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Thyme
by sandemp
We don't add salt to our food in the Sandemp household, not when cooking or after just before eating. That doesn't mean we like our food bland, quite the opposite, we love food that is bursting with flavour, the more the better. To ensure that our food tastes wonderful, but doesn't contain heart-attack inducing salt, we use herbs, lots ... and lots of herbs, and to ensure we get the maximum flavour from those herbs, we grow them ourselves. One of our herb staples has to be thyme, in various forms, I have three different varieties of thyme growing in the garden, each has it's own distinct scent, taste and look, but all three are wonderful plants. There are literally hundreds of varieties of thyme available, from the vulgar (or common) thyme to the far more unusual pine thyme. What these different plants have in common is that they are generally fairly compact plants that spread to create ground cover, produce tiny flowers that are a favourite with bees and are hardy perennials that can survive even severe frosts. Thyme does like the sun though, does best in a sunny location with free-draining soil and is pretty tolerant of drought conditions.
Although thyme can be started from seed, when I tried this I had a poor success rate as I couldn't get the conditions quite right. So all three of my plants were adopted from the local garden centre as young plants in three inch pots. A quick tip here is that very often my local garden centre has exactly the same varieties of thyme labelled as herbs and alpines, with the alpines being twenty pence or so cheaper. When picking your thyme plants you should apply the same criteria as you would any other plant, so look for those specimens with the most luxuriant foliage and check that they are not completely pot-bound (you should be able to see some roots, but there shouldn't be a mat of roots outside the bottom of the pot).
Thyme can be grown either in the soil or in pots, I have one growing in a herb patch and two others in reusable herb bags. I've not found that they require particularly rich soil, in fact the one in the back garden is growing in a stony area with only a very shallow layer of soil and is doing better than fine. If growing in pots/bags then good drainage is essential, so add a layer of stones, broken pots or polystyrene to the bottom of the pot before adding the compost. The addition of sand, vermiculite or perlite can further aid drainage, but you must weigh up the fact that perlite is a non-renewable resource. Once you have decided where you will be growing the thyme it is simply a case of digging a hole a little larger than the original pot, turning the plant out, placing it in the hole and then compacting the soil around it. I've found that as with any plant, thyme does appreciate a good soaking to water-in and then regular watering until it is established, but after that point it really only needs watering after a few dry, hot days.
Once established thyme requires very little care (in my experience), it certainly doesn't require feeding and left to it's own devices it will slowly spread to cover any ground it can find. Because of the way it spreads and it's low water and nutrient needs, thyme is a fantastic plant for using in crevices in walls or in a rock garden. Just from the point of view as a decorative plant, thyme is certainly attractive, small pointed leaves tend to form along stalks and depending on the variety these leaves can range from light green through to a very deep green, or variegated green and yellow, or even silver. In late spring/early summer tiny purple, pink or even white flowers form at the tips of the leaf stems in prodigious amounts. Not only do these flowers look very pretty, but they are also a great favourite with bees and any vegetable/fruit gardener will tell you how important it is to attract those bees so they can pollinate the runner beans.
I do feel that as well as being great for culinary uses, thyme has it's place in any garden simply for it's looks and scent. It makes an excellent bedding plant and has the added attraction of giving out a lovely scent when brushed against. Once you have one established plant it is also easy to propagate more simply from taking cuttings or splitting roots. To take cuttings, I simply cut off a stem (younger growth), remove the lower leaves (these go in whatever I am cooking) and then stick the cut end in moist (not wet) compost to root. I generally find that roots start to form within a couple of weeks and the plants are ready to be passed on within a month. This is a wonderful way of sharing more unusual varieties with family and friends and unlike with seeds, you know that the babies will be identical to the parents. Not only this, but you can literally produce hundreds of plants from one and many, many of my thyme plants have found their way onto stalls at fairs and fêtes.
Thyme has had many uses over the centuries, including being used by the Egyptians for embalming, burnt as incense and as an antiseptic (it is still used now in some hand sanitisers) but I only put it to a couple of uses. The first of these is that I will often add it to a barbecue to add flavour as I grill. This is just a case of place a handful on the glowing coals and it adds a certain something to such foods as pork chops. The other use is of course in my cooking and how I use it (and which variety) does depend greatly on what I'm cooking.
If I'm adding thyme to a stew then I will cut several stems and then tie them in a bunch to add to the pot. This makes them easier to remove after cooking, and I really would recommend removing the stalks as they are rather chewy and not pleasant to eat. With food that cooks much quicker, I will strip the leaves from the stalks and then bruise them before adding them to the sauce or marinade. I've also made a thyme butter on more than one occasion and this is a yummy way of adding flavour to foods that are grilled or cooked en papiotte (in paper). To make the butter, you need a good handful of thyme leaves, which I would bruise, these are then added to and thoroughly mixed into softened butter. The butter is then rolled into a sausage, using cling film to hold it in place and chilled in the fridge overnight. When you're ready to use the butter, you simply need to cut off a slice and as it melts it will infuse the meat with a subtle thyme flavour.
