In the opening pages of Southern Herb Growing, the authors tell us, "Herbs are immediate links to our ancient past. Then as well as now, they have flavored our foods, healed our wounds, soothed our pains, and sweetly and often pungently scented our surroundings." This sentence expresses the essence of the book, for this a sensuous book, one with a love for the almost magical power of herbs. Lavishly illustrated with photographs of gardens and individual herbs alike, we begin to think the aroma of herbs is rising from the page.
Flavor is one of the keys to the magic of herbs, and the authors have given us 100 recipes that use a variety of herbs, both those we love the most and those that will expand our horizons. The authors have wisely chosen recipes that allow the herbs to star. Many recipes offer variations - should you not have every herb growing in your garden, you will find hints to substitution and experimentation.
The recipes themselves may guide you to decide what herbs you want to grow. Tucked between photos, you will find Basil Dip for Artichokes, Herbed Snow Peas and Carrots that use fresh marjoram and rosemary, a Tangy Shrimp and Bean Salad using lemon thyme; Guacamole Cream with fresh basil. There is a Fresh Fruit Salad with Orange Mint Sauce made from fresh mint oil, a surprising use of basil in Basil-Lime Cookies. To encourage experimentation, the authors offer guidelines for using herbs, rules of the harvest, advice on using herbal oils, vinegars and wines, tinctures and essences.
Whatever region you may live in, the use of herbs when they are at their most abundant and their freshest is the goal of gardening. The basics of gardening with herbs are covered in the first section of the book with a special nod to southern gardens. This is an herbal primer which offers suggestions for herb garden design whether your space allows for a formal garden, has just a few niches in which to tuck your favorite herbs, or is based on container gardening. The southern climate offers special challenges. There are wide fluctuations of temperature, very warm fall months followed by sudden winter chills, heat and humidity during the summer. The authors offer advice for the most difficult herbs or suggest species that grow successfully in southern climates. For example, southern gardeners who have failed when attempting to grow English lavender will take heart to know that both French and Spanish lavenders grow successfully in southern climates.
The second section lists the variety of herbs from which we can choose. Beginning with allium -the garlic, onion family, quite beautiful in what it displays above the ground- and ending with yarrow, the yellow-blooming herb that self-sows, the authors have compiled a comprehensive list of herbs. This is no dry list giving only the easily forgotten Latin names, but one that surprises the reader with tidbits of information. We were startled to learn that columbine, favored now for its unique beauty, was once considered a healing herb, that ginger is actually easy to grow and will survive the winter in many parts of the south, that ginseng once grew as a native plant as far north as Quebec.
Now, should a bushy rosemary be planted next to the pink roses? Or maybe lavender with its blue-purple spikes? Or a massed display of each on either side of the roses....
About the authors: Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay are the original proprietors of Hilltop Herb Farm. Gwen is Director of Food Service at The International-Festival Institute in Round Top and, as Madalene says, she comes with the package. Jean Hardy is a fee-lance editor, writer and photographer. Formerly the managing editor and gardening editor of Houston Home & Garden magazine, she writes about nature, gardening and books, and has edited more than twenty books.
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