Morning Show

In The Garden: Herbs

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― If you like to cook or simply like to eat, you know what a difference the right spices can make. In the summer, we have the luxury of growing our own herbs at home, instead of buying the dried variety.

"Fresh herbs have a higher amount of essential oils in them, meaning they are more flavorful," said Sarah Davis, the manager at Sunnyside Gardens in Minneapolis. "A smaller pinch can make a bigger impact. If you are using dried herbs from the grocery store, you often have to kind of over-season to get the flavor you are looking for."

Davis explained the proper way to pick off the leaves.

"A younger plant like this, just a few weeks from a seed, when you harvest it, you want to leave the bottom leaves on so it can flush out again, but you can harvest the top set of leaves, sometimes even the top two sets of leaves off for you to use in your cooking," she said.

If you've already planted your herb garden, then right about now, you may be noticing that some insects are enjoying your plants.

"Basil in particular can be attacked by white fly, also at night, June bugs like to find your basil if it is close enough near a light or your back door," Davis said. "So, you need to watch out for that. The best way to treat that, if you see a bug or a pest on your herbs, you're going to want to try to blast it with a heavy stream of water, not so hard that you are bruising or breaking it. That's the best way to treat it. You don't really want to use a chemical if you are harvesting the leaf and then eating the leaf."

Davis said you can extend the life of your fresh herbs by freezing the leaves after you pull them off.

"Well, one way you can do it is to chop up the leaves really finely, get a recipe for pesto sauce and do everything but put the garlic in," she explained. "You are going to want to put fresh garlic in at the end. Chop it up, put it in oil, put it in a little baggie and freeze it."

Ideas for using herbs on other foods include fresh thyme with poultry, sage with red meat, potatoes with rosemary and eggs with any fresh herb.

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