Thyme is another herb that comes in many varieties. Most of us associate it with poultry, particularly with poultry stuffing. It’s also one of the herbs used in bouquet garni for soups and broths. Fresh sprigs are good as garnish, but if the whole leaves are used, it’s best to strip them off the stems or use only the growing tips. The mature stems get woody in texture, and while they may be steeped for flavor, remove them before eating. I add the leaves to salads.
Here are a few kinds I grow:
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- French Thyme, the standard culinary variety.
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- Caraway Thyme is traditional with roast baron of beef.
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- Lavender Thyme. From its appearance, it is related to Caraway Thyme.
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- Spicy Orange Thyme tastes like its name
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- Variegated Lemon Thyme has lemon overtones
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- Lime Thyme
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What do you do with all your herbs? I only have tarragon, oregano, rosemary and chives and I know I don’t get as much out of them as I should. I’ve made tarragon vinegar but not too successfully. Other herbs either can’t stand Oklahoma heat or didn’t survive last year’s freeze.
All of mine except chives are effectively annuals, but since I realized that I couldn’t keep up with harvesting the beans, I decided to use the raised beds for herbs just for smell. And bits in salads. I could use more basil, but it really doesn’t like our climate.
We have problems, in upstate New York, keeping thymes alive. I’m not sure why because they should be hardy for us. The fact that you can grow these as annuals is encouraging, although we, of course, don’t have the advantage of your long summer daylight periods. I’ve always wanted to investigate caraway thyme, for example. I may just try it anyway and if they don’t overwinter, oh well.
Very little overwinters here, but thyme grows just fine as an annual. You can even get most of the varieties as seed, though I ‘m lazy enough to buy starter plants.