My Herbs 1

trees, we deal with them according to
their preference for sun, shade or partly
shady, drought, moisture or a mixture
of both and what pH of soil is needed
– if acidic, alkaline or neutral. Acidic
species are commonly sold (astilboides,
heathers, azaleas, rhododendrons, blueberries),
but acidic soil in gardens is
A melange of herbs
pretty rare. This is due to increased
sales of peat and acidifying fertilizers
needed to grow them, with their effect
disappearing in a few years because the
soil is basically self-healing and returns
to its natural neutral status. So again,
this is just a question of making
money.
Do not use peat as, due to its extraction,
it is destroying the remaining beautiful
places left in the world and is
transported over half the continent. If
your garden does not have a coniferous
wooded area which acidifies the soil beneath,
acidic plant species should be
avoided, as there are plenty of alternatives
growing in ordinary garden soil,
which most often read around pH
6.5–7 (about neutral).
SELECTION BY QUALITY
Every plant is beautiful in its own
way, so I would prefer not to discuss
beauty and colour of the flowers or leaves.
The elephant is no less beautiful
than the tiger just because it has fewer
stripes. Some of us prefer elephants,
and others prefer tigers. To each their
Mint
own. Up until now, the underestimated
qualities of perennials include being
edible, as well as other important functions
they play in the garden ecosystem.
In terms of being edible, we are acquainted
mainly with medicinal herbs
for teas and the occasional leaf accompanying
a salad, or as garnish. We can
go much further though – there are perennials
with edible flowers (daylilies,
hosta or plantain lily, mallow), edible
roots or bulbs (Jerusalem artichokes,
water-parsnip, horseradish, hardy onions
and garlic, groundnut, woundwort
bulbs), with leaves of spinach (comfrey,
nettle, sanguisorba, knotweed), with leaves
for seasoning salads (cicely, chivegarlic,
wild garlic, sanguisorba, garden
sorrel), with edible shoots (asparagus,
buck’s beard, bamboo) or with edible
fruits and seeds (strawberry, gooseberry,
mallow).
From edible perennials we could
make year-round sustainability just by
knowing all the varieties and knowhow.
The plants may be preserved also
during the winter. In the stomach remains
of one of our ancient ancestors
who had drowned in the swamps, scientists
confirm they had found over
thirty different herbs which served as
breakfast on that fateful day. You know
how healthy he could have been? If he
had only watched where he was stepping!
MYHERBSMAG.COM
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