I love herbs. I love using herbs in cooking and I love using herbs in my concoctions. That is what my husband calls them. I call them herbal remedies and some of them really do work.  Using herbs for cooking is my focus now, though. I like the freshest herbs and that means trying to grow them. I started gradually, with basil and oregano. My backyard kitchen garden grew and now, it includes sage, rosemary and parsley. A friend provided us with a sweet bay tree that somehow manages to survive each winter.

The leaves add a delicious flavor to soups and stews. A couple of years ago, I added fennel. This addition brought butterflies to delight us in the spring. I am not much of a gardener and sometimes my garden is more weed than herb, but, tumbled and tossed though it is, I love my little garden.  It is wonderfully satisfying to me to be cooking and to be able to walk into my back yard for the herbs I need. If you would like to try to grow an herb garden, it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Try a kitchen garden.  You will be rewarded with lovely flavors for your recipes and a peaceful feeling of self-sufficiency.