Holiday gifts to share from your herb garden
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Anne-Marie Walker
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My herb garden is my inspiration for gifts to share with others this holiday season. There are endless ways to combine herbs to create subtle flavors and textures that delight all palettes and nourish the skin. Remember, you do not need a large garden to grow herbs. Many are happy in pots on balconies, decks, and windowsills. Here are herbs and gifts I grew and made this year. For more information on growing herbs, go to https://marinmg.ucanr.edu/.
Cheery Calendula is in the foreground with Salvia Hot Lips in the background. Photo: Dorothy WeaverAnnual herbs, those grown in a single season, must be planted yearly. Three annuals I grew this summer are Calendula officinalis (calendula), Tropaeolum majus (nasturtiums), and Anthriscus cerefolium (chervil). Calendula is easily sown from seed flowering in two months. Harvest and dry the flowers and place them in a jar. Fill the jar with olive oil. After about two months, you have an oil infused with calendula; its healing properties help boost cell growth. To make soothing Calendula Lotion, strain the oil and mix it with a hypo-allergenic cream, ratio of 1 cup of lotion to ¼ c of calendula oil.
I recall my first glimpse of a caper plant (Capparis spinosa) in the Forum in Athens, just below the Acropolis growing amongst pomegranate bushes. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the green seed of nasturtiums could be harvested, pickled, and eaten just like a caper. Once the pollen of a nasturtium gets to the ovary at the base of the petals, seeds form. Collect the seed to eat while it is still green. For seed saving, let the seed mature to brown. To quick pickle, fill a sterilized glass jar with green seeds. Bring 1 c of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water to a boil, pour into seed jar, and seal. Once cool, refrigerate. For more information on pickling and food safety, go to mfp.UCANR.edu or the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Nasturtium is in bloom prior to seeds developing in a pollinated ovary inside the flower. Photo: David WalkerMy french grandfather taught me at an early age to grow chervil, a delicate herb not sold in stores. In France, it is grown in large rows, harvested frequently, and mixed into salads or made into herb butter or chutney. Sometimes called French Parsley, chefs have included chervil in many of the best-tasting Bay Area restaurant salads. Delight friends with a seed packet, a chervil start, or chervil chutney.
Many perennial herbs make tasty holiday treats, including one of my favorites; herb nut brittle. If you are growing rosemary, lavender, sage, and thyme, harvest and dry these herbs and then strip them from the stems. Two of my favorite brittles are Rosemary Pine Nut brittle and Lavender Lemon and Fines herbs almond brittle. Because rosemary leaves are stiff, grind them in an herb grinder. Follow a brittle recipe and when the mix is honey-colored, add 1 Tablespoon of dried herbs, 1 Tablespoon of salt, ½ t of baking soda, and 1 cup of toasted nuts. Pour onto a cookie sheet greased and lined with parchment paper. Once cool, break into pieces.
Gifts made from the herb harvest are ready to delight recipients this holiday season. Photo: Anne-Marie WalkerPerennial herbs in the mint family, including Agastache foeniculum (Anise Hyssop), are delicious sugared as a candy confection or incorporated into a dried mix of lemon-scented herbs for herbal tea blends. Just as the essence of an herb can be extracted in olive oil, so can the herb impart flavor to alcohol and vinegars. I know someone who fills a bottle with the leaves of Anise hyssop and a good neutral gin. This is his secret for a good martini.
As you share these herbal gifts, remember you have helped your garden become sustainable. The bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other beneficial insects have sipped the nectar and collected the pollen. Many herbs have low water requirements and bring biodiverse benefits to gardens. Wishing happy, herby holidays to all.
