Herbs were, for long, the only or major medicine, and are still in there. They were also used to mask odours coming from food which was getting high in odour through age, until more modern housekeeping equipment and housing facilities arrived. Finally we have had refrigeration and other assets. And herbs are still very much part of our lives. And not only ours: a Dalmatian was sold with the advice that five herbs should be put in its evening feed. (All at once or five at different times? The woman telling this didn't make it clear.) All were named. A full list of herbs that are good in preparing our food is as long as your arm, and there are gardeners who glory in having a huge selection. Good luck to them, but the average household which so often keeps its herbs growing in pots (on a table with its feet in a plastic saucer or tin to prevent the slugs and snails creeping up the legs), is as far as many people will go. And yet, looking through a small, coloured manual, The Herb Identifier, you come across something like 120-130 illustrated, described and their cultivation discussed. How many people keep in their pots more than, say, ten kinds of herb? Everyone has a number one favourite. Ahead of all the rest, for flavour and for durability and versatility, says one man, is winter savoury, which grows into a tiny shrub. It stays with you all winter, and in summer the young shoots will perfume any kitchen as they are being cut up.
Mild lettuce and chicory demand that most delicatetasting plant, chervil. It is only delicate in that sense. In a frame, with judicious planting in series, it will last all winter and has even done so in the open. What more do you want? Chives, of course. But they do go down in mid-winter, and not even nursing them in a frame may give you a continuous, 12-month supply. You could freeze them. After long years of trying to have a bit of everything one enthusiast has his list down to this. Always winter savoury. Three pots anyway. Chives for as long as possible. Chervil all year round, as indicated, Parsley flat and curled, again for as long as possible.
There is a bay tree, so that goes on and on. Borage which comes and goes: one year it's everywhere, the next hardly to be seen. Basil for tomatoes, they say. No, anything else with tomatoes. Lovage, hyssop, oregano? Salad burnet? Enough? As long as the dog gets her five with her evening feed! What five? Didn't ask. Y