A love of cooking and good food is one reason some people, including myself, go into gardening. Herbs and spices are a source of nutrition, flavour and medicinal properties. The cost of dried spices can be prohibitive, and they usually have lost some of the flavor of fresh herbs, or they may be completely different once dried. With the high cost of living, few people will bother to add spices and herbs to their budget. Cooking without spices can limit the dishes we can cook and enjoy.
While the drought may have thwarted the productivity of many plants, certain condiments are still thriving during the drought. They require once weekly or fortnightly watering if they are growing in semi-shade conditions. The heat may help with shade-drying the herns for long-term storage. So don’t throw away your old spice bottles that can be washed and reused to store home-dried spices. Here are some herbs and spices that are thriving in our garden. Leeks, garlic and onions are included here despite being vegetables because they are mainly used to spice up other dishes.