Herbs - Food, Medicine, Fragrance

According to The American Heritage Dictionary an herb is "a plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season. Any of various often aromatic plants used especially in medicine or as seasoning."

Some medicinal herbs may be a shrub or a woody type plant. Herbs used for culinary purposes come from the green, leafy part of the plant. Spices are the seeds, bark or other parts of plants that are often ground into powder form.

There are many kinds of herbs and as noted above serve a variety of purposes. Besides adding flavor to food and being used in medicine, they are often grown just for their aromatic pleasure. You can use them to make perfumes, in candles and dried floral arrangements. The herb is a versatile plant.

An herb is any plant used whole or in part as an ingredient for health, flavor, or fragrance. Herbs can be used to make teas; perk up cooked foods such as meats, vegetables, sauces, and soups; or to add flavor to vinegars, butters, dips, or mustards.

Herbs as a group are relatively easy to grow. Begin your herb garden with the herbs you enjoy using the most. For example, choose basil, oregano, and fennel for Italian cooking; lavender and lemon verbena for making potpourri; or chamomile, peppermint, and blue balsam mint if you plan to make your own teas.

Keep in mind that herbs can be annuals, biennials, or perennials when selecting herbs to grow for the first time.

• Annuals (bloom one season and die) — anise, basil, chervil, coriander, dill, summer savory
• Biennials (live two seasons, blooming second season only) — caraway, parsley
• Perennials (overwinter; bloom each season once established) — chives, fennel, lovage, marjoram, mint, tarragon, thyme, winter savory.

More than 25% of our modern drugs contain plant extracts as active ingredients, and researchers continue to isolate valuable new medicines from plants and confirm the benefits of those used in traditional folk medicine.