9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

Create a fragrant and flavorful herb garden with our list of nine easy-to-grow herbs, perfect for any home garden. Get all the health benefits from homegrown produce today!

Growing your own herbs can be an easy and enjoyable way to have fresh, healthy ingredients for your cooking and also provide a great source of health benefits. From parsley to rosemary, find out which 9 herbs are the most useful to plant in your home garden.

Stevia Herb Plant

 Sweet herb (Stevia rebaudiana), also known as honey herb, is used as a traditional sweetener in South America. The leaves are dried and are 15 times sweeter than sugar. The sweet herb is calorie-free and suitable for diabetics. The sweet herb tastes particularly delicious as a sugar substitute in tea.

Stevia Rebaudiana: For centuries, stevia has been used by the people of South America in the preparation of food and drink and as a medicinal plant. It was not until 1887 that Moisés Bertoni, a naturalist, discovered the plant and thus made this knowledge available to the rest of the world. Today it is processed into a healthy sweetener in many countries around the world. It contains neither calories nor sugar, regulates blood sugar levels, and is said to lower blood pressure.

Usage: South Americans only use 4-5 leaves to sweeten a pot of tea. Sometimes a very sweet tea is prepared exclusively from the leaves of stevia. South Americans also use this very sweet liquid for cooking and baking. Since December 2011, steviol glycosides from stevia have been officially approved for sweetening food.

Care: It is a perennial plant, but not hardy. It can spend the summer outside but needs to be brought inside before the first frost. The sweet herb should be harvested or cut back at least every 3 weeks. Not only pluck off the leaves but also pinch off the entire shoot or the tips of the shoots. The plant branches out again and again and stays nice and compact in growth.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

2. Olive Herb Plant

The organic olive herb (Santolina Viridis) has both a high ornamental value and a particularly aromatic taste. This plant can be found in many table decorations as well as in a dish of Mediterranean cuisine. The olive herb goes well with pestos or salad marinades.

Sant Olina Virdis: The olive herb was a proven medicinal herb even in antiquity and in the Middle Ages. It is still used today in folk medicine. Especially in Mediterranean cuisine, the olive herb is very popular with its fresh and olive-like taste. The smell of fresh olive herb leaves is not only reminiscent of aromatic olives, but also the taste of other Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary and savory.

Use: The green, soft leaves are added to dishes as whole needle leaves or chopped up. Olive herb goes well with salad marinades for leaf salads and with tomatoes. Everyone who already knows it loves it as a herb, preferably with Mediterranean pasta dishes and homemade pesto. It tastes good in spicy fish and meat dishes, in sauces, and with cheese – in short, with everything that olives are eaten with.

Care: Olive herb is perennial and hardy. The plant is very easy to care for and needs a sunny location. Work some fertilizer granules into the soil every 2 months.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

3. Moroccan Mint Tea Plant

Organic Moroccan mint tea (Mentha spicata) is one of the most popular types of tea for the traditional North African mint tea. It grows compactly upright and blooms in a light lilac-purple hue from July to September. The Moroccan tea mint prefers a sunny to a half-shady location with well-drained, humus-rich, and nutrient-rich soil.

Mentha spicata: Moroccan mint tea, also known as nana mint, is part of the Moroccan national drink together with green tea, hot water, and lots of sugar. This is due to the fact that the people of Morocco had a great need for energy, which does not grow much in areas where not much, such as. B. in the desert, was often covered in the form of this heavily sweetened tea. Moroccan mint tea is affectionately known as “Whisky Maroc” by the Berbers because the color is reminiscent of whisky.

Use: Moroccan mint tea has a particularly nice aroma and is one of the most popular mints for preparing teas. But it is also particularly suitable for decorating food and drinks. Moroccan tea mint has a mild menthol scent. Therefore, the leaves are ideal for scented bowls or herbal pillows.

Care: The Moroccan mint tea thrives anywhere, but prefers a partially shaded location. It grows on normal garden soil, but it should not be too dry and should be sufficiently fertilized. Protect the plant from frost before winter, as it is only partially hardy. With a cover of fir branches and leaves, however, most plants survive the winter well.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

4. Cinnamon Plant

The cinnamon plant (Elettaria cardamomum) forms leaves with a strong cinnamon aroma. These are used for teas and Indian rice dishes. The intense cinnamon scent creates a pleasant atmosphere in the room.

Elettaria Cardamomum: Cinnamon Flavor is a cinnamon-scented cardamom. Wonderfully aromatic tea can be made from the leaves of the Blu cinnamon aroma – at any time of the year. The cardamom spice that we know well is made from ground seeds and is mainly used in Christmas cookies and mulled wine. With Arabic mocha, cardamom is mixed into the coffee powder.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

Use: For seasoning Asian dishes, the leaves are cooked whole or cut into small pieces. By kneading and crushing individual leaves, the scent of cinnamon can spread wonderfully throughout the room.

Care: A warm and bright spot in the room is ideal. If the plant is placed outside in summer, it first has to get used to the UV radiation in the shade for 2 to 3 weeks. Otherwise, there is an unsightly sunburn on the leaves. Cinnamon aroma is a very easy-care plant and, in extreme cases, can even be overwintered at 5 °C.

5. Lemon Thyme Plant

Lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus) is characterized by a refreshing lemon aroma. It blooms in small pink flowers from June to July. A sunny location and permeable, loose, sandy soil create optimal conditions for growth. Delicious salads or dressings can be perfectly complemented with lemon thyme.

Thymus citriodorus: Lemon thyme has just as small and similarly arranged leaves as ordinary thyme and therefore hardly differs from the outside. Incidentally, lemon thyme bears its name for a good reason: it is characterized by the fresh scent of lemon. It is ideal for planting in rock gardens, borders, balconies, and planters. Lemon thyme tea can work wonders for coughs and colds.

