One of the delightful pleasures of life are herbs. Besides adding beauty to your garden they make foods taste better and provide a pleasing smell to the air we breathe. In George Washington days everybody 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 well liked kitchen gardens. Anyone that 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-round use.

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

+Oregano is an evergreen ground cover plant. Oregano is a prolific grower that will send out shoots that grow to six feet in a single season. If pruned and bunched, oregano can grow into a tiny border plant. It might 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 harvesting can start. Pinch off the top 1/3 of the plant, just above a leaf crossover. The young leaves are basically stronger dried than fresh and are the most flavorsome part of the plant. To dry, lay the leaves on paper or a drying screen in the sun until the leaves crumble easily. It will keep its flavor for months.

+Bay leaves add a good 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 OK 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 easily that you can never need to buy another plant after the 1st year. There are many different sorts of basil, but all grow quickly and require frequent pinching back to prevent 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 junction. Pinch off any flower buds before they go to seed. Six to 8 plants will provide enough basil for the complete neighborhood.

+Garlic is perhaps the simplest plant to grow. Break apart a clove of garlic, and plant the cloves about 4 inches apart, two to 4 inches deep in a light soil. Gently water and watch them grow. You will 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 one or two cloves from each bulb and replant them.

+Parsley is perhaps the most used herb in the world. You may find both flat (Italian) and curly types. They complement the flavor of everything from sauces to hearty stews. It is employed as a garnish on plates, or cut up and added to soups, dressings and salads. Parsley adds vitamins and color, and silently 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 should be kept watered to avoid wilting and drying. Pinch back older stems to the base, permitting new leaves and branches to grow.

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

Do you enjoy cooking and learning more about food? If yes, you may also visit cooking101.org to learn more about the many different kinds of recipes and cooking ideas that will be useful next time you are in the kitchen. Also, you might want to check out how to make tomato pasta.