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Sage — a kitchen gardener’s dream plant

Sage — a kitchen gardener’s dream plant...

Sage is a powerful antioxidant and antibacterial, so its culinary use probably started out more as a preservative than a flavouring. Sage is a member of the mint family and there are over 750 different varieties of sage scattered across our planet. The sage varieties used as culinary herbs stem from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor and Sage has been grown in Central Europe since the Middle Ages. Sage is a woody, hardy...
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Useful and easy to grow Oregano

Useful and easy to grow Oregano...

Oregano is one of the easiest, most versatile and most useful herbs in the garden. Oregano is such a great herb for the garden. Its attractive, grows like crazy, smells great, and tastes great! If oregano is left to bloom its flowers attract many pollinators. Could you really ask for more? A member of the mint family, oregano is commonly used in Italian dishes and is a component of chilli powder. Oregano originates...
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Growing Parsley

Growing Parsley...

Parsley plants do well in sun or partial shade, and prefer a rich, moist soil. Parsley deserves recognition for more than its role as a garnish. It is rich in vitamins, a good source of iron, and freshens your breath, as well. Common parsley, Petroselinium crispum, a member of the carrot family (Apiaceae), is well known for its use as a garnish or as a flavouring in many dishes and salads. The curly varieties...
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Mint — refreshing and flavourful

Mint — refreshing and flavourful...

The mint family offers a delicious variety of refreshing scents and flavours. Plant a patch of mint and add refreshing fragrance to your garden. Undemanding and easy to grow, mint boasts a hearty constitution, often growing where other plants fail. Versatile in the kitchen, use mint fresh or dried to season culinary creations from soups, to beverages, to vegetables, to meats, to desserts. The mint family offers a...
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Growing Herbs — an introduction

Growing Herbs — an introduction...

All over the world people grow herbs — in vegetable and perennials gardens, in containers, or on windowsills. And with good reason! Herbs are perhaps the most useful plants. They add flavour to our foods, and provide us with cures when used in medicines. Herbs are also attractive and add colour, interesting textures and forms, and rich or subtle fragrances to the home and garden. One frequently asked question — what...
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Rewarding Basil

Rewarding Basil...

Basil has a wide distribution, occurring in tropical Asia, Africa and the Pacific islands. Basil is an annual with an upright branching habit of growth and glossy, toothed oblong leave, it grows to a height of 30-45cm with the same spread. Basil germinates easily from seeds and these can be sown in trays in August and kept protected until all danger of frost is past. Once the seedlings reach the four‑leaf stage they...
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The much-loved Nasturtium

The much-loved Nasturtium...

Nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) are loved for their rich jewel-like colours. Although generally thought of as annuals, most varieties can be grown year-round in warmer areas. One of the easiest of all annuals, nasturtiums do best in poor soil. If given rich soil, especially soil with high nitrogen content, they produce plenty of leaves, but few flowers. Sow seeds in direct sun or very light shade. Traditionally grown...
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