Gardening: Herbs without hardship

Firstly, herbs can be grown in the smallest of spaces, and in a whole variety of containers. Quite often, they do much better in pots, raised borders or window boxes than actually having their feet sunk permanently into the soil.

Many of the Mediterranean varieties such as lavender, sage, oregano, rosemary, hyssop and thyme need a very well drained soil, and prefer a poor soil, without much nutrient content.

Pots are perfect for this, as the soil gets leached very quickly, and if filled with a good mixture of crocks, grit and gravel, will provide a loving herby habitat.

It's also a very good way of recycling all your broken china, and dampens those guilty feelings of having smashed that ugly vase that your great auntie bought you for your last birthday.

They don't all need a hot position, though.

Mint, parsley and chives can all thrive in a fair amount of shade, and like sitting in moist ground. Fennel, bay, lemon balm, lovage, chervil and angelica aren't fussy at all and will survive most conditions, even near complete neglect.

All the herbs I have mentioned so far are hardy perennials which need very little or no maintenance. They will survive our English winters and come back with renewed vigour in the spring.

The tender annuals, such as basil, coriander and some tarragons will not survive low temperatures. They need to be propagated every year, which makes them a little more time consuming, but worthy of growing for their exotic pungency.

Herbs are not just a flavour enhancer for our food. We first began to cultivate them for their medicinal and tonic-giving properties (but this has dwindled with the evolution of modern pharmaceutical practices).

Nice smelling leaves or flowers were added to food to mask over-ripe or nasty odours, but hygiene regulations have prevented the need for this in modern times. Certain plants with special aromatic oils assisted in the digestion of fatty food, and have become traditional accompaniments to dishes, such as lamb and mint, pork and sage, beef and horseradish.

You need to do nothing more than pick off a leaf or two, rinse under running water and throw into the pot. There are no hard and fast rules as to which herb goes with what type of food.

The joy is in experimenting. There is no need to go without herbs during the winter months. They can be picked and dried by hanging them up in bunches in a warm, dry environment (airing cupboard temperatures are perfect) for a week or so, before slightly crushing or crumbling into an airtight container.

I like to pick and freeze certain herbs. They can be placed in the freezer as they are, inside a plastic bag, or they can be chopped up and placed in the ice tray.

Fill the cubes with either water or oil. Oil is really handy. You just need to throw the cube into the bottom of a pan, let it melt and you have a good base for constructing many mouthwatering dishes.

The golden rule, however, is to site the herb garden (or collection of pots) near to the kitchen. There is little or no incentive to go trudging down into the depths of a rain-soaked garden just to collect some extra flavour for the dinner when there is a force ten gale going on outside.

READER'S QUESTION

EDWARD Kell emailed me to say that his lawn has developed a series of small brown patches. The birds seem to be scratching at them. He suspects that this could be an infestation of leatherjackets. What can he do to eradicate them?

IT does indeed sound as though you are suffering form leatherjackets. These are the larvae of crane flies (daddy long legs) They are legless, greyish-brown, tubular and up to oneand-a-half inches. They are mainly lawn pests (causing yellow-brown patches) but can also nibble away at the roots of garden and vegetable plants.

By the time they have grown large enough to cause noticeable damage, it is generally too late to do much about it. The best way of removing them is to heavily water the lawn and then cover the area with black polythene overnight. By morning, the grubs will have come up to the surface. Then simply let the birds have a picnic.

JOBS THIS WEEK

Continue the programme of dead heading, both in the pots and hanging baskets and in the borders.

Lift spring bulbs and store ready for planting later in the autumn.

Sow peas and beans for harvesting a late crop.

Begin harvesting onions and shallots.

POSTSCRIPT

Brigid will answer your horticultural queries on 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday on BBC Radio Cleveland from 12-2pm.

Alternatively, send your questions to Brigid at Wingate & Station Town Family Centre, Partridge Terrace, Wingate, County Durham, TS28 5BD, or email brigidpress@hotmail. com.