Planting spices out of season
Drying tarragon: stage 1
As commented in my previous post, I’ve been preparing some herbs for drying: tarragon and savory, both grown in my home garden. If I just remember last year’s crop, when I grew enough herbs to cook throughout the winter and even early spring, this year’s humble number of pots in the balcony of Ljubljana just can’t compare. I hardly had enough basil to make pesto genovese 4 or 5 times during the summer. I planted parsley twice, but both times it was devastated by little friends called Erysiphe umbelliferarum.
The rest of spices I had in the balcony (lemon balm, dill and lavender) were invaded and eaten by insects and other pests. Even the chili plant. I had to throw it away today in the morning and it made me so sad. Only the pot of rosemary is still doing fine, actually it looks better then ever.
A few weeks ago, I decided to give the herbs another try. This time I went for the safer way: I placed the pots on the window shelf inside the flat. Luckily, the window faces sout-west, which is an ideal location for plants. At least in the first few weeks of growth, they will need as much direct sunlight as possible.
I planted 7 new pots of: coriander, basil ruby, marjoram, thyme, parsley and anise.
Coriander, also known as cilantro. It grows very fast, its leaves ressemble parsley.
They say there are 2 groups of people: those that adore coriander and those that hate it. On which side are you?
Basil “Ruby”. I couldn’t find the common one, Mediterranean basil, so I bought the seeds of ruby one and I’m very curious how is going to come out. It already smells wonderfully.
Marjoram or origanum majorana is a close relative of origanum vulgare or oregano, one of the most popular Mediterranean spices. It has a strong and rather bitter flavour, which makes it a perfect companion to heavy meat dishes.
Thyme takes much more time to grow if I compare it to the rest of spices. It’s strongly aromatic but it’s not so easy to grow it in a pot. It makes a part of bouquet garni as well as of herbes de Provence. I mostly add it to mushroom dishes, it goes especially well with “champiñones”.
Parsley attempt No. 3: I hope this time I’m lucky