Use: Like the spice thyme, lemon thyme also has a healing effect. For example, it is antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory and relieves coughs and asthma. Lemon thyme is also an excellent herb and, due to its lemony note, is well suited for making broth for fish and poultry dishes and for refining jellies.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

Care: Lemon Thyme likes a sunny but dry location. The soil should be well drained and contain mineral components such as sand or fine gravel. Thyme does not tolerate waterlogging. After flowering, the plant can be cut back. Unfortunately, lemon thyme is only partially hardy. He needs winter protection from fir branches or similar. or maybe overwintered in a light, cool spot indoors below 10°C.

6. Marzipan Sage

The marzipan sage “Nazareth” (Salvia officinalis) smells wonderfully of marzipan and is very decorative thanks to its silvery, very hairy foliage. It has a very intense, resinous aroma and is therefore often used for hearty dishes. For example with pasta and meat dishes, for smoking, or as a room fragrance.

Salvia Officinalis “Nazareth”: This sage smells wonderfully of marzipan. Almonds, sugar, and rose water – are the main ingredients of marzipan, which comes from the Orient. It is said that the harem ladies were particularly fond of this treat.

With the Arabs, marzipan then came to Europe via Spain. For a long time, marzipan was only reserved for kings and nobles because its ingredients were far too expensive. At the beginning of modern times, marzipan was even sold in pharmacies. It is stimulating and awakens natural desires.

Use: Despite the rather sweet name, it is also used for hearty dishes with its resinous aroma. In the kitchen, you can use it e.g. B. to season meat dishes, pasta, and vegetable dishes. Basically similar to any other sage. For example, the leaves, lightly fried in a pan, taste very good with pasta dishes. Also ideal to use as a scented perennial and tea plant.

Care: Marzipan sage grows bushy, about 50 cm high, and has blue-violet flowers from July. It is only conditionally hardy, frost protection from branches and leaves is absolutely necessary. It is better to hibernate in a bright place at around 10 °C. It prefers a sunny to full sun spot, and normal, well-drained garden soil. Waterlogging should be avoided at all costs.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

7. Greek Basil

The Greek basil (Ocimum basilicum var. minimum) is a particularly compact and bushy basil with much smaller leaves than the usual basil varieties and has a beautiful spherical habit. It goes well with fresh salads and also with pasta and vegetable dishes.

The leaves should not be cut into small pieces, but only torn by hand, otherwise, the aroma will be lost. The herb must not be cooked. It is added to the food shortly before serving, as fresh as possible.

Use: Greek basil can be used fresh or dried. Greek basil goes very well with fresh salads as well as with pasta dishes and vegetables. It is used as a special flavor in sorbets and fruit salads. Greek basil is also often used in pestos and pizzas.

Care: Greek basil is an annual and prefers light, loose, fresh soil and a warm, sheltered, and sunny location. Greek basil thrives particularly well in pots or tubs. Greek basil needs a lot of warmth and light, temperatures of at least 10 °C – 15 °C and warmer are required. Waterlogging should be avoided.

8. Maca Plant

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) comes from the Peruvian Andes. Many health-promoting effects are attributed to it. The leaves and roots contain hormone-like substances that on the one hand promote blood circulation in the pelvic area and on the other hand influence the formation of testosterone and estrogen. When ground, they can be used as an additional flavor carrier in the kitchen.

Lepidium peruvianum: The Maca plant comes from the Peruvian Andes and contains a high proportion of proteins, vitamins, phosphorus, and iron. She made a name for herself as “Andean ginseng” with a higher potency-enhancing effect than ginseng.

Maca has been used as a natural stimulant for both men and women for over 3,000 years. The leaves and roots contain hormone-like substances that promote blood circulation in the pelvic area on the one hand and influence the formation of testosterone and estrogen on the other.

Use: The leaves are valued as a vegetable or salad supplement because they have an intense cress aroma. But they also taste particularly good in herb quark or with cream cheese on bread. The tubers can either be eaten fresh or preserved by drying and grinding into a powder.

Care: Pleasure Maca is an undemanding and hardy plant. However, it needs protection from fir branches or similar in winter. Maca needs a normally humid location. Water if necessary. When planting in pots or tubs, use good bed and balcony plant soil.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden

9. Wasabi Rucola Plant

The wasabi rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides) belongs, like the rocket, to the rocket and therefore has similar growth characteristics and is similarly undemanding. However, it has an unusually pungent, wasabi-like flavor compared to regular arugula. The wasabi rocket is used in Asian cuisine or as a spicy leaf in a salad.

Diplotaxis Erucoids: Wasabi rocket is very similar to rocket in terms of growth characteristics and care requirements. However, it convinces with an unusually sharp taste of wasabi or horseradish. The leaves trigger a real “wow effect” on the tongue.

They look harmless, but they pack a nice surprise for the palate. Wasabi arugula contains essential oils, and mustard oils, which combine with the oral fluid to create a pungent taste. The high mustard oil content also has an antibacterial effect.

Use: A “must” in Asian cuisine, such as in the popular Asian salads. The leaves are tender and not woody. They are ideal as a “hot note” in fresh salads and stimulate digestion with fatty foods such as e.g. B. Grilled meat. Also very tasty as a side dish in sandwiches or rolls and cut into small pieces in scrambled eggs. Quark or cream cheese seasoned with wasabi rocket is a popular spread.

Care: Wasabi rocket produces seeds independently, which fall to the ground in October and from which new plants will grow again in the following spring. The flowers are formed in August. Male and female organs are in one flower and are thus easily pollinated by insects.

9 Useful Herbs for Every Home Garden