Photograph by Alison Russell
If you are an herb geek, you have been sleepless this week. That’s because there are two gigantic (the most gigantic!) yearly herb sales coming up this weekend. The St. Louis Herb Society organizes Herb Days at the Missouri Botanical Garden (4344 Shaw); that kicks off today for members, and runs through Sunday. The Webster Groves Herb Society’s Festival of Herbs sale (held at First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, 10 West Lockwood), occurs on Saturday from 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m., though the line starts forming outside the church before the sun comes up.
Both organizations have posted plant lists (WGHS's is online; STLHS' is a PDF, downloadable at this page), so you can make a shopping list before you go. If you're not sure what to buy, here's a list of good, general purpose herbs that aren't too tough to grow. Warning: I didn’t include cilantro, because it tastes like soap to some people. I also left mint off the list, because it can be invasive if it's not managed. I personally like to keep a place on my list for a wild card plant I’ve never grown, like curry (though read the little plastic spear in the dirt to make sure you have the right conditions to grow the plant in your yard). The Webster Groves sale is also a great source for heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and Swiss chard.
Basil: If you grow it in a pot, know that it has deeeeeep roots, and needs it space; it also needs lots of water, and mulch to keep its roots cool. Both sales have a huge variety of basils, including chocolate, African blue, Cuban, Lettuce Leaf, Purple Ruffle, Amethyst, Christmas, Lime and Aussie Purple.
Parsley: This is a biennial, but often reseeds itself. Its ruffly leaves make it one of the prettiest non-flowering herbs. It’s also versatile, and can be used both medicinally and in cooking.
Rosemary: This is just my personal experience, but I find that unless I buy a plant that’s closer to a little tree (versus a sprout) it dies. It’s a perennial, though, so if your plant makes it through the winter it will be a permanent fixture in your garden for as long as you allow it to stay there. I love this herb partly because I just like the smell of it out in the garden, but it’s a great culinary herb as well. Great for infused vinegars (see below).
Chamomile: I’ve had mixed luck with this guy, but the flowers and the foliage are very dainty and add nice visual interest. I also love chamomile tea, and once you’ve brewed your own from plants grown in your backyard, you will never be able to go back to the dusty, dead-tasting grocery store stuff every again.
Sage: In my experience, easy to grow, aromatic, great for cooking (though a little bit goes a long way). It is also nice to look at. My favorites from the past few years have included common sage, and pineapple sage, which has bright red-orange flowers. Some people like tri-color sage just for ornamental purposes.
Chives: If you like the taste of chives, you won’t be shocked to know that it is just a tiny little onion. They are perennials, and if you let them go to seed, blossom with tiny cloverish flowers. They are good on potatoes, and have insect-repelling properties, too.
Tarragon: This is one of the French fines herbes, and it comes with a slight word of caution. It is in the artemesia family, which can get a little invasive (especially, I’ve found, Sweet Annie) but the French variety, which is a little more delicate than the Russian type, isn’t so much. It’s also more flavorful, which is another reason to choose it over the Russian variety.
Yarrow: A drought-resistant perennial that’s very popular with bees and other pollinators. Traditionally, it’s been used as both food and medicine, but today most gardeners grow it as an ornamental.
Lavender: Aromatic, medicinal and culinary and very lovely to look at, what’s not to like about this herb? Other than it can be challenging to grow in Missouri. It needs lots of sun, room to roam—and well-drained soil, which is tricky in St. Louis, where the soil is mostly clay. If you’re growing it for culinary or medicinal purposes though (especially if you are in the city) you will probably want to grow it in a raised bed anyhow.
Roses: The Herb Society of America named roses as the 2012 herb of the year, not so confusing if you consider that the basic definition of an herb is “a useful plant.” They’ve posted this great recipe for rose-petal infused vinegar here. If you had any doubts about roses being herbs: they are full of vitamin C.
While we are on the subject of infusions, let’s end this list and digress a little bit. Because vinegar is acidic, it is generally safe to use with fresh herbs. Olive oil is trickier, because if there is any trace of moisture in the herbs, it can breed botulism. This site has advice on how to safely make your own herbally infused oil.
Even safer than vinegar, of course, are naturally bacteria-resistant spirits, with vodka being the easiest to work with due to its clean taste. Here’s a nice introduction to making herbal liqueurs.
Vom Fass (7314 Manchester, 314-932-5262, vomfassusa.com), means “from the cask.” It’s a German company that specializes in high-end European organic oils, vinegars and spirits dispensed from the cask. They sell bottles, too.
Another great source for infusion bottles is American Science & Surplus (sciplus.com). They also carry really affordable mortar and pestle sets, a must for any serious herb gardener. Because it’s surplus, there is never any way to predict what they are going to carry, but if you’re not put off by using labware as dishware, they will always have options for you.
As far as sachet bags, I don’t know a great local source for those…but of course, you can find life, the universe and everything—including muslin bags—on Etsy.
