Herbs In Containers - Five Herbs To Consider

Growing herbs in containers is an excellent way of saving space. They are transportable so can be brought inside for winter and easily maintained. You will also have much more control over their growth and boundaries. Container herbs are available for use for cooking if they are situated close to your kitchen door. Not all herbs take to containers, but many will absolutely thrive. Some herbs, like mint, it actually make more sense to use them.

The best herbs to use are probably the one you use most often so I have taken five different herbs that would be ideal in containers.

• Thyme just loves a container environment and will absolutely when planted in one. It needs hardly any watering and a very small amount of maintenance.

• Sage needs to be pinched and cut to keep it from turning woody too soon and replanted after 3-4 years as the quantity and quality of the leaves will not be as good.

• Rosemary doesn't like too much water and occasionally likes to 'dry out' a little, again ideal when in a container controlled environment. I personally have been growing rosemary successfully in containers for years.

• Mint needs its growth to be controlled so this is the biggest advantage for growing mint in containers. It can be used more often if it is handy. It has to be the first choice for container systems.

• Basil likes lots of water to feed its stems and tender leaves, but can be infected with mildew it too much is given. In a container, you can avoid mildew by giving it an airy position.

There are many other herbs you can grow in containers, in fact some people I know love this way of gardening and have all their herbs in containers. I can clearly see the appeal, but I still like to see a mix of 'free range herbs' in borders and on the main vegetable growing areas.

Growing herb in containers is ideal for kids to start off their lifetime of gardening. Being so manageable is it a great way to educate and on top of this, the containers can be decorated to the children’s own personal design including giving the plant a name, like ‘Sammy the Sage’ or ‘Mandy the Mint’. What a fantastic pastime you will be giving them.

Whatever methods you use to grow herbs, they will benefit your health, your environment and your cooking efforts with fresh and home dried herbs all year round.

Herb Pillows and Cushions - A Good Idea

Somehow these have gone out of fashion recently, many people not so long ago used them. As well as the aromatherapy they were a very pretty piece of furnishing with fancy designs knitted or crochet work on the material. There are many herb mixtures used to fill pillows such as geranium, rosemary, lavender, rose and lemon balm. The main reason for these pillows and cushions aside from their decorative attraction is their sweet aroma claims by thousands to relieve their insomnia.

There are many herb pillow that you can buy and I have given just one here, but you can make your own by just placing some fragrant herbs in a sachet within the leaves of an ordinary pillow. It has just the same effect at a fraction of the cost with dried herbs that have been grown in your own garden.

You may want to visit a few websites including this one given, not to buy, but just get some ideas of the types of mixes you can make up at home yourself.

Can I remind readers that I am not an affiliate to any firm, company or third party website on this post.

Herb Cushions and Pillows from Silvermoon Herbal Cushions to help you Relax & Sleep Aromo-Pillows with Aromatherapy Oils, to help promote deep and refreshing sleep. from Silvermoon. With oils and herbs of Lavender, Geranium, Petitgrain and Rose. Aromo-pillows have a gorgeous soothing smell! place on your bed, or under the pillow (except for very young children) for maximum effect. otherwise place anywhere in the bedroom. Makes a lovely and caring gift. Small Herbal cushion With a pink background and colourful cats owls & boats very unusual! Approx cushion size is:- 7.5 inches square. Pillow is infused with Aromatherapy oils of Lavender, Geranium, Ylang-Ylang and Rose With Lavender buds and Rose buds. A lovely gift for anyone who has difficulty relaxing! Small Herbal cushion With a gold background gold highlights with beautiful red & gold Angels Approx cushion size is:- 7.5 inches square. toning back of cushion as shown. clipped from www.madeinmoray.co.uk

A Beautiful Beef and Herb Recipe

The flavours that some herbs give combined with other foods just are beyond description sometimes, especially is they are fresh and grown away from commercial enterprises. This recipe was taught to me from my father who was a professional Cordon Bleu Chef in one of the top London Hotels. He used to grow all his own herbs in our London garden and use those in his home cooking. These were memorable moments being brought up on these flavours, which I can still taste now. He used to get the meat from Smithfield market at 4:00 in the morning before London had woken up.

