So many uses for herbs

ANY day now, the purplish-pink flowers of my bushy oregano will open, offering a heady invitation to visiting bees - they just love its nectar.

I now have a dedicated section of the plot for culinary herbs, which require little maintenance once established and are essential partners to certain food crops. New potatoes with fresh mint, potato salad with chopped chives and poached salmon with dill, pesto made with homegrown basil, are just some of my favourites.

Rosemary, sage and thyme enjoy being baked in the sun and can tolerate drought conditions if we have a dry summer, whereas annuals such as parley and rocket prefer a little shade and do better underplanted by the raspberry canes.

Continual picking of leaves and shoots in a cut and come again fashion helps to keep herbs rejuvenated and means very little pruning is needed later in the season.

For the strongest flavour, pick your herbs during, or just before, flowering. This is the optimum time if you want to dry herbs for use in the winter. Pick your herbs for drying on a dry morning, tie in bundles and hang up in a well-ventilated room but not in full sun.

Freezing is another effective storage method, and herbs should be frozen when dry.

Borage flowers and mint leaves placed in ice cube trays add delicate flavouring to summer drinks.

In fact, there is no end to the uses of homegrown herbs.