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Letter to the editor

Savoring herbs can be a snip away

It's the rare herb that flourishes indoors - unless your indoor collection springs from a less traditional source than seeds.

By John A. Starnes Jr., Special to the Times
Published October 6, 2007

Herb Day
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 13, Acupuncture & Herbal Therapies, 901 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Herb and food tastings, herb plants and products for sale, talks on herbs in cooking, skin care and medicinal uses; live music. Free admission. (727) 551-0857. acuherbals.com.

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So many of us have tried to grow herbs at home, but often all we harvest are lanky seedlings covered with spider mites. This is particularly true of those who try to grow herbs indoors, on a window sill. But during seven long winters in Denver, I developed a technique that works just as well here: Grow your herbs from roots and bulbs, not seeds.

Why? The Mediterranean origins of classic leafy herbs such as oregano, cilantro and thyme dictate that they want really strong sunlight. Very few windows even come close to being bright enough. But if we plant certain edible bulbs and roots, their stored energy reserves allow for a nice blast of vibrant, healthy herbal foliage to harvest right there in the kitchen.

Perhaps the easiest and most rewarding is to simply buy and plant a whole garlic bulb in a pot of soil and set it on your sunniest window sill. Keep the soil damp, and within two weeks you can begin snipping off the leaves to use as you would chives a close relative or fresh garlic cloves.

My friends swoon at the heady warm flavor and aroma of garlic leaves added to soups and omelets, salads and sandwiches, even as a raw nibble. Since the bulb will be exhausted by growing indoors, plant a new one each month in another pot.

A fun variation on this theme is to plant three to five shallots, or one ordinary onion, in a pot. Or set an onion atop a squat vase or jar of water and let it root directly. These garlic relatives will produce tasty leaves that also add color to a dish if added just as you turn off the heat. Children who have never gardened will find growing these edible bulbs a real confidence booster.

Parsley and carrots are closely related, so many gardeners and cooks use carrot tops in soups and salads for that classic parsley flavor and color. But parsley needs a full-sun garden to do well, and then only during the cooler winter months. So once a month, plant a fresh carrot in a tall pot, where it will quickly root and regrow its lush green canopy of flavorful foliage. Organically grown carrots may sprout a little faster, but regular carrots work fine. After about a month the carrot will shrivel and cease bearing new leaves, so start a new one monthly when you replant your garlic bulb.

Dual-purpose veggies

Annual fennel is a short-lived, tall-growing, full-sun outdoor winter crop here. Buy a fennel bulb at the grocery store, cut off the top half to use in cooking, and plant the base in a pot of soil. Most times it will root and begin sending up tender new leaves in just a few weeks.

This trick works with a bunch of celery too. Just buy one with a nicely intact base, from which the roots will emerge, cut off the stalks for use about 4 inches from the root zone, plant the base in a pot, keep the soil slightly damp and expect tender new leafy shoots to emerge from the center quite soon. Most of us discard the bottom of a celery bunch. Recycle it into fresh celery leaves that are wonderful in chicken soup and on mashed potatoes.

Ginger is vital to many Indian and Asian dishes, and we often buy a fresh ginger rhizome (root), peeled and minced, to cook with. But try planting one in a 2-gallon pot. It will become a lovely tropical perennial near a sunny window. Snip off new leaves with scissors and add to a hot entree just before serving.The heat will release that wonderful ambience and brighten the green hue. Mince the leaves raw into an Asian salad. For a pungent variation, plant a rhizome of "galangal ginger," sold fresh in Asian markets. Originating in India, galangal has a centuries-old following for its medicinal qualities and complex taste.

Treat yourself to some long overdue success with homegrown herbs by getting to the root of the problem.

John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com.

Herb Day

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 13, Acupuncture & Herbal Therapies, 901 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Herb and food tastings, herb plants and products for sale, talks on herbs in cooking, skin care and medicinal uses; live music. Free admission. (727) 551-0857. acuherbals.com

[Last modified October 4, 2007, 18:28:04]