Common Herbs in your House and Yard: part 7 – Rosemary to St John’s Wort

Part 6 – R,S

ROSEMARY – culinary, aromatic herb

Rosemary is a native of the Mediterranean region where it grows as an evergreen shrub. In Canada it is considered a tender perennial, which is a joke in the Edmonton region because it will NEVER make it through the winter. It is an aromatic herb with fragrant, green, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers.

growing and harvesting

Rosemary grows best in well-drained, loamy soil in full sun. Water plants evenly throughout the growing season, but be careful it doesn’t sit in soggy soil. Other than that, its a pretty easy plant to have a good experience with.

In the Edmonton region, consider Rosemary as an annual, but it can be brought indoors at the end of the season with a fairly high success rate if you have a nice sunny window. Even indirect sunlight will keep it reasonably healthy. Nothing will ever be quite the same as being outside in the heat and sunlight of summer, so don’t expect that, but it will still be okay. During its sojourn in the house during the winter months, make sure it gets enough to drink; if you’re going to lose it, that will be why. They drink a LOT. To bring it into the house and not bring any potential freeloading bugs with it, dig the plant when it is still very healthy, before the cold has caused it distress. Gently shake all the dirt from the roots, and gently trim if necessary. Prune the plant by 1/3 and then pot it into a clean pot with clean potting soil. Set in a nice sunny window for its temporary winter home.

I buy two or three rosemary plants every spring to plant in my herb garden. You can get a trailing rosemary or a plant that grows upright. I like to get different kinds if I can find them – just for variety. Prune regularly so that plants won’t get lanky. I keep one in a pot on the patio that I bring inside in the winter. It’s just easier that way for me to transport in and out, but you can also just dig a plant up at the end of August as described above, and then replant it outside in the spring after ALL danger of cold nights is it the past.

To use throughout the summer, simply snip a branch as needed and bring it in for dinner. If you’re pruning regularly anyway, you’ll always have fresh rosemary on hand. At the end of the season, cut your rosemary right off at the ground. Swish in water to clean and shake off excess or strain in a salad spinner. You can dry them in the dehydrator but I’ve found that the leaves go too dark and I don’t like that. I usually just lay the cleaned branches out on a clean tea towel and leave in the open air for about a week till they’re completely dry. Fluff up once or twice throughout each day to ensure they’re drying evenly. When completely dry, pick up a branch by the stem in one hand, and gently strip all the needles/leaves with your thumb and forefinger of the other. Store in an airtight jar in a nice dark cupboard. Label with date.

using Rosemary in the kitchen

Rosemary can be used fresh or dry, with the needles removed and minced or as whole sprigs, to infuse flavor into a larger dish like a stew or roast. To strip fresh leaves from the stem, pull the needles in the opposite direction from which they grow and they should easily slide off the stalk. Fresh rosemary is easiest to use because the leaves are soft and pliable, but if you don’t have a plant in the winter, then it’s easy to use the leaves dried.

Use rosemary with chicken and other poultry, pork, steaks, and fish. It also goes well with grains, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes and spinach. These are my favourite ways to use it:
*Roasted potatoes: cubed potatoes in baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with chopped rosemary, coarse salt and cracked pepper. Bake in open dish at 400 degrees till nicely browned and tender to the fork. Timing depends on how big your potato pieces are – I use bite size pieces and it generally takes 45-60 minutes. Toss every 10-15 minutes to ensure they’re evenly coated with oil as they roast.
*Rosemary bread: add chopped rosemary to bread dough, especially sourdough.
*Rosemary in olive oil and balsamic vinegar to use as a dip for freshly baked bread. Serve along side a fresh green salad.

