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Time To Celebrate More Herbs, Less Salt Day!

Today I found out that August 29th is More Herbs, Less Salt Day. According to the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital this celebration of flavor started before 2018 (Jefferson.edu). I haven't been able to pinpoint an exact origin story, so if anyone has a lead please leave a comment down below!

Regardless, I adore herbs and will happily talk about my favorite herbs to cook with and grow.

I grow the vast majority of my family's culinary herbs partly for that stunning garden fresh taste and partly because herbs are so dang expensive in the stores. We cook a LOT at my house so it is always good to have pounds and pounds of plants on hand. An oregano plant will cost about $4-$6 at a nursery, a tiny bottle of dried oregano might run twice that high.

Dried Oregano

Quite a few herbs are perennials, they come back year after year. Once I plant a sprig of thyme that sucker is not going to stop no matter how many blizzards or droughts. Every year my thyme plants burst forth in an herbal abundance ready to be harvested again.

Thyme 

Most herbs love to be harvested. The more you pick them, the more you encourage fresh growth. Some herbs have particular harvesting habits to bear in mind. Up here in Idaho, basil is an annual, it lives for only one year and then has to be planted again. My basil does best if I carefully pinch off the top bundle of leaves on each stalk. This encourages the plant to bush out and throw more branches.

Basil Leaf

My favorite herbs to grow for culinary purposes are: oregano, basil, thyme, lavender, sage, and parsely.

Herbs are a wonderful source of delicious flavor and incredibly important nutrients. Parsely, for example, is incredibly rich in vitamins A, C, and K, as well as iron. Its fortifying nutrients are why it is loved by grandmothers everywhere and added to chicken soup whenever someone feels a cold coming on.

Container of Parsley

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