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Herbs contain all the essentials of their flavour and aroma right from the tiny seedling stage, and if you forget to label them or the label has washed off, bruise one of the tiny leaves and taste and smell it, and you should be able to identify the plant.

Never leave the plastic covering over the seed boxes all the time, for fungus and mould may grow in the damp soil. The purists will want to sterilize the seed-box soil first by putting it in a baking dish in a warm oven for about 20 minutes, or running hot water through the soil to kill the spores: but with ordinary care this should not be necessary. Watering with camomile tea (See Camomile) will stop “damping off.

Always buy your herb seeds from a reputable source. Most seed merchants are now carrying stocks, but beware of those dusty sun-bleached packets on the back shelf in the hardware store. Your nursery is the best bet. Their turnover is high, ensuring that the seed is always the freshest available, their suppliers are reliable, and their reputation is at stake.

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The name comes from the Greek tanacetum, immortality, and it was the legendary herb given by Mercury, on Jupiter’s orders, to Ganymede to make him the gods’ immortal cupbearer. The “everlasting” qualities of tansy are attributable not only to the long life of its dried blooms, but also perhaps to its poisonous qualities if it is taken to excess. So use it only sparingly.

Culpeper had an abstruse comment to make about tansy; “Let those women that desire children love this herb; it is their best companion, their husbands excepted.” Just how it was to be made use of, sadly he did not explain.

The leaves of tansy were often steeped in white wine and used as a regular face-wash to whiten the skin.

On Easter Sunday be the pudding seen To which the tansy lends her sober green.

A tradition dating from Jewish rituals at Passover spread in England to become a country habit at Easter. Tansy, one of the first herbs to spring into growth after the winter snows, was used to flavour the Easter pudding, symbolizing the return of life and warmth to the soil. On a more mundane level, its use is ascribed to helping to rid the body of the wind-producing foods of Lent.

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Grow marjoram in a sunny spot in light soil, with a good deal of water during the heat of the summer. It will withstand dryness, but like most herbs grows even more contentedly with water to keep its rather soft leaves in good condition. It is evergreen, and a hardy perennial, but its flavour may deteriorate after several years, so it is best to strike cuttings or layer it to ensure a continuing supply of young plants with which to replace the older ones every 3 or 4 years. My own favourite marjoram plant is now 4 years old, and showing no signs of senility; but to be on the safe side I have several young plants waiting in the wings in other parts of the garden. Cuttings will root readily if taken in early spring before any flowering stems are formed, or in early autumn when the stalks are strong and more woody, and less likely to wilt. Take slips with some old wood attached.

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Taraxacum officinale COMPOSITAE

The common “dandelion is probably the most underestimated and maligned “weed” ever to be consigned to the rubbish-heap. For generations, gardeners have complained about the plant’s encroachment into the flower and vegetable domain, and the difficulty in completely eradicating the tenacious roots and prolific seed heads. Dandelions, in spite of them, keep coming up smiling and, for the good of our health, it is just as well they do! Just listen to a record of their virtues: They contain potassium and calcium salts, manganese, sodium, sulphur, vitamins A, B, C and D, and that necessary liver-regulating substance, choline. The plants will grow and prosper only near human habitation, and are found all over the world wherever man has pushed back indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses. In comes the “stirrer” (its botanical name comes from the Greek taraxis—to stir up), insistently reminding gardeners of its often unrecognized value.

Star-disked dandelions, just as we see them lying in the grass like sparks that have leaped from the kindling sun of summer.

Oliver Wendell Holmes followed the lead of the ancient philosophers who placed dandelions under the dominion of the Sun. The leaves of the plants were used as a general spring tonic and blood purifier as soon as the first warm weather brought them into full growth. Their potency is greatest in spring and summer. During these seasons, the milky juice from the stems and leaves can be dropped carefully on to any warts on the skin. With repeated applications, the warts will soon blacken, shrivel, and drop off altogether.

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Recipes using basil are legion. It can flavour almost any Mediterranean or Asian dish to advantage, particularly when ingredients from the warm sunny areas are used. It should always be used fresh, or added at the last minute if cooking, for the flavour becomes very bitter if it is heated for long periods. Basil is, by legend, a “herb of Mars”, a very powerful “masculine” one. Use it sparingly. One or two leaves of the sweet variety will flavour a whole dish. Try steeping a small handful of the herb in hock or chablis at room temperature for 24 hours, then chill again before serving. Try it in a salad bowl, one or two leaves chopped over fresh tomatoes, or egg dishes.

Omelette Sauce

Here is a Basque recipe.

4 small tomatoes

1 1\2 tablespoons olive oil

Raw sugar

Basil

Lemon juice (1 teaspoon), salt

Chop the tomatoes, simmer in the olive oil, sprinkle lightly with the sugar, add salt. Simmer 5 minutes. Add chopped basil, simmer one minute, add the lemon juice, and blend all together well. Pour over omelette.

Pesto Sauce

From Genoa comes the traditional sauce for all pasta dishes.

4 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

2 tablespoons ground pine nuts (or walnuts)

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

5 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons melted butter

Pound basil, nuts and garlic in a mortar with the pestle (hence the name). When quite crushed, add the cheese and pound till a thick puree is formed. Slowly add oil and butter bit by bit, grinding as you go. Blend all well together. The sauce can be gently heated for a few moments before pouring over the pasta.

Greek Meze

Here is another delicacy from the Mediterranean, an appetizer, served on hot toasted bread fingers.

2 oz. black olives (stoned) finely minced

1 hardboiled egg (discard most of the white)

2 tablespoons olive oil

teaspoons lemon juice. Several leaves chopped basil

1 tablespoon fried onion

Blend all well together, and refrigerate till needed. Can be made the day before, but if so add the basil an hour before serving, and bring to room temperature.

A Sauce with Basil for Spaghetti

2 or 3 zucchini 1 green pepper

1 crushed garlic clove

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 large tomatoes

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon anchovy paste

a few capers

several black olives

4 to 6 leaves sweet basil

8 oz. spaghetti

Saute the zucchini, green pepper and garlic lightly in the oil. Then add tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook slowly for about 10 minutes over low heat. Add the anchovy paste, capers, olives and basil and cook a further 5 minutes. Pour this mixture over the cooked and drained spaghetti, and serve piping hot.

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