded the “number one” herb in the world, I lean towards rosemary for several reasons.
Rosemary is a strong plant and although it’s scent is not quite at the strong level of basil, it is in fact a highly scented herb and it has as many if not more culinary uses as basil. It’s not as delicate as basil and can survive longer cooking cycles in whichever dishes you may add it during actually cooking time.
Rosemary is a very hardy plant that can survive ups and downs of temperatures, meaning it can live through intense heat and it can usually survive a freeze although I recommended covering plants during extended sub-freezing weather. Rosemary grows much larger than basil and once established grows at a good rate. While basil can be grown easily from seed, rosemary is very difficult to grow from seed and the best method is rooting from the stems of an existing plant. Even if you get rosemary to sprout, which I have before, it takes a few years to get a decent sized plant.