Thyme

Thyme for Tea! I love my herb garden – originally a square plot of ground in the vegetable patch, and now moved to pots and tubs in a sunny corner of the garden to make space for courgettes and lettuce – it gives me great pleasure watching the bees go daft for the scented rosemary and thyme flowers, and it makes the taste of my culinary delights so much better! My herb collection at the moment consists of about 3 small potted rosemary plants which I grew from cuttings (I have a monster Rosemary by the sitting room window which just gets bigger and bushier every year!), a pineapple mint, a pot of St John’s Wort, a pot of chives, a tub of lemon balm, a small red ...  Read the complete review

Thyme is an aromatic, perennial, many branched ground shrub that will grow to about 12" It has small almost stalkless leaves and in mid-summer it will develop very attractive lilac or pink flowers. Once established in in a well drained garden it requires very little care, an so is suitable for people (like me) how are not the most attentive to the needs of the plants in their care. Established plants will become woody after a number of years, but this can be avoided by dividing the roots from time to time. The plant is hardy enough to survive light frosts, but will die off if the temperature drops below 10 degrees F. Thyme is easily propagated either via seeds, ...  Read the complete review

Thyme used to be grown in monastery gardens in the south of France, Spain and Italy around the Middle ages for the use as a digestive aid, cough remedy and a treatment for intestinal parasites (no, not Alien3!). But poor old thyme, it’s sometimes seen as the ugly duckling of the herb world. It doesn’t have the extravagant display of blossoms that sage does, nor does it have a distinctive taste like tarragon. But it IS an invaluable element in the kitchen; it blends itself so nicely and enhances many other herbs without overpowering them. Of course, everyone knows the ingredients of ‘bouquet garni’ (sprigs of parsley, leaves of bay ...  Read the complete review

If you make your own stuffing for either chicken or pork then it will taste ten times better with a sprig of Thyme in it. Thyme is one of the universal and most used herb with a very sharp and aromatic taste. Thyme is a very easy herb to grow which does not require much attention; it can be placed in stony ground but ideally needs the sun. The plant needs to be sheltered from the cold; mine lives in a window box during the winter but the wind in the summer does not seem to do it any harm. Because of its smoky aroma it is very attractive to bees and therefore take care especially when the herb is blooming. A strain is also available called lemon thyme ...  Read the complete review

Thyme is a widely used culinary herb and perhaps its most common use in UK is to flavour lamb. It is used all over Europe to make aromatic and flavoursome dishes but a personal favourite of mine is Cypriot kleftiko which a highly aromatic lamb dish. It is grow in gardens as a decorative and aromatic plant as well as a culinary herb. Easy to grow but don't let it get too wet. Use it to flavour salads, breads, fruits, sauces and meats, or just delight in the fragrance. Thyme is used to flavour Benedictine liquer, Thyme, in folklore, was used to add to wedding bouquets with roses, to indicate fidelity and virginity. Hence the song, 'Once She Had A ...  Read the complete review