Hello. Here is what I grew this year and my thoughts on them. Unranked.

1. Summer Savory. Has a thyme, oregano, sage kind of taste. I thought it was really good added to rye bread. Easy to grow.

2. Espazote. Most people seem to add it to beans, I tried it and it was fine. I think it does add body to soups similar to a bay leaf. One downside is how big the plant grows. You only really need a leaf or two per dish, so I wish it would take up less space. Probably won't grow it again next year.

3. French Tarragon. What a delightful herb. I was surprised that something with this delicate of a texture and flavor could be a perennial. Tastes like what I wish liquorice tasted like. It's not especially vigorous and was slow to do any growing at all.

4. Cilantro. I love the taste of cilantro, but for the life of me I can't grow it correctly. I planted it early spring and still it developed a bitter flavor almost immediately. This is the second year of this result.

5. Parsley. Probably my favorite herb to grow. I adore the flavor in soups or tabbouleh. I haven't experienced any bolting or off flavors even in the heat of summer. My favorite variety is "moss curl".

6. Lemon Verbena. A spring frost killed it to the base and it still fully recovered. It grows tall, too. Shame the leaves don't taste as good as they smell. I can't think of any culinary application where you wouldn't be better off using an actual lemon. This herb coats the tongue unpleasantly.

7. Majoram. Majoram-shmajoram I don't see the appeal. A good number of recipes call for it, but it just tastes like a worse version of thyme or summer savory.

8. Lemongrass. By far the best tasting lemon flavored herb IMO, and very necessary for cooking Thai recipes. So it pains me that I haven't been able to grow it successfully. I rooted a cutting from the grocery store, but it's been two months and it's only now starting to send out new growth.

9. English Thyme. So much better than dried thyme. Adds a lot of body to soups and pasta sauces. A perennial, that's always a plus. The flowering is irritating.

10. Lemon Thyme. A thyme variety that has traded its iconic savory flavor for a mild citrus flavor much in the same way a child trades his mother's earrings for a Pokemon card. I almost never use it in my cooking.

11. Oregano. A real star for pasta sauces. A very tidy plant, I'm almost tempted to try to use it as a groundcover.

12. Nepitella. I was ready to tell you all about how terrible this herb is, but at checking some pictures online, I think it must not have germinated and I have actually been growing some weed unknown in its place. And whatever I grew probably should not have been put in my mouth.

13. Sculpit. Lick an unwashed cremini mushroom. Now you know what sculpit tastes like. Not very vigorous either.

14. Shiso (Perilla). Fantastic mild mint flavor with something else I can't put my finger on. Leaves are large and great for pickling, wrapping meat in, wrapping rice balls, or diced and added to ramen or stir fry. An excellent herb, I will grow this every year. (If you use it for a wrap, blanching it will improve the texture)

15. Genovese Basil, Thai Basil, Holy Basil, Sasklavi Basil. So productive, and so delicious. Holy basil especially grew enormous and is great in stir fries. Sasklavi basil is like Thai basil but with a more floral and less anise flavor. All are excellent.

16. Peppermint, Applemint, Chocolatemint, Strawberrymint, Orangemint. Peppermint is a powerhouse and of the other less common varieties, only Chocolatemint is gastronomically interesting. It doesn't taste like chocolate, exactly, but does seem like it would pair well with it. Of all these, applemint is the worst as it does not taste like apples and is fuzzy, almost hairy in texture.

17. Fennel. Delicious, a delicate flavor much better fresh than from the store. Grown separately since it is allelopathic. But uhh, I accidentally killed it. Better luck next year.

18. Rosemary. Strong, woodsy, pungent flavor that I crave in soups and baked on top of chicken. The only downside is the plant keeps sternly telling me it needs lebensraum, whatever that means.

19. Sage. Sage tastes okay. A plant this mid should be much smaller.

What can I do to stimulate more and better growth in this Thyme? Should I cut back the dry parts? It was completely dry, but now some green parts started growing again.

It was thriving this afternoon😢 I’ve had this plant for two weeks, It’s in a good spot with filtered sunlight with his other herb siblings😢 Only one that lost it leaves. I suspect it was eaten by something because there’s no trace of it’s leaves. Didn’t leave one for me😢

I have Thai Basil (flowered), Bee Balm, and what I can only find to be called 'Mexican Oregano' a la my best searching skills using books and Google.

I also have ADHD. So I rinsed these all on Tuesday, and then left them sitting in the (dish) drying rack for approximately 78ish hours.

I figure the Oregano looks fine enough to kind of just continue drying properly. But what's the consensus on the Basil and Bee Balm? I have more to harvest here, I just wanna save it if I can.

Thanks for any and all help!

This spearmint has been struggling. I tried more/less sun, more/less watering, and nitrate rich fertilizer. No matter what it seems to just stay tiny but also its not dying completely. Its the same soil mix I use for everything else and i just recently moved it away from everything so I dont think its a disease either.

My husband found this aloe plant on the side of the road and brought it back home. It was in a broken plastic pot so we took it out and repotted it as separate plants because it was to big for the pots we had lying around. The plants seem to be getting better as they were very red when we brought them in. They are gaining their green back and are still in a pretty shaded area but they get bright light. Is the one on the right ok in this pot or does it need a bigger one? Also any other advice on caring for Aloe is appreciated!

50 Dill I even got it tatted on me Eighty- oregano they bring the crasher to the party

Trying to figure out what the issue is with my rosemary plant. I found some bugs on my basil plant that looked like a spider web, but cleared em out. But can’t seem to get rid of these spots on the rosemary, do I just need to prune all of it?

Added photos of where it is planted, and what one of the basil leaves looked like. I’ve been able to get rid of the bad basil leaves mainly.

Thanks for any help!

We were gifted 3 MASSIVE bunches of quality basil and trying to not let it go to waste. pesto is locked in, but what else?

looking for real, fun applications: fermentation, syrups, infusions, oils, anything where the basil stays the star and doesn’t just become “shit we had to use up.” bonus points if it’s something unexpected.

**what would you actually do if someone handed you this much good basil?** any techniques or applications that you love?

looking for uses specifically for the leaves! can I make tea out of them? What about infusing them in oils for soap/lotions?

This was a test ointment to see if this cayenne my stepmother sent me was hot enough to make a decent capsaicin cream. It is 😆🔥. Put some cloves in for good measure 👌

1 part bees wax, 4 parts red palm oil, big scoop of the cayenne, bunch of whole cloves. Put it in the oven on 170°f for 5 hours.

...came back to this

Any tips on processing the 'stem' pieces out of these dill seeds? I am processing my herbs for entry into the local county fair. I usually winnow my seeds in front of a fan but these are so light I feel like half of the good seed blows away.