SAGE – a culinary herb

Sage has a long European history as a medicinal plant, but is most commonly used nowadays in the kitchen. It has greyish green elongated leaves, with a soft, downy surface, and its pretty flowers are shy little spikes of purple, blue, white or pink.

growing and harvesting:

Sage is an easy to grow, hardy ‘semi perennial‘ with uniquely shaped and coloured leaves, that looks good in every garden, and is as much at home in your flower bed, and your vegetable garden, as your herb garden. When I say ‘semi perennial’, I mean in the Edmonton area – zone 3A/B – sometimes it comes back in the spring, but sadly – you cannot count on it from one year to the next. I generally plan to buy one or two greenhouse sage plants in the spring, and if what I had growing last season come back, then lucky me, I’ll have more. If they don’t then I’m still covered. Welcome to Alberta. Frankly, for the average household, a single sage plant is probably sufficient for all your needs anyway. A few years ago, my son introduced me to sage ‘tea’ (really an infusion), and I really like it, so since then, I grow more, to have enough for tea throughout the winter.

Plant in full sun, well draining soil. Sage likes to be near rosemary and carrots, but they do not like cucumbers so keep them separate. Be sure to water young plants regularly till they get established.

To use continually throughout the summer, simply pinch off leaves or snip off small sprigs from the plant. Don’t harvest too aggressively too early. Once your plants are established, especially if they’re in their second year, you can harvest two or three times during the season. The flavour is best when fresh, but it is easily dried or frozen to store. s

drying:
You can hang sprigs of the leaves in a shady, well ventilated area. I do not. I’ve never really had a convenient spot to do that in the quantity of herbs I dry all summer long. I wash, shake off excess moisture and pat dry. I pinch off individual leaves and scatter loosely onto a clean tea towel – leave for up to a week, maybe more if the weather is humid. Every day when I think about it, I’ll fluff the leaves up with my hand to ensure they get enough air and are drying evenly.
If you have a dehydrator, you can do in a couple of hours what might take a week to do in the open air. Make sure they are COMPLETELY dry before storing in an airtight container.

freezing:
Apparently sage keeps its flavour well when frozen. I have never done this, but I can see the value for some people. Freeze loosely on a tray, then transfer into a labelled and dated freezer bag. Keep your bags handy in the fridge freezer in the kitchen so they don’t get lost in the bigger freezer.

Personally, I choose to dehydrate, mostly for convenience. I suppose how you choose to preserve it, depends on what you plan to use your sage for.

using in the kitchen:

*The most common use of sage in the North American kitchen is in traditional stuffing for roast meats like pork or turkey. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner just wouldn’t be the same without that comforting smell of roasting turkey with sage in air. But! Don’t limit sage to only twice a year. Be experimental.
*Add the crumbled dried leaves to tomato sauce.
*During the summer, a sprig of fresh sage is a lovely, edible garnish on any dish.
*Fresh sage in a jug of chilled water, makes for a nice light, refreshing drink.
*Fresh or dried sage steeped in boiled water makes a nice infusion tea that is said to have have a calming effect.
*Fresh or dried sage (chopped or crumbled) creamed into butter and left to sit for a few hours, makes a nice lightly flavoured butter. Use the butter for fresh biscuits, to top mashed potatoes, or to fry eggs or omelette.

non culinary use

Sage is known as an “aromatic” herb which means simply that it has a noticeable fragrant smell. This aromatic quality makes it a good addition to potpourris.
Sage has astringent properties which tighten the skin. Dab a cold, strong sage infusion tea onto your face with a cotton swab. Keep it in the fridge.
Sage has expectorant properties, which can be helpful for throat and chest disorders, promoting a productive cough to clear phlegm from the airways. Drink as a strong infusion tea.

SAVORY – culinary

Summer Savory is an aromatic plant related to rosemary and thyme, native to North Africa, southeastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. As with so many foods, it was introduced to North America with European settlers. Although a perennial in some parts of the world, it rarely makes it through the winter, so be prepared to rebuy next spring if you love it. It can grow up to 20 inches high and has a white to pale pinkish flower. The flavour is intense, but milder than the almost bitter, stronger taste of winter savory.

growing and harvesting:

using in the kitchen:

Savory resembles the flavour profile of sage and thyme, and smells like good down-home cooking to me. I think of roast turkey or chicken and stuffing, and gravy, so of course its means Thanksgiving Dinner to me. But good ol’ down-home cooking means a lot of other things too, like hearty bean soup.

