Published in Caledon Living, Spring 2006:
     When I created my first garden out of a former apple orchard, my father, a successful and experienced gardener, made an interesting observation. “You have done things backward,” he said. “Most people put flowers near the house and the vegetable garden further away.”
     I had decided to put an island flower bed in the middle of my back lawn, because I love the Impressionistic effect of spots of colour in the distance. It invites people to go closer. I had located my kitchen garden just outside my back door. I like stepping outside when I want to cook with something fresh, and not having to trudge to a dusty or muddy vegetable plot far from the house, especially when I just want a sprig of parsley or some oregano.
     My kitchen garden usually contains some zucchini and tomatoes, but primarily, it grows culinary herbs. My current favourites for growing, eating and drying are basil, thyme, chives, tarragon, oregano, sage, lovage, parsley, cilantro and garlic.
     I have not been successful with rosemary, which is too tender to over winter outside in our climate. It didn’t like spending the winter in my house and never returned to full strength. Despite my fondness for rosemary roast potatoes, I have given up on growing rosemary.
     I have also banished mint from my garden, not for growing poorly, but for growing too well. Mint spreads like mad and I never consumed enough to justify bothering with it.
     Herbs are a great choice for people who like to cook and may be new to gardening. Most herbs tolerate or even prefer a poor soil and little precipitation. They can be low-maintenance and high-impact. Many are also perennial or self-seeding, meaning you almost never need to replace them.
     Basil is the fussiest herb I grow, being sensitive to frost and needing water to produce big leaves, but it is so delicious in pesto and pasta sauce that it is worth all the trouble in the world. Unfortunately, insects find it just as delicious, and will munch every leaf in sight. I have found that planting basil in a big pot that I place on a pedestal helps keep it out of reach of my garden’s thieves, at least until they locate it. I suppose I should experiment with a gauze cloth that lets sun in while keeping munchers away.
     Herbs have been cherished for centuries. According to the book Herbs by Roger Phillips and Nicky Foy, they go back more than 60,000 years. The pollen of eight flowers has been found in the grave of a Neanderthal man, while in 2800 B.C., a Chinese herbalist made a list of 366 plant drugs. In Britain, the earliest record of medicinal herbs dates back to the seventh century. Christian monasteries usually included herb gardens of medicinal plants.
     Herbs have had resurgence in popularity in the last 20 years. The novelist Ellis Peters wrote 20 mysteries featuring a monk-detective named Brother Cadfael, and set in the 12^th century. I admit to reading them less for the murders than for the detailed descriptions of the herb garden and workshop in which Cadfael stored his herbs.
     The success of these books has led to such tributes as Brother Cadfael’s Herb Garden by Rob Talbot and Robin Whiteman, a beautifully photographed reference of medieval plants and their uses.
     “The history of herbal medicine dates back to the dawn of time,” claims Whiteman, “when our earliest ancestors began to realize that certain plants had a particular affect on their health and well-being…Some plants may well have proved harmful, even deadly, but others were found to soothe, to smell sweetly, to yield a coloured dye or to be good to eat; a few, when ingested, produced a curious effect on the human body or mind.”
     In his book Phillips addresses the challenge of herb gardens. “You must first devise a system which will keep the groups and types well separated so that you will be able to go quickly and easily from plant to plant.” He suggests “Perhaps the most satisfactory solution is to plant Box hedges and keep them clipped to about 30 cm high.” This is by no means the only option.
     “Small brick or stone walls, paths laid with stone, brick or gravel, or even narrow grass paths can be decorative and functional,” Phillips adds. “If you have a small back garden or a patio garden, the best idea may be to plant the whole herb garden in pots.”
     How to grow herbs makes up an interesting section of the large British reference book Gardening Made Easy by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall. “Traditional herb gardens have geometric layouts,” she explains, “varying from a simple square divided by crossing paths to elaborate interwoven knot patterns outlined in clipped box, santolina or teucrium. Vertical interest in often provided by box topiary or by a bay tree neatly clipped to form a lollipop or pyramid. But an informal herb garden with paths winding to conceal and then reveal plant groups can be just as effective.”
     For the true herb garden enthusiast, Jekka McVicar’s Herbs for the Home is inspirational. Detailed plant lists and drawings are provided for 10 different herb garden designs: a first herb garden, herb bath garden, aromatherapy herb garden, white herb garden, salad herb garden, medicinal herb garden, cook’s herb garden, natural dye garden, potpourri garden, and Roman herb garden.
     As for using herbs, McVicar is encouraging. “The more you pick, the healthier the plant,” she writes. “Herbs can be harvested from very early in their growing season. This encourages the plant to produce vigorous new growth. It allows the plant to be controlled both in shape and size. Most herbs reach their peak of flavor just before they flower.”
     Indeed, early spring is the best time to eat chives, with their light onion flavour, and lovage, its tender bright green leaves giving a strong celery taste to soups, salads and potatoes.
     Yet herb gardens are for much more than cooking. They can be designed as elaborately or simply as you choose, with the option of needing little maintenance while providing big rewards in foliage, flowers, taste, scent and coverage, both vertically and horizontally. Simply spending time in them may provide health benefits, as their oils and fragrances may have relaxing properties.
     Their fascinating, long history can lead to entertaining daydreams as you identify with monks, medicine women, chefs and even Neanderthals, who at one time nurtured, watered, cultivated, picked, harvested and stored the very same kinds of plants.

Three Herbs for Early Spring Picking
Chives
  Chives grow and spread easily from tiny clumps of bulbs in moist soil. If left unclipped, they will grow beautiful purple pom-pom flowers. They become exhausted in the dry heat of summer, but will usually revive in the fall. Their delicate green stalks have a fresh, light onion taste. As soon as the stalks grow a few inches above the soil, they can be snipped off with scissors and added raw to green salads, egg salad, cream cheese, sour cream or yogurt for dips and spreads, and can be used in cooking soups and stews. They make a beautiful garnish for savoury foods. There is an elaborate cheese bread recipe that calls for chopped chives to be baked in.
Lovage
  This perennial is hardy and generous, growing five feet tall and returning each year with a larger base. Easily grown from root divisions, this is a great plant to pass on. The spring leaves are tender and taste strongly of celery. Snip the leaves and add to salads or cooked dishes. The stems will grow tall and are hollow.
If you cut a stem and use it as a drinking straw for tomato juice (Bloody Mary?), you will get a delightful jolt of energy-boosting celery flavour. Lovage leaves on stems dry easily and can be stored in jars for winter use, when you crumble the leaves into soups and potato dishes. Sniffing the contents of the jar will transport you back to spring!
Parsley
  Some people, my father included, seem to grow parsley effortlessly, but I have difficulty with it. It dies out in my garden. Although it is commonly grown, it is actually rather high maintenance. It needs rich soil and appreciates well-rotted manure. This explains my father’s success with it. A biennial, its seeds are very slow to germinate and need moisture and some
shade. Yellow leaves are a sign to cut the plant back. Flower heads need to be removed at once or the plant will quickly go to seed. Parsley is a lovely, if predictable garnish, and chopped leaves add flavour to cooked dishes. Raw leaves should be used in moderation, although a good clump will freshen your breath.
By Gloria Hildebrandt