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~ Seed for HERBS ~ Herbs can be some of the most rewarding plants to grow, with even a few plants providing flavouring for many different meals, as well as filling the garden with scent and colour. Many of the herbs we offer can be grown very successfully in containers if you have limited garden space or want to cheer up a patio or balcony. ~ (i) BASILS ~   Finissimo Basil The smallest-leaved basil there is. Finissimo forms a neat round bush which is ideal for growing in a pot. The leaves are tiny (1/2 cm), but have a lovely strong basil scent and flavour. One of Kate's favourites - perfect for growing on a windowsill so that it's always to hand when you're cooking. Tiny, strong-scented bushes. Order HeFB - 400 seed £1.58 Mammoth Basil We had to put these two together! This is the largest-leaved basil we could find. Relatively compact (30cm) plants, but they have large 'lettuce'-type leaves. An excellent sweet basil flavour for salads and other dishes. We like it in tomato sandwiches as each leaf will cover an entire slice of tomato! Note: several people have pointed out that this has a slightly more aniseed-tinted flavour than other basils. We like it! But we also now have a different sweet basil as well - see below. Green, huge leaves. Order HeMB - 400 seed £1.64 Genovese Basil This is a medium-sized sweet basil - from Genoa - which we have added for those of you who want something with bigger leaves than the fine-leaved type, but without the anise-tinted flavour of the Mammoth basil above. Green, medium-sized leaves. Order HeGB - 400 seed £1.64 ~ (ii) OTHER HERBS ~ Give outdoor parsley some protection with a cloche or sow a late crop in a polytunnel for fresh leaves right through the winter. Coriander can also be sown undercover in late summer for harvesting in autumn & winter.   'Frise Vert Fonce' Parsley A nice tightly curled green parsley from France, bred to have good long stalks that hold the leaves clear of the soil, so less mud to wash off when it rains. Germinates and grows easily in a pot or in the ground. Good strong parsley taste - try an unusual 'pesto' made by blending lots of this parsley, cashew nuts or skinned almonds, garlic, olive oil and a splash of vinegar plus a little warm water if needed to help it blend. Delicious! An essential herb for the kitchen. Order HeFV - 2g (lots of seed!) £1.20 'Gigante di Napoli' Parsley A large flat-leaved parsley from Naples for those of you who prefer this type. Nice dark green leaves and a good strong flavour. Order HeGN - 2g (lots of seed!) £1.20 Coriander - leaf selection (Coriandrum sativum) If you want to grow coriander for the fresh leaves (rather than for seed), it is important to grow a variety selected for this purpose. This selection is slow to bolt and produces nice bushy plants. Keep well watered and pick very frequently to maximise production. Grows well outdoors from late spring through into summer. Extend the season by sowing under fleece or (ideally) in a polytunnel in early spring or in autumn and you can have fresh coriander almost all year round. Slow to bolt, for fresh leaves Order HeLC - 120 seed £1.74 'Quillquiña' (Porophyllum ruderale) Quillquiña has a piquant, citrus-like spicy scent and flavour. Used in Mexico and S. America to make delicious salsas (our original seed came to us from a Bolivian living in Norway!), and can also be used anywhere you would use fresh coriander leaves. The plants have thin pointy leaves giving it an attractive blue-green colour, & grow eventually to around 1 metre tall. Particularly good with beans and potato cakes. 3' Tall. Spicy-citrus flavour. Order HeQU - 40 seed [OG2] £1.19 - Seed kindly grown for us this year by Becky & Paul, as well as Anne Bartlett   'Papalo' (Porophyllum coloratum) This quick-growing annual has a nice, intensely spicy-sharp scent, suitable for salsas, or an alternative to coriander. The bright green plants come originally from South America. They have pretty round leaves and grow 2' to 5' tall. Like most herbs, they need a sunny spot to develop the best scent and flavour. Makes fantastic refried beans and chillies. 2' Tall. Nice savoury flavour. Order HePA - 40 seed [OG2] £1.19   'Red Perilla' Do try the Perilla, this is an easily grown, handsome annual herb that is really worth it - grows similar to Basil but without such a high heat requirement. It is also known as Shiso. This bright red-purple variety is used like Basil,or in fruit salads, and it has a great fruity scent. Perilla can be used as a garnish like parsley, and its also nice with soy-sauce in Eastern dishes. Deep red-purple, sweet fruity flavour Order HeRP - 200 seed £1.48 Saving Herb Seed: It is different for each herb, but in general with the herbs, you get a lot of seed for not too much effort. You need to grow only 1 variety to avoid crossing, and let it flower. Usually you rub or stomp out the seed (the rubber mat from your car is ideal for this!), and then pass it through a sieve to get rid of the big bits of stalk etc. The pictures show basil seed being done by Ben. Basil seed is easy because although it looks as it will fall out when ripe, it doesn't, so you can leave it to get really brown and dry without worry. Seed-saving instructions are included with your seeds, so you can do this yourself. And of course, seed-saving is only possible because these are all real, non-hybrid varieties.