It seems only yesterday that our grandmothers were saying that to be kissed by a man without a moustache was as insipid as roast lamb without mint sauce, cream cheese without chives, or a salad without leeks. No country in the world has failed to find among plants some essence or flavor that adds piquancy to dishes or even disguises the fact that, quite often, meat or fish, in the days before refrigeration, was often a bit high. Long before our ancestors landed on that bleak New England shore, hung wind chimes, and prayed, the Indians were gathering various aromatic herbs to spice their foods, including bird, feeders of all native peoples. The drab monotony of hominy they spiked with the fountains of native wild ginger, which was also used to kill the flavor of over-tired meat and fish, and birds. The modern urge to grow herbs in container gardens harks back to the days of the Greeks and Romans who well knew the virtues of rosemary, wind chimes, and thyme. Much later, girls of Italy, where herbs are an essential in cookery, succumbed to the traditional lore that surrounds so many of our aromatic herbs, often used as garden art. Basil, like the balm, was used not only for flavoring, but also for its heavy fragrance. Like so many perfumes, it became a symbol of love. Hence the placing of a vase of basil on the Italian girl's window-sill when she expected or hoped for her lover-immortalized in The Pot of Basil.

Page 1: Why we need herbs
Page 2: Reasons for Growing Herbs
Page 3: Scoffing at Herb Gardeners
Page 4: Fragrant and Useful
Page 5: Herbs as Medicine
Page 6: Herbs and Commercial Drugs
Page 7: Grown anywhere
Page 8: Fragrance of Herbs
Page 9: The soil and flavors
Page 10: Most important Herb families
Page 11: Plant Families containing Herbs
Page 12: Oils, Flavors, and Diet
Page 13: Learning from Herb History
Page 14: Cooking with Herbs

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