Tao Herb Farm's Zesty Herbs
Tao Herb Farm's

    Zesty Herbs





Arugula  Latin: Eruca sativa
This self-seeding annual has a pungent, peppery or nutty taste that really zings up salads. Long dark green, lobed leaves. Easy to grow. Keep pinching the top to prevent bolting.  

Chicory  Latin: Cichorium Intybus
Chicory can be forced in the Spring for a very early crop, the leaves are rich in iron, calcium, and copper. Click on link for photo and medicinal value. 

Chives  Latin: Allium schoenoprasum
Chives are perennial and taste like mild, sweet onions. The pink flowers are also edible and great in salads or herbal vinegars. Start cutting leaves when they reach 6" but leave as least 2" from ground for contiued healthy growth. Divide chives plants every 3 years.


Garlic Chives  Latin: Allium tuberosum
Garlic chives offer the same growth habit as common chives but have a mild garlic flavour and aroma with white flowers. The leaves are flatter and slightly broader.


Italian Parsley  Latin: Petroselinium Crispum Variety: Neapolitanum
Italian Parsley offers the same nutritional, and medicinal value as regular parsley. Rich in Calcium, Magnesium, Chlorophyll, and Vitamins. It has dark green , flat leaves, with numerous edible, succulent stems. Has a thick, white, fleshy root that is a mild laxative.



Salad Burnet  Latin: Sanguisorba minor
Salad burnet, is perennial, has a stout creeping rhizone, tufts of graceful pinnate foliage, and slender stems with spheres of red-tipped green blooms thaat appear in early summer. Fresh leaves contain Vitamin C, aid digestion, and give a nutty flavor to salads, soft cheese, soups, fish sauce, salad dressings and cool summer drinks. A leaf infusion is a healing wash for sunburn and irratated skin and, when drunk, is a tonic and diuretic and reduces tooth decay.



Sorrel
My favorite Sorrel, if you like the taste of our wild Sorrel then you'll love this one. It has all the zesty lemon tang of the wild variety, but with very large leaves. I have yet to have anyone who samples it, not like it !


Lemon Grass  Latin: Cymbopogon citratus
The stem and leaf used widely in Thai cuisine, have a distinct lemon flavor. Leaf juice treats diarrhea, stomachache, headaches, fevers, and flu, and is antiseptic. Tender Perennial


Lovage  Latin: Levisticum officinale
This tall, celery scented, herb is used in salads and added to soups and stews to give extra body and aroma.





These products gathered from various merchants on the web. Please click on the link for more information from them.

