Herb Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition (For Dummies (Home & Garden))

388 Pages·2010·4.32 MB·English

by  Karan Davis Cutler

Spine: .768’’
Gardening/Herbs
Making Everything Easier!™ 2nd Edition
Grow, care for, preserve, and use 2nd Edition
healthful herbs H
Open the book and find:
Starting an herb garden outweighs the costs of buying retail (cid:129) How to grow herbs in gardens, e Herb Gardening
herbs. Plus, adding homegrown ingredients to your meals containers, and on windowsills r
is a healthy and tasty way to improve any dish you make b
(cid:129) Culinary herbs, medicinal herbs,
at home. This friendly, hands-on guide gives you tips and and herbs for health and beauty

advice on how to grow a thriving herb garden that will add G
(cid:129) Experts tips on what to grow
depth and flavor to home-cooked meals — as well as boost
your health. (cid:129) Design basics for herb gardens a
(cid:129) Herbs 101 — get the 4-1-1 on the basics of growing herbs and the (cid:129) The lowdown on soil r
botany principles that’ll help them thrive d
(cid:129) Guidance on how to choose seeds
(cid:129) Know before you grow — make a garden plan based on your (cid:129) How to cut and dry herbs e
unique growing conditions and herb preferences
n
(cid:129) Delicious recipes
(cid:129) Get down to the nitty-gritty — discover how to plant your seeds
indoors, when to move them outdoors, and how to care for and (cid:129) An encyclopedia of herbs i
maintain them as they grow n
(cid:129) Reap what you sow — find out how to harvest and preserve
g
your herbs and get yummy recipes to use them in your culinary
concoctions
Learn to:
(cid:129) Choose, plant, and care for herbs
Go to Dummies.com
®
(cid:129) Prevent pests and disease from invading
for videos, step-by-step examples,
your containers
how-to articles, or to shop!
(cid:129) Use homegrown herbs to boost your
health, add flavor to meals, and save
money
Karan Davis Cutler
$19.99 US / $23.99 CN / £14.99 UK
Suzanne DeJohn is an editor with the National Gardening Association. ISBN 978-0-470-61778-6 Kathleen Fisher
The National Gardening Association is the leading garden-based
Suzanne DeJohn
educational nonprofit organization in the United States, providing Cutler
Fisher
resources at www. garden.org and www.kidsgardening.org. DeJohn The Editors of the National
National
Gardening Gardening Association
Association
Spine: .768’’
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Herb Gardening
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
2
ND EDITION
by Karan Davis Cutler, Kathleen Fisher,
Suzanne DeJohn, & the Editors of the
National Gardening Association
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Herb Gardening For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010938831
ISBN: 978-0-470-61778-6
Manufactured in the United States of America
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About the Authors
Karan Davis Cutler: A former magazine editor and newspaper columnist,
Karan Davis Cutler is the author of seven other garden books. She publishes
regularly in horticultural magazines and is an eight-time winner of the Quill &
Trowel Award from the Garden Writers Association of America.
Kathleen Fisher: Kathleen Fisher was an editor of The American Gardener,
published by the American Horticultural Society, and a longtime newspaper
reporter and magazine editor. The author of several books and many articles,
she died in May 2005.
Suzanne DeJohn: A writer and horticulturist at the National Gardening
Association for 14 years, Suzanne now writes, gardens, and runs a pet-
friendly B&B in northern Vermont.
The National Gardening Association (NGA) is committed to sustaining
and renewing the fundamental links between people, plants, and the Earth.
Founded in 1972 (as “Gardens for All”) to spearhead the community garden
movement, today’s NGA promotes environmental responsibility, advances
multidisciplinary learning and scientifi c literacy, and creates partnerships
that restore and enhance communities.
NGA is best known for its garden-based curricula, educational journals, inter-
national initiatives, and several youth garden grant programs. Together these
reach more than 300,000 children nationwide each year. NGA’s Web sites,
one for home gardeners and another for those who garden with kids, build
community and offer a wealth of custom content.
For more information about the National Gardening Association, write to
1100 Dorset St., South Burlington, VT 05403, or visit the Web site at www.
garden.org or www.kidsgardening.org.
Dedication
To Kathy Fisher, who was bright, capable, and enormous fun — and who died
far too young. And to our mothers and fathers, who encouraged our interests
in plants and in words.
Authors’ Acknowledgments
We’ve depended greatly on the kindness of many (herb-growing) strangers —
and friends. For specifi c help, we are indebted to Gwen Barclay, Hank Becker,
Kathy Bond Borie, Rosalind Creasy, Barbara Ellis, David Ellis, Donald M.
Maynard, Patsy Jamieson, Susan Romanoff, and Holly Shimizu.
01_9780470617786-ffirs.indd iii01_9780470617786-ffirs.indd iii 10/18/10 11:28 AM10/18/10 11:28 AM
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com.
For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974,
outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
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Cover Photos: © iStockphoto.com / kkgas
Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)
Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies
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Composition Services
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................ 1
Part I: Herb Basics ...................................................... 5
Chapter 1: Why Grow Herbs? ...........................................................................................7
Chapter 2: Herbs 101 .......................................................................................................19
Part II: Deciding How and What to Grow ..................... 35
Chapter 3: Getting to Know Your Home Ground .........................................................37
Chapter 4: Designing Your Herb Garden ......................................................................53
Chapter 5: Herb Garden Plans ........................................................................................63
Chapter 6: Herbs in Containers, Indoors and Out .......................................................79
Part III: Getting Down to Earth................................. 103
Cha pter 7: There’s No Place Like Loam: Preparing Your Soil for Planting .............105
Chapter 8: It’s Time to Plant .........................................................................................123
Chapter 9: Everyday Care and Feeding .......................................................................139
Chapter 10: Managing Pests in Your Herb Garden ....................................................157
Part IV: Cut and Dried: Handling the Herbal Bounty ... 175
Chapter 11: Harvesting and Preserving ......................................................................177
Chapter 12: Culinary Concoctions ...............................................................................191
Chapter 13: Herbs for Healing and Soothing ..............................................................209
Chapter 14: Herbs for Beauty .......................................................................................219
