The Scents and Flavors of an Herb Garden

So often you’ll hear the statement, “when I retire, I will take up gardening.”  The ladies from the Calusa Garden Club are having a blast doing just that! It was a fun afternoon joining them at a workshop on Container Gardening, hosted by Maureen McFarland, Horticultural Chair at her hilltop home in Key Marco.

Begin with the right soil - Maureen began with a demonstration on how to make your own potting soil mix. A visit to your local garden center will also provide you with bags full of easy options for your container.

Anything can be used as a container provided it has holes for drainage but in my years of gardening, I have to be able to move it. The type of vegetable or herbs you want to grow will also dictate the size and location of your container. Herbs or vegetables with shallow roots don’t need a deep container, while deep rooted vegetables such as tomatoes will need deeper ones.

Proper light is important otherwise you are going to have little production. If you are planting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants these will need more sun while the herbs can take some shade. The containers also tend to dry quicker, so you will want to keep track of soil moisture and water more frequently.

The best part about an herb garden is the multi-sensory experience from browsing and munching on their leaves or flowers. The Cranberry Hibiscus was a plant that was new to most of us and Maureen had a small shrub growing by her front driveway. She informed us that the purple leaves and flowers are edible and go well mixed with salad greens. If you like the peppery taste of arugula with your tossed salad, the Cranberry Hibiscus will add a tangy flavor.

Maureen planted eggplants and radishes and raised the plant beds along her side driveway to discourage the gopher tortoise from nibbling on the eggplant’s lower leaves. On her first and second story balconies, she had containers filled with assorted culinary herbs such as basil, thyme, sage, spearmint, and dill along with lettuces and tomatoes, just to name a few. For her it is so convenient to be able to harvest fresh basil to make a batch of pesto sauce. And the plants are all safe from browsing wildlife.

After an afternoon of touring Maureen’s container garden, the club members were about to experience something new! The taste of a flavor filled cup of Infused Herbal Tea from fresh herbs harvested from the garden! 

Maureen pinched off leaves from her spearmint plant, cut several stalks from the lemongrass and added thin slices of ginger (the only herb she did not grow). She then added hot water brewed, for six to nine minutes and VOILA – an aromatic, delicious hot cup of healing herbal infused tea. And yes, you can grow the store-bought ginger root!

Making an herbal infused tea is an easy way to extract the flavor and scent from your favorite herbs. Maureen “steeped water” until it was hot enough to absorb the oils and flavors of the herbs. She also used French Press to make a delicious batch and strained the herbs before serving the drinks to her guests in dainty tea cups. 

The aroma was crisp and citrusy from the lemongrass, the spearmint provided calm while the sliced ginger, though strong and pungent, provided the overall warm feeling. A perfect way to end a fun filled herbal day!

And yes, you can easily chill the leftover herbal infused tea and get to enjoy the magical scents and tastes once again. Have fun creating your own herbal tea blend and most of the herbs are easily available from your local garden center.