Roasted beef fillet is one of the legends of the meat genre; it needs a little bit of fat on, as it isn’t natural for beef without fat. Unfortunately many food chain companies demand all the fat cut off, if this is the case and your only source of beef get some bacon fat to use with it instead.

This is a very simple recipe that only takes forty minutes from start to finish and the combination of the meat and herbs is something else.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg fillet of beef with fat or bacon fat
• Fresh rosemary
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh oregano
• Fresh parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
• Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Turn the oven on and preheat to 220 Celsius. Once the string of the fillet has been untied stuff the rosemary, thyme, and oregano through and under the fat making sure it is pushed all the way around. The string can then be retied to seal the stuffing firmly in the package.

Using a sharp knife, pierce slits into the fat through to the flesh of the meat and place the slices of garlic in the cuts made. The salt and pepper can now be added to finish the dish for taste.

With the fat side up, put the meat parcel into a foil covered shallow roasting tray (I always use a foil to base trays to save on washing up!) It should just big enough to encompass the meat mass.

All it needs is an initial 10 minutes baking then turn the heat down to 175 Celsius and bake for a further 20 minutes for a rare finish or 30 minutes or longer for a medium finish. This dish shouldn’t be baked beyond this time otherwise it will turn tough.

Let the dish stand 15 minutes once out of the oven then slice. Discard the herbs and string and serve hot garnished with the fresh parsley. It can also be cooled to room temperature and then be put in the fridge for servings later on or the next day.

It should be enough to serve for up to 6 people.

Note:
Ideal in sandwiches by the way!

Canadian Rosemary and Cheese Muffin Treats in Bulgaria

It was such a delight that even here in Bulgaria you can recreate a recipe that originated in Canada. We had some Canadian friends over and they took charge of the cooking. one evening The highlight of that Canadian food festival in Bulgaria was a herb based recipe that exceeded all expectations. Muffins with Rosemary and Goat's Cheese! Goat's cheese here in Bulgaria is called sirene.

They gave me the recipe and I have laid it out here for everyone to share.

The combination of rosemary, rasins goat cheese blend in to make a taste uniques and very special. These muffins were served alongside wild game this time round, but can be just as good with lamb, or pork dishes or even with salad.

Take note and enjoy this rosemary based herb dish.

Rosemary and Cheese Muffins Recipe

Serves 12

Ingredients:

¾ cups Fresh full fat milk
¾ cups White raisins
1 tbsp Freshly chopped rosemary
¼ cups Unsalted butter
1½ cups Sieved White Plain flour
½ cups Sugar
2 tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Salt
1 Large Egg
8 tbsp Goat's cheese (Bulgarian sirene cheese)

Method:

Place the milk in a saucepan and warm a very low heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Remove from the heat an let stand for around thirty minutes until cooled down.

Mix the raisins, rosemary, sugar, flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Take the egg and whisk into the cooled milk/butter mixture. Add the ingredients from the bowl and mix lightly just until everything is moist. Taking 12 greased muffin cups, ladel one third of the batter into them. Then put 2 teaspoons of goat cheee in centre of batter in each respective cup. Top the cups, covering the cheese with with remaining batter equally. Bake for around 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 350F or to the point of the muffins having turned brown with a spring in the centre.

Notes:
You can serve these muffins hot or cold or cream cheese may be substituted for goat cheese. Even without any cheese at all these lovely Candian folk tell me that these muffins remain a superb treat! I don't doubt it.

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Rosemary Discovered

Rosemary is one of the most well-known herbs. It comes from the Latin text 'ros-marinus' which means 'dew of the sea'. Less know is the fact that Rosemary extract has a long and continued history of medicinal uses too. It treats a wide range of ailments, including stomach upsets, digestive disorders and headaches. More research recently has revealed even more benefits to health and well being.

