Herbs....

[WI Mama05]

I've never grown them before. I have an idea for mother's day gifts (for the grandmas) and/or teachers gifts that I could do with growing herbs...

what are the easiest, most useful ones?

[sweetpeas]

Basil is the herb that I use the most! Peppermint grows like a weed, I'm just lazy about drying it for tea, and not a big summer tea drinker. Though if I could convince anyone in my family that tabouli is delcious (I'm too lazy to make it for just me), I use it in that. Parsley's another one I use quite abit.

Thyme grows like a weed here, but doesn't do much at my mom's house, Oregano grows like a weed for my mom and barely survives for me . . .I end up not using either of those as much, but I don't cook like "normal" people either (vegetarian, lots of picky eaters in our house . . .)

Oh, and chives! Love chives! I bought one of the little pots of chives at the grocery store 2-3 years ago and it comes back bigger each year.

[Macky]

Parsley. Everybody uses parsley... if not in dishes than at least as a garnish. Some find parsley difficult to germinate because it has a natural sprout inhibiting coating on the seed. All you do is soak it off and germination is easy peasy. Soak the seeds in water for 24 hours, straining and rinsing the seeds and changing the water two or three times in that timeframe. Then plant as normal, according to the packet directions. It can take a week or two depending on how deep you planted and how warm a heat source you have on them.

Dill is easy. There are dwarf varieties that can be container-grown.

I use thyme almost every day, so that's what I'd plant if I could only grow one herb.

Sage is gorgeous and could be a feature plant in a pot if pinched to make it bush. It seems to be an aquired taste, though. Some use lots and others don't.

I hate basil.