With there being so many different varieties of thyme available, there are so many different combinations you can try. Common thyme is of course fantastic with almost any meat and a staple when cooking stews, but have you ever tried chicken infused with pine scented thyme. Although it seems a strange combination, it's actually really nice, with a delicate and unusual flavour. Lemon thyme is also wonderful with chicken, but it's even better when made into a butter and then cooked with white fish. As well as being great with savoury foods, thyme can also be used in deserts, it can be added to biscuits or even ice cream. Both lemon and honey are the perfect partners to thyme and there are some gorgeous recipes out there using thyme to add an earthy undertone to sweet foods.
If I haven't already convinced you that one (or more) thyme plants deserve a place in your garden, or on your balcony, or on your patio, then I will simply add that thyme was one of the first plants I placed in my garden and is a beautiful, useful addition that I simply couldn't do without. There are so many varieties that the only difficulty is that as I add to my collection I will soon run out of space. So whether you are simply looking for a plant that will add flavour to your stews, or will look decorative in your garden or a plant that will attract the bees needed to pollinate your fruit and vegetables, then believe me thyme is for you.
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Chives
by jeremyjiao
Having never had chives on my shopping list before, nevermind tried to grow them, growing chives was a relatively new experience for me. When I popped into the supermarket, I saw a pot of grow your own chives on special offer for £1 and I thought that it would be at least worth a try; after all, it could be a good investment and save me ... a little bit of money on herbs and spices. However, I was a little apprehensive, as I am not exactly well known for remembering to water the plants. Here are my views on chives, and growing them:
*GROWING YOUR CHIVES*
I am not a master at gardening, but you really did not need to be to grow these chives. The pot did not have any specific instructions, and it did not seem like the chives needed special attention as such, so I just placed the pot on a saucer (to catch the excess water) next to the windowsill where there was a lot of sunlight to be found, watering it daily. This was all the attention, it seemed, that it needed- it grew faster than I would have expected, so fast that I HAD to use it regularly so the chives would not be in danger of bending over. All you had to do was snip off the ends to use in your cooking, and it would just grow again, so it was a very sustainable plant. All in all, it was one of the easiest plant growing experiences I have ever faced, so it is a perfect herb to grow for beginners!
*TASTE AND FUNCTIONALITY*
The chives had a taste different from, but not unlike that of spring onions- it was a welcome addition to spice up ordinary, boring meals. You can add chives to basically anything you want to; it is great to add flavour to scrambled eggs, and you can make some delicious sour cream and chive dip with it. Pizzas and casseroles could also benefit from this, I believe. Chives are very easy to use- just cut or pluck a bit off the plant, chop it and add it your cooking whenever it is required.
*PROBLEMS*
The only problem I had with my little pot of chives was how, after several weeks of me owning it, flies suddenly started swarming around it. I don't know why, maybe because it is growing warmer, maybe they just like the taste of chives. It literally attracted flies like a magnet, and it was such a shock to see the flies buzzing around it one morning. This was such a shame since I had been having such success with the herb before the flies started attacking it, but I had to throw it away for obvious hygiene reasons, and did not manage to see it to the end of its lifespan. This has, I am afraid, put me off the idea of chives for a little, but I am sure I will try to grow some again later, perhaps in the cooler months.
*CONCLUSION*
Chives are a lovely plant, so easy to grow, and if you DO decide to grow them yourself, you could end up saving quite a bit of money. However, it is quite a shame about my experience with the flies and for that reason I could only rate it with 4 dooyoo stars
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Pumpkins
by Stewwydablue
INTRODUCTION
Right, it's the end of the football season now so in my calendar that means it's time for frost sensitive plants to go outside - either as the small seedlings that have been taking up space on my kitchen window sill (much to the annoyance of Mrs 'dablue) or as seeds directly into the soil. One of the things I ... always grow are pumpkins - mainly for their vigour of growth and the fact that they produce huge long vines that make my back yard look like it's been fed on waste from Chernobyl.
Not only are they satisfying to watch grow, they produce some pretty useful fruits that make lovely soups and / or a lantern for the kids at Halloween.
GROWING PUMPKINS
As I alluded to above, pumpkins won't survive if they're exposed to frost so it's important to wait until at least the middle of May to make sure it'll be warm enough for them outside - either as a seed or as a seedling. When planting a pumpkin seed, it's a good idea to plant them on their edge so that water won't sit on the big flat teardrop shaped part of the seed, increasing the chances of it rotting before its had time to sprout.
