Slugs and Salal: Herbs

HERBS

Greedy Group

A third group of herbs are leafy plants needing a moist, humus-rich soil for abundant foliage production. Among these are cilantro, dill, chives, parsley, and sorrel.

Cilantro is a very pretty annual with finely divided, lacy leaves and small, flat heads of white to pale mauve flowers. Sow the seeds after danger of frost is past.

Cilantro (coriander, Chinese parsley) greens are used in Chinese and Mexican cuisine, in vegetable stir-fries and soups, tomato salads and salsas. Start using the leaves when the plants are 15 cm (six inches) high. Cut away the flower stems if you want more foliage, and do not want the seeds. Or make a second sowing early in the summer.

The round, tan seeds are the coriander used to add a sweet, spicy flavor and scent to baking and curries. It's a wonderful gingerbread herb. To gather the seeds, cut the stems when the seed pods are dry and upend them in a paper bag hung in a warm place. Start seeds in August for young plants to bring into the house in autumn.

Italian parsley grows well in pots and looks good on a patio or deck with flowering plants or other herbs.

Groups of dill plants make a fine feathery accent in a garden. Sow the seeds outdoors in April or May. Dill will grow 60 to 90 cm (24 to 36 inches) tall with bluish-green stems, ferny foliage and broad, flat yellow flower heads followed by pungent oval seeds. Dill flowers attract and feed beneficial insect predators of garden pests.

Use the fresh foliage at its best, while the plants are young prior to flowering, to flavour cucumber dishes, sour cream, and cream sauces for fish and vegetables. Sprinkle minced dill on lamb chops, new potatoes and green peas. Use the stalks, foliage, flowerheads or seed in pickles and to flavour vinegar. Start seeds in August for indoor plants.

Chives are highly ornamental perennial plants with hollow, delicately onion-flavoured foliage and rosy ball-shaped flowers in spring. The clumps grow 25 cm (10 inches) tall, and will take up about a 30-cm (12-inch) space each. Dig and divide the clumps every three years, early in the spring, to renew the plants and relieve overcrowding. For fresh chives in winter, pot a piece of a clump and leave it in the garden to catch a few frosts before bringing the pot indoors.

To ensure a continuous supply of replacement leaves, cut away small portions of the plant as needed, making the cuts close to the ground. Remove the flowerstems, and dry them for everlasting arrangements or use the blossoms to make a pretty pink vinegar. Use chopped fresh chives in egg dishes, mashed or baked potatoes, green and potato salads, and sandwiches. Sprinkle the flowers on salads.

Garlic chives bears flat leaves with a mild and delicious chive-garlic taste, and either white or mauve flowers.

Ordinary curly parsley plants grow 25 cm (10 inches) tall, and are undaunted by a little shade in summer. Buy started plants, or refrigerate the seeds for one week and then soak them for 24 hours before seeding. For indoor winter plants, start the seeds in a cool place in summer.

To keep up production of tender leaves, cut out any flowerstems that develop. To preserve the foliage, freeze it or make parsley ice cubes as with basil. Rich in vitamins A and C and in iron, parsley adds depth of colour and nutrition to salads. Flat-leaved Italian parsley is more nutritious than the more commonly grown curly parsley. Blend the chopped leaves into butter, and use parsley in clam sphagetti sauce and in sauces for fish.

Sorrel grows 45 cm (18 inches) tall, taller if allowed to flower, forming a lush clump of thickish, arrow-shaped leaves with a mildly acidic, pleasant lemony flavor. Give each plant a 45-cm (18-inch) space. This perennial herb is easily grown from seed sown outdoors early in the spring. Replace the plants with a new seedling every three years. Cut away flowerstems to encourage the growth of new tender leaves.

Chop young sorrel leaves into salads and omelettes, and onto scrambled eggs and bowls of soup. Sorrel soup is a French specialty. Cheese and sorrel leaves together make an elegant sandwich. For a green sauce to go with cold meat, mash sorrel leaves with a little vinegar and add a spoonful of sugar.