Growing an Italian Herb Garden
Raising a personal Italian herb garden of your own gives you a wide array of options. You’d probably agree that many of the best tasting and most popular herbs are from Italy. In fact, herbs are a crucial ingredient that makes so many of the wonderful Italian cuisines come to life.
One of the most recognized herbs from Italy is basil and is used in a lot of Italian dishes. In addition to bringing its wonderful flavor to so many Italian recipes, it’s also beneficial to other plants within your garden. By growing basil beside vegetables, like tomatoes and peppers, they will become more flavorful. Another great benefit of basil is that it can be used as a fly or mosquito repellent.
Parsley is wonderful in Italian dishes as well other kinds of dishes, but can be a difficult herb plant to grow. In the good ol’ days, long before we used mints to freshen our breath, uncooked fresh parsley would be eaten after meals to eliminate foul breath following an enjoyable flavor filled dish. It became common practice to provide parsley served on a small plate at the completion of the meal. This custom continues on even today as we use parsley to garnish many different dishes.
One more herb plant is the flavorful, yet decorative oregano. Dainty purple flowers sprout from this plant as it becomes mature. When the plant has flowered, it is the ideal time for harvesting oregano as this is the time when it is most flavorful.
Well known for its seeds that gracefully add flavor enhancement to Italian sausage, Fennel is yet another popular herb. One of the traits of interest concerning fennel is as it matures, the plants flavor diminishes. As a perennial plant returning every year, it will need to be separated and replanted about every third year to enjoy its taste.
Similar to basil, rosemary is an Italian herb that also is valuable in your garden. As it grows, Rosemary becomes a large shrub and has attractive small flowers of blue which attract bees which in turn help pollinate your garden. Be aware that this herb plant is sensitive to frost even though it is a sturdy evergreen perennial.
Likely, Italian cuisines most widely used herb is garlic. Without this herb, any growing Italian herbs is incomplete. Garlic cloves are very low maintenance and easy to grow in practically any garden. This herb can be stored after harvesting for using later by either freezing or pickling for storing in the fridge.
Another popular Italian herb is sage which can enhance many dishes from salads to meats. New shoots provide the greatest flavor of this plant so it is important to keep them trim so that they don’t become too woody. This will also encourage more new shoots to grow. Once the plant blooms it is time for harvesting the sage.
Even though a number of other herbs can be planted your garden of Italian herbs, proper planning and consideration of the herbs that you will need is important to maximize your enjoyment. You’ll want to learn about the proper growing environment for the herb plants you want and consider if you can create such a situation. Flavorful, Italian herbs will bring tasteful delights to your dining but they also add more value than that alone. Herbs also create wonderful embellishments to your home scenery by adding delightful colors and pleasing aromas. Italian herbs grown alongside your other plants will grace you with pleasant aromas directly from Italy. You’ll feel like your taking a leisurely walk through an Italian vista.
