Sage Salt

Sage is thriving in the garden, but what to do with this pungent herb?  Although it is a beautiful, ornamental plant, sage is not an herb we often use in the kitchen.  Sage salt may change that forever.  We've already seasoned cauliflower and Cosse Violette beans with sage salt (recipes coming soon), both times with excellent results.  The salt keeps well, so feel free to scale up this recipe.

Sage Salt

1/4     cup    olive oil
1/4     cup    sage leaves, loosely packed
1        Tbs    coarse sea salt such as Maldon's

1. Heat oil in a small pan over medium high until hot but not smoking.  Add sage and fry, stirring, until crispy (about 2 minutes).
2. Remove from heat to paper towels to dry.
3. When cool, crumble into a ramekin or small bowl.  Toss with salt.  Store in air-tight container.
   

Growing Herbs

Herbs are a necessity in any vegetable garden, and we are fortunate that most herbs grow well almost year-round in Houston.  They are rarely bothered by pests.  Just give them a sunny spot in the garden with fertile soil and then ignore them.   This is particularly true of rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage, which love the heat and don't like to be watered too often.  Basil and Italian parsley also thrive during the hot summer months, although they do appreciate some watering during dry spells.  Mint is actually too happy in the Houston garden --it can quickly become invasive and should only be grown in pots unless you want to spend the rest of your life trying to get rid of it. 

If you like Thai or Vietnamese cooking, lemongrass is also easy to grow here.  It loves the heat and doesn't need any care once established.  The plants are very pretty and highly aromatic.  Unfortunately, it is another plant that is quick to take over the garden.  It doesn't send out runners the way mint does, but it forms an ever-larger clump that eliminates everything in its path.  We had a clump that kept returning despite frequent attempts to dig it up, chop it down, and bury it under mulch.  We finally managed to eradicate the last of the lemongrass last year, and it is now restricted to a pot. 

Some herbs, such as cilantro and dill, don't survive the extreme heat we experience from June through August.  These should be planted in early spring and enjoyed until they die off during the hot summer months.  Start new plants once it starts to cool off in September. 

Herb plants are both utilitarian and visually appealing.  Rosemary provides structure, sage offers contrast with its gray-blue leaves, and bronze fennel adds both texture and color to the garden.  If your front yard includes a vegetable garden as ours does, herbs help transform the vegetable garden into a flower border.  You'll also find that your herbs are highly productive here, so you'll always have plenty of fresh, organic herbs to share with neighbors and friends.  We often make aromatic baskets with fresh picked vegetables and herbs to take when we visit family, or want to thank someone.  Without fail, the herbs are the first thing our recipients pick up.  They love to smell each bunch as they identify the herbs.  The vegetables, of which I'm always so proud, are often ignored until every herb has been examined.  So grow herbs and make your friends happy.

Basil cloning made easy

We have grown basil for years, mostly for its ornamental qualities. I particularly love the purple basils, and the butterflies and bees attracted to their flowers. This year, I decided to plant Genovese basil hoping to supply our restaurant with a constant supply of fresh, organic basil. We go through about three pounds of basil per week at the restaurant; most of it is used to make pesto, with the rest going into the soups we make from scratch each day. I bought eight plants at Buchanan's in March, and planted them in a sunny, fertile section of the garden. It quickly became apparent that I needed more plants, so I bought and planted 3 additional Genovese basil. These, too, are thriving, but I couldn't keep up with the restaurant's needs, so I purchased packets of basil seeds hoping to increase production without investing a bundle in additional plant purchases.

I have started Dark Opal Purple, Purple and Genovese (all organic seeds from Ferry Morse purchased at Home Depot) and Finissimo Verde A Palla from Territorial Seed. The basil seeds germinated well, but after a month they're still tiny seedlings. So I have also started propogating basil from cuttings. This couldn't be easier to do. Just cut off a young, healthy tip -- about 3" should do, making sure there are some leaves in the middle AND top of the cutting. Pull off all the leaves on the stem except for the smallest leaves on the tip (I usually keep 2 to 4 leaves), and just stick the stem in some soil. I use recycled 4" grower pots. Press firmly, and water well. No rooting hormones, no fertilizer required. Keep moist and shaded, and very quickly you'll have a new basil plant. These cloned plants grow quickly once their roots are established, and they are extremely vigorous and healthy.

You'll never need to buy more than one basil plant once you've mastered propogating. If you want to have more than one type of basil, purchase a starter plant for each variety. Let it get established, then start propogating. Monday I pinched off over three pounds of basil for our restaurant (the photo was taken soon after), and there is still plenty of basil for future harvests. I've read that pesto freezes well, so we may try to stretch the supply at the end of the season by freezing all our basil as pesto. In the mean time, we're using any extra basil for dinners at home. The seedlings started from seed are still quite small, but I'll post updates as they grow throughout the summer.