The following twelve herbs have outstanding uses in the kitchen and if you can get skilful at growing these you will have herbs most of the year round and always be able to enhance your cooking. Our booklet called 'How to Grow Twelve Herbs' is available at £1.75 Add to Order Form.

BASIL I buy a Basil from the supermarket and I snip off the leaves to use in cooking. I water it well but it dies. I have to go and buy another one. What should I do to keep it going ?

Supermarket Basil is actually lots of seeds planted close together to give the effect of a bushy plant. Like any seedlings, if you cut off their first leaves, the young plants will die. (Supermarkets like you to buy another one !) Sow your own seed (one seed per small pot) and you will have lots and lots of leaves for your salads and tomato dishes. You can harvest off your big plant until the end of October.

CORIANDER If I buy a Coriander plant, it shoots up into a flower and there are not many leaves to pick. What should I do to get lots of Coriander leaf ?

Coriander is an annual so will always try to flower in its first year, especially if sown before the longest day. If you love to have lots of Coriander leaves for your cooking and salads, it is best to grow a short row of Coriander seeds every three weeks from May until the end of August, directly into the ground or about 10 seeds in a large deep pot. Pick and eat your Coriander from this pot. Never try to sow first in a small pot and then try to pot on to a bigger pot. This disturbance will cause it to bolt into flower. Coriander also needs constant watering to discourage it from going to flower. Sowing like this every few weeks will give you a continual supply of leaves. Also, the later you sow the seeds, the better it stays at the leaf stage. From an August sowing you can have leaves to eat in November. Coriander is a hardier plant than most people think. For very best crop - sow late and grow thickly in a row like a vegetable into pre-prepared fertile soil.

FRENCH TARRAGON My French Tarragon didn't survive the winter. Is there any way of keeping it going ?

Put it in a larger pot, and keep it in a pot always, outside in the sun in the summer. In October it will start its winter dormancy. Put the pot in a cool but frost-free place such as a garage, shed or unheated conservatory. It needs ventilation but does not need light as there are no leaves showing in the winter. Leave the compost to go very dry - not completely dried out , but still very dry. Start watering again gradually at the end of March, but do not bring the plant into the warmth. Harden off gradually and put the pot outside again at the end of May. Continue to feed and water.

PARSLEY I have tried growing Parsley from seed and it doesn't seem to come up. What's the trick ?

Parsley can take up to 3 weeks to germinate. The compost in the pot or the ground has to be kept moist in all this time. Also it sometimes happens that the seed does in fact germinate and the first leaves appear - only to be eaten immediately by slugs. Sow your seeds in small pots - a very few seeds per pot - and keep the pots away from slugs. Also do not sow too early. Sow from the end of May to August. Always pot on (or plant out) your Parsley plant, as soon as the roots fill the pot. Parsley is a plant that is trying to form a deep root. If you delay potting on, or planting out, the plant never catches up and the leaves tend to go yellow. Parsley like to have regular watering, and can be placed in a position of some shade / some sun throughout the day. Harvest outer leaves by snipping lower part of stem with scissors. The stalk is as nutritious as the leaf.

MINT Why did my Mint do really well the first year and the following year it died / didn't have many leaves ?

Mint roots are hungry and go to the edge of the pot looking for food. If kept in the same pot without any attention, the plant eventually starves to death. Put your Mint into a large pot and water it well. Every October, take the whole plant out of the pot and cut off a third of the root ball. Put the two-thirds bit back in the middle of the pot with fresh compost round. Water to settle the roots. Your Mint will keep going for ever.
Sometimes people think that sinking a pot of Mint into the ground is a good way to prevent Mint from travelling. Any Mint in a pot will still need maintaining as above.