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One of the pleasant pleasures of life are herbs. Besides adding beauty to your garden they make foods taste better and provide a pleasant scent to the air we breathe. In George Washington days everyone had a herb garden that they used for culinary, teas and medicinal purposes. That practice is slowly coming back.

A spaghetti garden is one of the most popular kitchen gardens. Anyone which has a bright patch of ground or a window-box can grow these herbs of parsley, garlic, basil, bay laurel and oregano. A small garden space can simply yield all the herbs that you’ll need for delicious Italian meals. They are even simple to grow in a bright window for your year-long use.

Let us take a harder look at the spaghetti garden herbs:

+Oregano is a perennial ground cover plant. Oregano is a prolific grower that may send out shoots that grow to 6 feet in a single season. If pruned and bunched, oregano can grow into a tiny border plant. It would rather have light, thin soil and plenty of sun, so keep it on the south side of your garden. When the plants reach 4-5 inches cropping can start. Pinch off the top 1/3 of the plant, just above a leaf crossing. The young leaves are actually stronger dried than fresh and are the most flavorful part of the plant. To dry, lay the leaves on newspaper or a drying screen in the sun until the leaves crumble easily. It will keep its flavor for months.

+Bay leaves add a favorable hint of spice to stews, soups and spaghetti sauce. The bay laurel is a small tree that grows about a foot per year, this makes it suitable for growing in a container. If you live in a mild climate sector leave the container outside, but if temperatures go below twenty-five degrees keep the tree in a pot and bring it inside in the winter.

+Basil seeds itself so simply that you may never need to buy another plant after the first year. There are a few different types of basil, but all grow rapidly and need frequent pinching back to stop them from growing tall and leggy. When the plants have reached about 6-8 inches tall, you can begin cropping. Pinch off the top 1/3 of the plant, just above a leaf crossover. Pinch off any flower buds before they are going to seed. Six to eight plants will provide enough basil for the entire neighborhood.

+Garlic is maybe the simplest plant to grow. Break apart a clove of garlic, and plant the cloves about four inches apart, 2 to 4 inches deep in a light soil. Gently water and watch them grow. You may crop when tips of the leaves turn brown but do not let them flower. Just dig up the bulbs, and use them. To keep a fresh supply take 1 or two cloves from each bulb and replant them.

+Parsley is the most used herb in the planet. You will find both flat ( Italian ) and kinked types. They complement the flavour of everything from sauces to hearty stews. It is used as a garnish on plates, or cut up and added to soups, dressings and salads. Parsley adds vitamins and color, and noiselessly brings

out the flavor of other ingredients in the dish. Parsley is a biennial, flowering in its second season. It prefers a little shade on a hot sunny day, and is going to be kept watered to avoid wilting and drying. Pinch back older stems to the base, allowing new leaves and branches to grow.

Grow your own tomatoes and you are well on your way to becoming a Italian chef.

For more easy to make recipes, visit cooking101.org and also read about recipe for mushroom pasta.

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