who doesn’t like a nice hot thick bowl of ‘hearty’, on a cold fall or winter day?
Savory White Bean Soup
1 lb white beans, sorted and rinsed
12 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/4 oil (I prefer olive oil)
2 cloves garlic minced
2 lg onions chopped
3-4 lg carrots peeled and chopped
6+ stalks celery chopped
1 can tomatoes – whole (sliced), diced, stewed, your choice
1 teaspoon – 1 Tablespoon (how strong do you like it?) SAVORY, crushed leaves but not powdered please
2 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon pepper (if you’re using prepared bouillon for stock, its likely already salted. Taste test and adjust accordingly later.)
Rinse beans, then cover them with stock water. No salt at this point. Add bay leaves and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a slow rolling boil and simmer steadily covered for about 2 hours (till beans are beginning to tender). At this point, in separate pot saute in oil – garlic, onions over medium high flame, for one or two minutes till aromatic. Add remaining vegetables and saute 3-4 minutes max, then pour the vegetable mixture into the pot of beans.
Add the can of tomatoes , savory and salt and pepper (tasting to adjust seasoning)
Simmer slowly for another 30 minutes or so till all are tender and starting to thicken. Remove from heat and allow to sit for another 5 or 10 minutes before serving.
*optional: corn is wonderful in this end of summer meal. I use freeze dried. Add 2-3 cups.
Serve with nice crusty piece of whole wheat sour dough bread.

* the age of your beans will influence the length of time they need to be cook. Older beans need longer time. Keep this in mind earlier in the day so you don’t rush the soup if your beans are older.

non culinary use

With its intensity, Savory has long been used to treat a variety of ailments such as a gargle for a sore throat. It is also used to enhance appetite, as a remedy for stomach and digestive disorders, and to help alleviate symptoms of asthma and colic. Personally, I am only interested in this wonderfully flavourful herb for its culinary benefits, although I am intrigued about that gargle idea for a sore throat.

SORREL

A hardy perennial, reliable to come back every year, will thrive on little attention, and is among the first plants to provide fresh green leaves in the spring. I don’t know about you, but that is a winning combination in my books. Lemony taste, strong flavour, can be lightly sautéed or added to salads.

growing and harvesting

Sorrel grows best in full sun, but will tolerate a little shade, and will even last longer into the summer before seeding. It has a very deep and persistent tap root which helps it do well with little attention, but don’t ignore it completely. Sorrel should have a minimum of one inch of water a week, so if it doesn’t rain regularly, give it a drink now and again. I’ve read that sorrel can be invasive, but I’ve had a single sorrel plant for years and have never had it make any attempt to take over. It can be divided into two plants, which I intend to do this spring, as I am ready for more of it.

It is a substantial plant, growing up to 18 inches high, so the leaves are nice and big too. To harvest, simply pinch off young leaves from the base. More tender when its young during the spring, so don’t waste those early weeks by forgetting about it. Careful, rabbits love sorrel too.

using in the kitchen

Lemons and limes aren’t the only foods that have a tart, acidic flavour, sorrel has got a lotta PUNCH. Surprising for a green leafy vegetable. I’ve heard it described as lemonade in a leaf. Long before citrus fruits ever reached Europe, people used it to add a sour flavour to the dishes. It is very popular in many parts of the world, but quite under used in North America, probably because we haven’t figured out what to do with it. Be adventurous. Be part of the movement that is helping bring this forgotten herb back to the table.

Sorrel leaves are tender in spring, but as the season wears on, they get a tougher. Don’t let that dissuade you though, they can still be used in soups and stew, and even pureed to add their wonderfully distinctive flavour. In Nigeria, it is steamed and added to onion and tomatoes with salt and pepper. In India, it is used in soups and curries with yellow lentils and peanuts. In eastern Europe, it is used to make sour soups, and stewed with vegetables. In Greece it is used with other greens in spanakopita. In the middle east, it is simmered lightly and served cold, marinated in olive oil, or stewed with onions, potatoes, garlic and bulgur wheat or lentils. It is even dried and then used as a dried herb in the winter, to flavour dishes.

