HERBS - Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces - page 96

mint. The difference in flavour is remarkable and it can be fun to add some different flavours
to a salad and watch visitors' faces as they try to work out what exactly they are eating.
Although you can start from seed, with the unusual flavours there is a wider choice avail-
able as plants. The National Herb Centre near Banbury (see Contacts) stock around two
dozen types of mint.
If growing in a border, take a large pot (the ex-flower buckets are ideal) and cut out the
base, sinking the pot into the ground with about an inch (2.5cm) protruding. Transplant into
ordinary multi-purpose compost mixed 50/50 with John Innes.
Pick the leaves as you need; giving the plant a good haircut in summer will encourage
bushy growth. Give a general purpose liquid feed monthly or at least if the plant looks sickly.
Mint will fill its container and become pot bound in a season so in the early spring, as
growth starts back, remove from the container and cut the root ball in half or even quarters
and re-pot.
Mint will dry well or freeze to store for use through the winter. Alternatively, you can make
a mint sauce base that will last for six months. Take ½ pint (285ml) of malt vinegar and dis-
solve 6 oz (170g) of sugar in it over heat and boil for 1 minute. Then add 4 oz (100g) of
washed and chopped mint leaves and stir well. Allow to cool and pot into clean jars and seal.
When you want some mint sauce, just thin some of your base with vinegar to the desired con-
sistency and serve.
Parsley
There are two main types of parsley: flat leaved and curly leaved. It is said that the curly
leaved varieties were developed due to an unfortunate resemblance between flat leaved pars-
ley and the common weed fool's parsley or dog parsley that is slightly poisonous being re-
lated to the hemlock family.
Although we generally eat parsley as a garnish or use it as a flavouring herb rather than a
vegetable, it's actually nutritious and vitamin rich. Parsley has a flavour reminiscent of cel-
ery (they're both in the same crop family of Umbellifera) and they combine to make a lovely
soup. You can also briefly deep fry parsley and serve as a separate vegetable.
Parsley is perfect for pot growing and will thrive as a window sill herb year round. Parsley
is slow to germinate and even for outdoor planting is best started indoors in small pots or
modules, moving on to 4 inch (10cm) pots, one plant per pot, as they grow. Avoid over wet-
ting the compost as the seeds are prone to rot off.
Of the curled leaf varieties, Favorit and Moss Curled both have the RHS Award of Garden
Merit and are easy to cultivate.
The flat leaved varieties, often called French or Italian, tend to have a stronger flavour.