Chapter 15: Herbs for Hearth and Home ....................................................................225
Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 235
Chapter 16: Ten Gifts to Make from Herbs You Grow ...............................................237
Chapter 17: Ten Lists of Herbs for Different Uses and Garden Situations .............245
Appendix: An Encyclopedia of Herbs ......................... 251
Index ...................................................................... 351
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Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................2
What You’re Not to Read ................................................................................2
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................2
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................2
Part I: Herb Basics .................................................................................3
Part II: Deciding How and What to Grow ............................................3
Part III: Getting Down to Earth .............................................................3
Part IV: Cut and Dried: Handling the Herbal Bounty .........................3
Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................................................3
Appendix: An Encyclopedia of Herbs ..................................................4
Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................4
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................4
Part I: Herb Basics ....................................................... 5
Chapter 1: Why Grow Herbs?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
What Makes an Herb an Herb? .......................................................................7
Seeing Why and Where to Grow Herbs .........................................................8
Herbs in your garden .............................................................................9
Herbs in containers ...............................................................................9
Considering Culinary Herbs ...........................................................................9
Upping your nutrition quota ..............................................................10
Finding ways to cook with herbs .......................................................10
Adding fl avor to oils, vinegars, dressings, and marinades .............10
Brewing herbal teas .............................................................................11
Exploring Medicinal Herbs ...........................................................................11
Making history......................................................................................12
Going mainstream ................................................................................12
Food or drug . . . or neither? ...............................................................12
Creating Herbal Body Care Products: Beauty or Bust? ............................13
Using Herbs for Hearth and Home ..............................................................14
Looking at Herb Folklore ..............................................................................14
Sage renders men immortal, and other tall tales .............................14
Virtues of delight .................................................................................15
Read All About It ............................................................................................16
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viii
Herb Gardening For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Chapter 2: Herbs 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
What’s a Wort? Plant Name ..........................................................................19
Clearing up common name confusion ...............................................20
Getting scientifi c with names .............................................................20
Looking at the Herbal Cycle of Life .............................................................24
Surveying Herb Anatomy ..............................................................................25
The root of the matter .........................................................................25
Stem dandy ...........................................................................................25
Leaf it be ................................................................................................26
Factoring in fl owers .............................................................................27
Caution: Invasive Herbs Ahead ....................................................................29
Plants that will make you rue the day ...............................................29
Location is everything .........................................................................30
Underground travelers ........................................................................31
Avoiding Dangerous Herbs ...........................................................................32
Herbs from the Wild ......................................................................................34
Part II: Deciding How and What to Grow ..................... 35
Chapter 3: Getting to Know Your Home Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Climate Is Key .................................................................................................37
Factors that infl uence what you can grow .......................................38
Weather matters ..................................................................................39
Using Climate and Zone Maps ......................................................................39
The USDA Hardiness Zone Map .........................................................39
Determining your growing season .....................................................42
The Heat Zone Map..............................................................................42
Native versus Exotic Plants ..........................................................................44
Giving Herbs What They Want .....................................................................45
Making the most of microclimates ....................................................46
Letting the sunshine in ........................................................................46
When the wind blows ..........................................................................48
Water, water everywhere ....................................................................49
Location, Location, Location .......................................................................50
Chapter 4: Designing Your Herb Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Getting Started ...............................................................................................53
Catering to convenience .....................................................................54
Deliberating one-shot deals ................................................................54
Creating an herbal oasis .....................................................................54
An Herbal Nod to History .............................................................................55
Formal designs — tux optional ..........................................................55
Informal designs — the laid-back look ..............................................55
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