Mitsuba - $ 1.79
The Mitsuba San ye qin San ip Japanese Wild Parsley, 'Cryptotaenia japonica', has a really unique flavor tasting like angelica, celery and parsley. Break your gardening rut and try Mitsuba, a delightfully flavored Japanese herb. The leaves and stems are used to flavor foods and are added to salads. The plant is about 1 foot tall with light or dark heart-shaped 3 inch wide leaves. Plant the Mitsuba after the last average frost date or in early fall for a winter crop. They will grow in full sun but they prefer light shade.
Big Seeded Corn Salad Mache - $ 1.69
The Mache Corn Salad Big Seeded, 'Valerianella locusta', has the mildest flavor and softest texture of any salad green. The leaves are so tender they "Melt" in your mouth. The big-seeded variety handles the spring/summer heat without getting bitter which is great for north or south gardens. It combines nicely with fruits and vegetables and makes a really wonderful salad in and by itself. This plant is also known as Lambs Lettuce or Rapunzel. Mache can be planted in containers.
Anise - $ 1.39
The Anise, 'Pimpinella anisum', was so enjoyed by the Romans, they could pay taxes with anise. The seeds and leaves are tasty and they are also useful for medicinal purposes. Anise seed has a sweet, licorice flavor and is used to intensify sweetness in cakes, pastries, and cookies. Also, either alone or combined with cinnamon or bay, compliments duck, pork, or fish. Anise prefers a protected spot because it grows spindly and is easily damaged by wind. The soil should be fairly rich and well drained.
Siam Queen Basil - $ 1.89
The Basil Thai Siam Queen, 'Ocimum basilicum citriodorum', is a 1997 All America Selection. The Siam Queen has a delicious sweet and spicy flavor. The leaves are very aromatic with a licorice basil aroma. Thai Basil is known to the Vietnamese as "Hung Que", and eaten raw with noodle soup and in Thailand as "Horapha". The Siam Queen Thai Basil has leaves that are twice the size of other Thai Basils. Plant 1 to 2 weeks after the last average frost date. Place the Basil seeds in well drained soil with lots of organic matter.
Sassy Salad Mesclun - $ 3.99
The Sassy Salad Mesclun is a custom mix of greens that will fill your salad bowl with many flavors. Leaf lettuces, romaine lettuce, arugula, endive, spinach, mustard and more, enough variety to please even the choosiest gourmet. For continuous harvest, cut rather than pull the greens and sow successive plantings every 3 weeks. Mesclun is the French name for a mixture of salad greens. Be sure to keep the weeds pulled so they do not compete with the plants for water and sun.
Mizuna Mustard - $ 1.89
The Mustard Mizuna Siu Cai, Xiu Cai, 'Brassica rapa', is the perfect mustard green with its mild, sweet, earthy, mustardy flavor that tolerates cold and heat. It is so attractive that it is used as an ornamental. Commonly used as a graceful bedding plant that "floats" in the flower beds and as a sweet, mild mustard green that is ready to harvest in 3 weeks. Mizuna looks are deceptive; it is a beautiful graceful prolific branching plant that will also germinate under cold and wet spring conditions.
Red Giant Mustard - $ 1.59
The Mustard Gai Choy Red Giant, 'Brassica juncea (integlifolia group)', is one of the most delicious greens available. It has quite a different flavor than American mustards. Red Giant Mustard is particularly overlooked by American gardeners for spinach and that is a shame. The unique, spicy flavor is excellent in mixed salads or straight as its own salad, wilted like spinach or chard and wrapped in prosciutto, steamed and tossed with sesame oil and soy sauce, or stir fried with ginger, bok, choy, snow peas or chicken.
Southern Giant Curled Mustard - $ 1.39
The Mustard Greens Southern Giant Curled, 'Brassica juncea', has a zippy, spicy flavored foliage. The Southern Green Curled Mustard has a very nutritious leafy green that should be in everyone's garden. Southern Giant is known for its desirable flavor when cooked in stir fry and soups or when young leaves are used in fresh salads. Mustard can tolerate light frost and actually tastes slightly sweeter after a light frost. If allowed to flower, the yellow flowers are also edible. The Southern Giant can also be grown in a container.
Mizuna - $ 1.39
The Mustard Mizuna Siu Cai, Xiu Cai, 'Brassica rapa', is the perfect mustard green with its mild, sweet, earthy, mustard flavor that tolerates cold and heat. It is so attractive that it is used as an ornamental. Commonly used as a graceful bedding plant that "floats" in the flower beds and as a sweet, mild mustard green that is ready to harvest in 3 weeks. Mizuna looks are deceptive; it is a beautiful graceful prolific branching plant that will also germinate under cold and wet spring conditions. You can harvest a few leaves from each plant anytime after germination.
White Stem Bok Choy - $ 1.39