Great in a mixed green salad or as a garnish. All sorrel is incredibly sour with a lemony flavour, and you probably won’t want to eat straight in large quantities. Just as well, because just like spinach, beets and their greens, swiss chard, rhubarb, and other vitamin rich foods, it contains high amounts of oxalic acid. This doesn’t mean don’t eat it, it means that moderation is the key. Studies show that lemon juice has a neutralizing effect on oxalic acid, so sprinkle some more on your salad.

Use sauteed sorrel in omelette, fritatta, or as a pizza topping.

If you’ve never tried sorrel, be prepared to pucker up. It is packed with potent astringency and a lemony, citrus-like flavor. Coarsely chop or tear into pieces to add to a mixed green salad. It bumps up the acidic quality of your salad, lifting the intensity of flavour to new heights. Gone are the boring, tasteless greens that need a dressing to make them taste like anything. For a dressing when adding sorrel to your salad, just use less vinegar or lemon juice. It also cooks down quickly when sautéed. A traditional way to enjoy sorrel is cooked into a lemony flavoured sauce for fish (without the lemon). If you don’t have lemons to make a salad dressing, use sorrel.

recipe for Sorrel Sauce
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
about a dozen sorrel leaves, stems removed
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock – maybe
salt and pepper to taste
Slice the sorrel leaves very thin. That is easier to do when you roll them up tightly. Bring the cream to a simmer in small pot – this will prevent it from curdling when you add the sorrel later. Not kidding. In another pot, melt the butter and add sorrel to saute and cook down. The colour will loose its brilliance. Stir in the hot cream, stirring while you bring it back to a slow simmer. If the sauce is thicker than you prefer, think it out with the stock, adding slowly and stirring till you get it to the consistency you prefer.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Pour over fish, chicken breast or even roasted potatoes.

STEVIA

A super sweet, natural substitute for sugar that is calorie free. Almost too good to be true, but it really is. Once you’ve grown stevia and are used to having it around, you’ll grow it every year.
Native to the tropics of Central America, the stevia plant produces leaves packed with super-sweet compounds that remain stable even after the leaves have been dried. So that means you’ve got your FRESH natural sweetener available in your garden for snipping all summer long, and dried natural sweetener available in your kitchen for the rest of the year. Its been a common sweetener among the indigenous of Meso America for centuries, and is gaining in popularity in North America recently too. Popular and important to diabetics, dieters, those who want to reduce their sugar intake, and those who simply want to eat healthier. It is especially well-suited for sweetening drinks, salad dressings and yogurt.

There are many derivatives of stevia that are commonly used in in our food industry, but I am only talking about the plant that we grow in our gardens. That is the only way I use it.

growing and harvesting:

Growing stevia is easy in well-drained garden beds or large containers, and the leaves can be dried for winter use like any other herb. It grows best in warm conditions similar to that of its native Central America, and in the ideal climate with grow up to 2 feet high. In the Edmonton area where I live, you can expect full gown plants to grow nearly that high. I grow 1-3 stevia plants in my herb garden. They need full sun.

Stevia can be started from seed indoors around February to March, but germination is spotty at best and they’re pretty picky in their infancy. As I only ever intend to buy 2 or 3 plants, it’s simply easier pick them up at a local greenhouse. And frankly a couple of plants will give me more stevia than I will use all year long. Choose a well-drained site in full sun for your plants, and set them out after all risk of frost. Don’t worry, once they’re big enough for the garden, they become very low maintenance.

when?
You can pick leaves anytime during the year as you need to use it, but for a bigger picking, watch for when it looks like your stevia is starting to bloom. You want to harvest before the buds flower. If you’re away and miss it by a few days, remove the flower heads and go ahead and harvest. If you let it go to seed, the leaves will grow smaller and energy will go to the production of seed.

With my garden clippers, I cut the stalk off, leaving 3-4 inches at the bottom, MAKING SURE THERE ARE AT LEAST A FEW LEAVES at the bottom. This is so that the plant has a chance to regrow if the season and weather allows, hoping of course that I’ll have a chance for one more smaller picking at the end of August. Make sure you pick it before the first frost. If it freezes, you’ll lose it.

