JW: Herbs. They are called the useful plants. I love them and I can't wait to share lots of useful information with you. I'm Judy Wagley. It's “From the Ground Up!” Bevin Cohen is a farmer at his Small House Farm in Sanford. And he is also an author and herbalist and a podcaster. Bevin, thanks for joining me today.
BC: Judy, thank you so much for having me.
JW: Bevin, there's so much to talk about! Let's start with culinary herbs. Do you have a top five?
BC: Judy, that's almost an impossible question to answer.
JW: I know-- it really is!
BC: I do have a list, but what I've broken it down to is not necessarily my five favorite herbs, but they're five herbs that I think that everybody can grow regardless of the amount of sun or space that they have in their garden. So we're gonna start with oregano. Not only is it delicious and super versatile in the kitchen, but it grows wonderfully in a full sun area with very little care at all. It's a perennial plant, so once you have established in your garden, you're gonna have it for years to come and it spreads and sprawls and just really does a beautiful thing out in the garden. It's just gorgeous to look at. I've let mine kind of run wild out into the yard, I smell it when I mow it. It's fragrant and beautiful. So Oregano is going to be number one.
JW: Is there a variety of oregano that you prefer for cooking?
BC: Well, you know, we grow Greek oregano and I find that one to be the most flavor forward. It's pretty pungent, but it really holds up the best in cooking, I think. My second herb is gonna be a full sun annual herb and we can't talk about herbs without talking about basil.
JW: Everybody's favorite.
BC: Oh my gosh, right? It's so good. I love to grow basil and we use it for all the things, of course, you'd expect basil to use-- for pizzas and pestos and spaghetti sauce and all that sort of stuff for sure. But it's just such an easy plant to grow and it is full sun of course, just like the oregano, but it's an annual plant. So when you grow it, you're only gonna have it that one year, and gonna have to replant it year after year to enjoy it. But you're gonna want to because it's just such a wonderful plant. You're always gonna want to have basil in your garden. It's frost sensitive, so you're not gonna want to put it out until after all chance of frost. And once it gets cold again, you know you're going to lose it. So you're gonna make sure you harvest it and make the most of it.
But you gotta have basil in the garden. Number three: Now we're going to get a little bit different here. We're going to talk about a biennial plant, right? Whereas oregano is a perennial. Basil is an annual. Parsley is a biennial plant, and that means that it takes two years for this plant to make seed. You can grow it and enjoy it the very first year that you have it in your garden, but if you want to harvest it for seeds, you're gonna let it be in the garden for two years. I love parsley. One of the things I love about it is it does fine in partial sun, even in shady areas.
JW: Do you prefer a certain variety of parsley, the curly or the flat leaf?
BC: Well, you know, that's a great question and I kind of like both of them. I prefer to use flat leaf in most of my cooking. I like to use it as a garnish, chop it up, I put it on pastas and eggs, I put it on practically everything, right? But I also make tabouli and using that curly parsley for the tabouli. I really like the texture that it gives to the dish, so I find both of them very useful in the kitchen. So. I grow both of them. Alright, number four: So we're going to go back to perennial herbs, but we're going to be growing them in the shade and we're going to be growing mint. I love mint, everybody can grow mint--it's so easy to grow. Almost too easy to grow.
Right, Judy, once you get into the garden, it's going to be there forever, for sure. It's going to spread and wander and do its thing. But again, just like oregano, I don't mind. I let it go out into the yard and do its thing. Mow it down--smells wonderful. It's just a groovy plant to have for sure. And I use mint for all sorts of stuff. The bright, vibrant flavor that it gives to the food is fantastic.
JW: So there's spearmint and peppermint, and I think often for cooking we might want to stick with spearmint.
BC: You know, you're right, spearmint's a little bit sweeter. Peppermint is the name implies has a little bit more bite to it. You know I like to use peppermint for tea. It makes a wonderful tea. But in the kitchen, you're right. We're gonna go with spearmint. So number five: We're going to mix it all up again and this time we're going to grow a plant in a container, and it's going to be rosemary.
JW: For remembrance.
BC: You got it. Rosemary for remembrance. This is an herb you're gonna want to remember for sure. You gotta have it in the garden. The trick with Rosemary, though, is it is very sensitive to frost. I like to grow in a container because then I could bring it into the house in the winter time and enjoy it all year long.
JW: Yes. I have a hint too for folks who want to grow herbs, grow them as close to your kitchen as possible, because if you're cooking, say you're making breakfast and you want to put some parsley in your scrambled eggs. You're not going to go out to the back forty and gather those herbs. If you can get to them in your pajamas, you're good. So that's my suggestion for herbs.
BC: That's a great tip, Judy. I'd absolutely agree. You want to keep the herbs as close to the kitchen as possible. Sometimes I'll even harvest bundles of herbs and bring them into the house and keep them in the vase of water right there on the kitchen table. So they're nice and fresh and ready to go whenever I'm ready to use them. They'll keep for multiple days right there.
JW: Bevin, why should everyone grow herbs?
BC: Because herbs bring us flavor and flavor is the spice of life!
JW: I love it! Bevin Cohen, thank you so much for joining me for “From the Ground Up!”
BC: Judy, thanks so much for having me. This has been so much fun.
