Thursday, June 10, 2010

Herbs photography – herbs garden

in general, all herbs are very easy to grow in environment when you have good soil, sun and daily watering. Get seeds from any store. Make sure that the seeds are fresh (check expiration date). Follow the planting directions and here you go. Takes about 5 days to see the first plants emerging from the ground.

Lemon Balm – Melissa Officianalis

Can be used with Ravioli sauce, Pasta Salad, Green Salad and more.

The most common use for lemon balm is to make a refreshing herbal tea. You can use fresh or dried leaves, however they can have a bitter taste and cause a headache if steeped in the water for too long.

Lemon balm makes a delicious accompaniment to fish and chicken dishes, fruits and vegetables, and even salads and drinks (it is used as an ingredient in liqueurs, such as Benedictine and Chartreuse). It may be chopped and added to butter to make a delicious lemony herb butter and also added to vinegars and oils to impart its delicious scent and flavor.

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Onion 

Can be used in green salads , cheese deeps.  

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Sweet Basil (Ocimum Basilicum)

Can be used with Ravioli sauce, Pasta Salad, Green Salad and more.

Sweet basil is by far one of the most popular cooking herbs if not the cooking herb used today.  Actually, basil belongs to the mint family. It has a very strong and pungent flavor that is used extensively in Italian cooking and pairs wonderfully with tomatoes (another ingredient that is huge in Italian cooking. Basil can also be made into an Italian “sauce” called pesto, which is a puree of the herb, parmesan cheese, nuts (usually pine nuts or walnuts) extra virgin olive oil and a touch of garlic.

Basil is excellent in many dishes transforming a simple tomato salad into first course to remember. Basil is also great on fish, vegetarian dishes and wonderful in a vegetable saute such as carrots and yellow squash.

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Chili

Chili is born in the United States as an mixture of influences from different places and is heavily influenced by local traditions. Different regions of the United States will also disagree about how chili should be made from chunk or ground beef, with or without beans, spiced to five-alarm or just meaty tomato soup. Even side dishes and garnishes are sources of disagreement. In any part of the country, chili might be served with grated cheese, sour cream, chopped onions, oyster crackers, Saltines, spaghetti, or cornbread, while somewhere else in the country such a pairing might be scorned

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Tomatoes

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Basil Lemon (Ocimum Basilicum)

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Organic Salvia officinalis

Great for tea. Mix with mint leaves and brew for 2 minutes. you can add honey to make is sweeter.  IMG_5246

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