Rinse leaves, lay out onto a clean kitchen towel to air dry for a few days. Might take up to a week depending on quantity and humidity in the air. Every day fluff it up to ensure good air flow.

using in the kitchen

Throughout the summer, I will use stevia for the odd sweetening job straight from the garden. The amount required to sufficiently sweeten a cup of tea for example, is surprisingly small. Like 1/4 of a leaf (if its not too big). Seriously. Taste test stevia to become familiar with it. It is shockingly sweet. If I am making a morning smoothie with sour cherries or tart raspberries, I might want to sweeten it up a little. Instead of sugar, honey is of course a lovely sweetener. But try something new. A single leaf of stevia from the garden is probably enough to take the sour edge out of your smoothie. Taste test using one leaf at a time. Too many will make it sickeningly sweet, and you’ll be surprised at how few it takes.

Remember to use dried stevia sugar in small proportions, as it is nearly 30 times sweeter than cane sugar. Roughly, one teaspoonful of dried leaves powder is equivalent to one cup of sugar; therefore, use it in small quantities adjusting the amount to achieve your desired levels of sweetness. Stevia ‘sugar’ is processed into a white crystalline powder, approximately 300 times sweeter than regular cane sugar.

recipe for Stevia Syrup:
add a cup of hot water to 1/4 cup of fresh, finely crushed leaves. Allow to settle down for 24 hours, strain, then refrigerate.

Use stevia to sweeten tea or lemonade. Can be added in jam, yogurt, ice creams & sherbets, smoothies, desserts etc.

ST JOHNS WORT – insomnia and depression

St. John’s wort – know as a mood elevator – is most commonly used for conditions that sometimes go along with depression such as anxiety, tiredness, loss of appetite and trouble sleeping. There is strong evidence that it is effective for mild to moderate depression. Also used for symptoms of PMS and menopause, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD, and seasonal affective disorder SAD.  

SHOULD NEVER BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH DRUGS FOR THE SAME PURPOSE, as there is a high possibility of poor interaction. Can be purchased from a health food store in capsule or tincture. From the home garden, most often used as an infusion tea.

Odd name I know. The word “wort” is an Old English suffix for “plant” and is frequently found in other common plant names. In this case it means – St. John’s Plant, and refers to the fact that the flowers were traditionally harvested on the Catholic Saint’s Day honoring the nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24. After harvesting the flowers, the believer would hang them over a painting or statue of St. John in the home, which was thought to protect the believer from evil spirits.

growing and harvesting

Native to Europe, St John’s Wort was so valued for for its medicinal qualities, that it was introduced to North America when Europeans first began colonizing here. It escaped cultivation in the United States and spread throughout and into Canada, and is now listed as a noxious weed in many states and provinces.

It is a short woody, perineal shrub that grows about 2-3 feet tall, and has fragrant yellow flowers from mid to late summer. It grows well in all kinds of soil: sand, clay, rocky or loam, and tolerates acidic to slightly alkaline pH conditions. It adapts to both moist and dry soil, and even tolerates occasional flooding or drought. It spreads easily through roots and seeds, and is considered invasive.

It is loved by bees and other pollinators, and is still valued as a medicinal plant. To harvest, pick the fresh flowers and buds, or a quicker method is to simply cut the top 2 – 3 inches of the plant when it is full bloom in late June/early July. I swish in water to rinse any dust off, spin in my salad spinner to remove excess moisture, and then lay loosely on a clean tea towel on my table. Fluff up with my fingers a few times a day to ensure even drying, and let it sit for at least a week. More time if weather is humid. When completely dry, put into an airtight container, label and keep in a dark cupboard.

using

The leaves and flowers of this plant are all edible and can be used in garnishes and in salads. It is most commonly brewed to make an infusion tea. When consumed in large doses it can cause skin reactions to sun exposure.

St John’s Wort is credited with so many of curative properties, some of them based heavily on superstition, that it is hard to know what is accurate. I lean toward believing the mood elevation properties, simply because they seem to have a little more science behind them. I grow it for this reason, and harvest the flowers for this reason. There are some toxic attributes too however, when taken to excess, so as in all things, moderation is the key. If I was going to use it medicinally, I’d want to do considerably more research than what you have available here.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these valuable garden herbs.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle