Evening star., 1939-04-01

and flavoring such as horehound,
sage, lavender and the mints, will
bear big dollars on few acres.
Herbs for
Dining.
To come right down to our own
dinner tables, If we like the tang
and caresses Of the winds In our
salads, the secrets Of the elves in
our soups and the wisdom of old
wives in our drinks, let us grow a
few herbs. Thyme, mint and basil
are the most usual for culinary pur-
poses. Turn to thyme for borders,
edgings and dry walls, and for
soups, stews and omelets. English
thyme. French thyme and lemon
thyme and all the little creeping
thymes that do not mind being
planted in stone walks and thank
you with their sweet breaths for
stepping on them, are all perennial
and like warm sandy soil and sun.
They grow to heights from 3 inches
to / foot.
Coming from the sunny spots, ira
grant with thyme, into the moist
shade, what is this sweet, cool
breath? The mints, of course. Apple
mint, bergamot mint, creeping mint,
curly mint, pennyroyal, peppermint,
spearmlrlt and woody mint. They
show UP in March in, the Washing
ton area and spread. So one can be
extravagant with them.
Fifteen minutes before serving the
roast or the smothered chicken
cover with sprays of bergamot mint
il you want to hear "ohs and abs"
from your guests. Bergamot mint
at the foot of sheltered sunny wall
stays green all winter. Mint can be
used in pea soup, with raw cabbage.
for lamb and mackerel, in fruit
salads, on honeydew melon and in
fruit drinks.
Right in the sunny flower border
plant the annual basils. The yel-
low-green leaves Of the sweet basil
are used most for cooking. The bush
basil and compact basil are inter-
esting variations for the edging OF
the border, especially the purple
leaved with lavender flowers. Other
varieties have white flower spikes.
At this point one is tempted to write
a cook book, for a pinch OF basil
adds to everything from soup to
cheese. Try it in orange sauce for
duck, in cottage cheese and in tuna
dishes and always think Of 1t mar
ried to the tomato.
Fragrance Is
Delightful.
An interesting way to amuse an
apartment-bred guest is to dine him
in the garden and allow him to
sample the various herbs and choose
his salad seasoning. He may say
the tarragon tastes like soapsuds
but he will surely like the cool Gu
cumber like taste Of burnet and ask
for the chives and dill If not the
marjoram, anise and savoly.
Just for their fragrance let us
plant lemon balm, lemon verbena
ambrosia, rosemary, sweet cecily
dittany, lavender and the citronella
and other sweet-leaved geraniums.
Have them somewhere near a gar
den seat with the mignonette, hello
trope and nicotiana.
For sweet sentiment and that old
fashioned atmosphere, there is the
bee-loved borage that produces
above its gray-green woolly leaves
the little blue stars used so often in
old embroidery patterns; there is
the woolly betony, or lambs ears;
there is germander, perennial
growing to / foot, used in the old
Knot Gardens; there is woad, an
interesting biennial, known in old
days as "dyer's weed" from which q
blue dye was obtained; there are the
perennials, hyssop, rue and lovage
the last named attractive to the
birds. and for the rock garden and
edgings there are Nepeta mussini
and our lady's bedstraw.
Many of the herbs can be grown
from seed, but visit to an herb
garden where all the plants can be
seen and smelled and tasted is the
best way to learn much quickly. An
herb gardner is always an enthusi-
astic sharer Of knowledge.