The plant will pay you back in spades if you let it grow in rich soil / compost with plenty to drink - they are very thirsty plants and need regular feeding to sustain the massive growth. A soil containing some well rotted manure and a regular top up with blood and bone fertiliser does the job for me. Also, when planting out pumpkins, consider the space they'll need - they grow like stink and can take over if you don't plant them away from other plants which could easily be crowded out.
Pumpkins can either be left to trail along the floor or can be trained to climb up sturdy poles. If you go the climbing option, then it's best to use some very heavy duty support - pumpkins can grow to be very heavy (some varieties like Atlantic Giant require have to be grown on a wooden pallet and are only able to be moved by a forklift truck!). Whichever way you grow them, once the plant has three good pumpkins on it, pick off any remaining fruits which appear afterwards. This will ensure that all the plant's energy goes into just those three fruits which you've left on. Also, if you have any large leaves which are covering a fruit, remove these as the pumpkins themselves need exposure to good strong sunlight in order to ripen.
When you're left with three good fruits on the vine, stand these on some straw or a piece of wood to keep them off the floor where they could be susceptible to rotting. When it gets to September time, the plant itself will start to look tired - leaves will turn yellow and fall off and the vine will start to look dried out and hairy, but hopefully the pumpkins themselves will be fat, vibrantly coloured healthy looking fruits that are (hopefully) making the most of a still sunny and warm-ish month. I never leave the fruits on past October, as I can't guarantee frost free nights. When harvesting the pumpkins, leave on a "handle" of a few inches of the "mother" vine either side of the stem, it'll make handling them much easier.
Only store them if they are dry, hopefully they should a few months if kept indoors in a warm room.
PESTS AND DISEASES COMMON TO PUMPKINS
Aphids can cause mosaic virus to enter your plant. Mosaic virus causes spotting on the leaves, stunted growth and misshaped fruits. Prevention is better than cure, so try and prevent aphids from nibbling on your plants in the first place. There's two main ways of treating aphids - if you have a green conscience you can try attracting hoverflies and ladybirds to your garden by planting marigolds and building a "ladybird hotel". Or, if you don't mind making polar bears cry, you can inflict insect death at the end of a spray bottle, labelled with a skull and crossbones. I'm a fan of the first method, but I'll be honest and say that it's not as effective as using chemicals, but at least I know that the homemade pumpkin soup I give to my children hasn't got any chemicals in it which might help them grow a sixth finger.
USING PUMPKINS
Pumpkin soup is an easy way of using the huge amount of pumpkin fruit you should hopefully have in September time and is one of those dishes that announces the arrival of autumn - if eating seasonally floats your boat. With a little help from Monty Don's recipe, here's how I do it:
Peel your pumpkin, scoop out all the seeds (you can either bin them, dry them and replant next year or toast them and eat as dried seeds). Roughly chop about 750 grammes worth of pumpkin and sweat in a pan for about ten minutes with some olive oil, butter and two peeled chopped spuds. Add roughly half a litre of vegetable stock to this, two chopped tomatoes and some bay or sage leaves. Let this simmer for about ten minutes, the remove from the heat and once cooled enough, blast it in a blender to remove any lumps. Done. I also add a bit of cream for richness, but it's entirely up to you.
As mentioned above, you can air dry the seeds and have them as a healthy snack - I'll write more about why they're healthy below. Also, probably the most iconic use of pumpkins that springs to most peoples' minds is as a lantern for Halloween. A good pumpkin to use for this is "Jack of all trades" as its got that classic round shape but has a slightly flattened bottom which helps it to sit still when placed down - you wouldn't want a lighted candle rolling all over the place!
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
The pumpkin flesh itself is very low in calories, but high in vitamins A, C and E. The seeds are a good source of fibre, protein and zinc - a good mineral for us fellas in building up the strength of our "swimmers" (I'll say no more, let's keep it clean!).
AVAILABLE VARIETIES
Seed companies like Haddons, Thompson and Morgan, Marshalls etc all offer different pumpkin variety seeds in the UK. Commonly grown types include "New England Pie" (as the name suggests - it's a good one making pumpkin pies with), "Atlantic Giant" (you need LOTS of space for this one) and "Invincible" which has a blue/grey skin and looks fantastic. You shouldn't have to pay more than £2 for a pack of seeds, and most packs contain between 5 and 20 seeds - you don't need hundreds unless you're a commercial farmer (then you wouldn't buy them in this manner anyway!).
SUMMARY
Try growing a pumpkin, it amazes me how fast they grow and they're one of the more satisfying crops to grow when the oh-so fussy parsnips and basil of mine fail repeatedly, I can always count on having a few good pumpkin plants to make up for it.
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