Give your home cooking a lift by adding tasty herb flavourings to your favourite dishes. A pinch of Dill, a generous helping of chopped Chives or a dash of Sage and a sprinkling of Thyme will help make any meal into a top restaurant creation. There is no need to use large areas of your garden for growing herbs. Placed on the back patio near the back door or close to the barbeque they can add to the surroundings creating a talking point.
You can have the advantage of fresh, healthy herbs ready to pick when you need them.
COOKING WITH HERBS
Recipes to make by using herbs from your garden.

PLANTS TO HELP US
These are recipes made from plants which may help your health.

Almost everyone grows Parsley or Mint, but there are far more exiting flavours for the adventurous cook who likes to have a few interesting plants such as: Basil, Thyme, Dill, Marjoram and Sage, all of which are easy to grow.
BASIL is an ideal partner with the common tomato.
DILL is another annual with fine feathery leaves and yellow flowers, sharp and aromatic, with a caraway like flavour. Chop it up and simply sprinkle over a fresh vegetable soup.
MARJORAM is an easy perennial to grow, but it is better grown as an annual in cooler districts. This attractive plant has greyish green leaves of a sweet spicy flavour. It is ideal for use in soups or casseroles, or sprinkled over carrots and parsnips.
SAGE is widely used in traditional English cooking. This evergreen is fragrant and aromatic and has been used for many centuries as a cure for inflammation of the throat.
THYME, a perennial shrub, is one of my favourites, with its delicious pungent aroma with a clove like flavour. It can be added to soups and vegetables. There is also Lemon Scented Thyme.

Growing herbs, such as Bay Laurel, Rosemary, Tarragon and Fennel, if you choose the right container, can make a decorative planter near the back door. The terracotta strawberry pot is well suited with pockets in the side for herbs as well as the top of the pot. Even the hanging baskets are ideal for trailing rosemary plants.
The soil mixture should be medium to light to allow good drainage. A good grade of potting mix with compost added will make a good mixture to give the plants a strong healthy growth. If the soil is too acidic a little lime may be added, but make sure you test the soil first.
Choose a sunny position but avoid overheating and place them in a position sheltered from the midday sun. Container grown plants dry out very quickly so check them every other day and water them lightly from the top until the water runs out and feed them occasionally with a liquid fertiliser.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HERBS
Most Nurseries or Garden Centres have a good range available to choose from and it might take you longer than you think to make up your mind with the vast selection of plants. If you need help in deciding, ask a sales person for some good sound advice, that's what they are there for.

CHIVES, THE SOCIABLE ONIONS
INTRODUCTION
Chives are plants which have mastered the confinement in their growing habit. Their flavour, however onion- savour, is far more delicate. They are effortless to grow and they do not consume a lot of garden space. Chives grow well in pots and can even grow in window boxes. The best place to keep them is close to the kitchen where the chives can be harvested as needed.

GROWING CHIVES FROM SEED
The most popular is known simply as chives, although they're sometimes referred to as onion chives. Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have round, grass-like leaves and pretty mauve pompom flowers in summer and autumn. It's best to remove the flowers before they develop seeds, but don't let them go to waste, chive flowers make a wonderful garnish and looks superb floating on top of almost any type of cream soup.
In cold climates, chives will die right back in winter but, because the plants are perennial they will live for a number of years. The new leaves will redevelop in spring. In late winter established clumps need to be separated into smaller clumps and replanted into the soil.

GARLIC CHIVES
Garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) have larger, flatter leaves and a mild garlic flavour. They too can be grown from seeds and are just as ideal for pot culture. Their delightful flowers are white but, like the common chives, their leaves will have a better flavour if the flowers are picked before the flowers are fully developed.

GROWING CONDITIONS
Chives will grow in a well-drained garden bed or in a pot filled with a good quality premium potting mix . The plants need at least half a day's sun light. Feed the plants with a liquid fertiliser, such as Thrive or Aquasol every couple of weeks to keep them growing strongly. Once or twice a year spread some slow release fertiliser around the base of the plants. Make sure you protect the young leaves from snails and slugs by sprinkling a small amount of Blitzem or Baysol around the plants. Keep a close lookout for pest such as aphids. These can be squashed by your fingers or killed with a light spraying of pyrethrum.

HOW TO HARVEST
This can be achieved by cutting leaves from outside of the clump with a pair of sharp scissors. Like most plants the flavour of chives will always taste better if they are collected just before you are going to use them. Snip the leaves into smaller sections just before sprinkling them onto soups, egg dishes or salads. Any of your favourite dishes will always be enhanced by a gentle touch of onion or garlic.