Rosemary grows as a small bush to a height of up to 150cm, It has straight narrow branches with dark green leaves and small mauve flowers. The scent is reminiscent of pine and presents a pungent flavour.

Fresh and dried rosemary leaves are one of the most popular seasoning for food. it is used extensively to add flavour to soups, stews, meat and fish. Probably the most favourite foods in which rosemary is added to is lamb, namely Lamb Cooked with Rosemary.

Other facts and stories associated with Rosemary are quite interesting:

It has been said that the Virgin Mary spread her cloak over a white flowered bush, which then turned blue and since then the bush has been called the Rose of Mary.

Rosemary was introduced into Britain by Romans

It acts as a moth Moth repellent and can be put in wardrobes and cloth filled draws to ward moths off.

It attracts bees with rosemary based honey that is produced from it is very much a prized variety.

In times gone by rosemary was symbol of friendship and love a wreath of rosemary was worn by brides as a sign of love and loyalty
Going back further rosemary was once used in religious ceremonies to ward of evil spirits

The ancient Greeks believed it improved memory and Greek students used to wear a wreath while sitting examinations

The health benefits take on another chapter as rosemary is an antiseptic and used externally to heal wounds and mouth infections and to preserve teeth. Also, it is know as an effective cough cure and aid to soothing bruises, falls and sprains.

A traditional use of rosemary is as a cosmetic with research now confirming its skin-protective benefits. Rosemary extract helps protect the individual components of skin cells, which prevent age-related skin damage such as wrinkles

Right to today, the versatile rosemary is being discovered as a aid to breast cancer with the properties it holds and remains not just one of the most popular herbs but one of the most important.

Finally you will find that rosemary is quite an expensive product to buy so why not try growing is yourself. It's easily grown from from seeds or cuttings. It just likes to be cultivated in a well drained sandy based soil with lots of sunshine. The only maintenance is being pruned each autumn and the pruned cuttings can be dried by hanging in bunches is a covered area then used for food and medicine. It's as simple as that!

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Herbs and Feet

Herbs and feet, there doesn't seem to be a link there but there is.

Feet are something that we overlook (forgive the pun). The only time we really think about them is if they are giving you some problems or pain. The advice here is take more care of your feet there is much more to your feet other than walking and kicking. They have properties that affect your health and need care and attention.

After a hard day at work you should try and take time out to tend to those over worked feet. Lye down and raise your feet so that they are slightly higher than you head level. Lying on a sofa with your feet on the armrest is a good example.

After this give them a massage with some body or hand cream, this will relieve stiffness and using these creams is just as good as specialist creams but cheaper.

Herbal foot baths are an excellent way of revitalising your feet. They are a cheap way of relaxing and getting rid of that tired feeling. This also has therapeutic benefits for catarrh, colds, headaches, neuralgia and toothache. Good eh! Now are you beginning to see the link between feet and herbs?

The good thing about a herb foot bath is that is it as refreshing as taking a bath but look at the time, water and energy you save by doing so and you can write blogs whilst you feet are in there.

There is a home made herbal foot bath recipe you can make which is very popular to those who know about it. More will know about it now of course.

Fresh Rosemary, Mint or Lavender Foot Bath

You can use any one of these herbs or any mixture, the soothing affect and relaxation achieved from it will be remembered for a long time. Fresh herbs are prefered but dried can be used as a substitute.

For every two litres of boiled water use a handful of fresh herbs or a table spoon of the dried herbs. Leave in the water for at least 10-15 minutes. Then strain into your foot bath or bowl. 20 minutes of soaking your feet should be enough time to get the full benefit.

Use a soft towel to dry your feet and rub in some talcum powder to finish the drying process. The used water can then be recycled to water your pot plants or used in the garden.

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