The Bok Choy White Stem, 'Brassica rapa (Chinensis Group)', is two vegetables in one with tasty spinach-like leaves and crunchy sweet stems. The succulent leaves have a mild Swiss chard mustard flavor and are very tender and tasty. They are used in stir-fries with beef, pork and seafood. They are great in salads when the leaves are young. Bok Choy prefers rich, moist, well drained soil with lots of organic matter. Harvest the heads after 8 weeks, or when the yellow flowers emerge from the center.
Summer Savory - $ 1.69
The Savory Summer, 'Satureja hortensis', is a highly aromatic plant that tastes like peppery thyme and blends with many flavors. The Summer Savory is a bushy 1.5 foot tall plant with fine hairy stems. The flowers are pink to violet and appear in mid summer. The leaves are 1 inch long and skinny. The leaves turn purple in late summer to fall. German cooking with Savory and beans, is very popular. Plant in the spring in well drained soil.
Wild Arugula - $ 2.39
The Arugula Wild Rocket Salad, Roquette, 'Eruca vesicaaria sativa', is one of the most popular new greens. The interesting flavor of arugula will add spunk to any boring salad. Descriptions such as hot with a hint of nut flavor, tart, and spicy are used to describe Arugula. Nothing adds such an exciting, interesting flavor and texture to salads as this green. Wild Rocket Salad Arugula prefers light, fertile, moist, and well drained soil. In warmer climates, delay planting during the heat of the summer.
Grosse Bouclee Escarole - $ 2.39
The Escarole Grosse Bouclee, 'Chicorium endiva', is a crackling, crisp, tender, snappy green that is a must green in Europe and for any salad. Grown properly, no green will match its flavor. There is a reason superb gourmet salads usually have Escarole, because Escarole adds flavor, texture, and visual appeal to any salad. Harvest in the fall after the first couple of light frosts because the flavor is actually improved after a light frost. In the spring, harvest before temperatures get above 90 degrees.
Bright Lights Mix Swiss Chard - $ 2.39
The Swiss Chard Bright Lights, 'Beta vulgaris (Cicla group)', has spectacular stem colors that can include yellow, gold, orange, pink, purple, or intermediate shades of these colors. Some believe the leaves of Bright Lights are tastier than spinach. The stalks crunch like celery but have a slight hint of asparagus. Bright Lights has an improved, lighter flavor and is delicious raw in salads. In warm climates, plant in late summer for fall/winter crop. Chard grows best in in well drained soil with lots of organic matter.
Milan Radicchio - $ 1.89
The Radicchio Milan, 'Cichorium intybus', is a self-heading type that is easy to grow. The Milan Radicchio adds a unique flavor to salads. Milan is strikingly beautiful with its deep red and very white veins. It adds a distinctive, desirable, slightly bitter flavor to salads, is delicious sauteed with butter and garlic, or eaten with slices of fresh tomatoes. Cut head above the crown and it may re-sprout producing another head in the fall. Remove the outer leaves until you reach the inner heart where the veins are white.
Tres Fine Maraichere Endive - $ 1.89
The Endive Tres Fine Maraichere, 'Chicorium endiva', is the classic ingredient for mesclun mixes. Tres Fine Maraichere has very narrow, finely cut leaves that add dramatic texture to salads, and it is a very attractive ornamental. Once you have tasted a well grown Endive, you will never eat a salad without it. The smooth taste of blanched Endive is perfect to cleanse your palate between spicy dishes. Endive prefers fertile, moist, well drained soil with lost of organic matter. They will not tolerate weed competition.
Red Winter Kale - $ 1.89
The Kale Red Winter, 'Brassica oleraceae (Acephla)', is a rare strain of Kale that has very tender, sweet leaves compared to other kales. Most Kale gets sweeter as the first frost hits. Red Winter, an improved Red Russian Kale, is sweet all the time and it is also very tender. Red Winter is excellent for your mesclun salad mixes, tasty garnishes, and lightly cooked dishes. The soil needs to be well drained and have lots of organic matter. Kale can be harvested by cutting off the entire plant or by periodically stripping off the lower leaves.
Mediterranean Arugula - $ 1.89
The Arugula Mediterranean Rocket Salad, Roquette, 'Eruca sativa', is a select variety grown in Italy to maintain the traditional taste and color of Italian Arygula. Descriptions such as hot with a hint of nut flavor, tart, and spicy are used to describe Arugula. Nothing adds such an exciting, interesting flavor and texture to salads as this green.Rocket Salad Arugula prefers light, fertile, moist, and well drained soil. In warmer climates, delay planting during the heat of the summer.
Spicy Blend Micro Greens - $ 1.79
The Micro Greens Spicy Mix, 'Asst. Genera and Species', is the latest, greatest, tastiest, and healthiest trend in upscale resturants. This plant is very easy to grow and adds crispy and spicy texture and fresh flavor when used as a garnish on soups, on crackers, in sandwiches or in salads. Micro Greens can be grown any time of the year, even inside during the winter. Harvest by cutting just above the soil line, rinse and use immediately.
Bon Vivant SPICY Blend Lettuce - $ 1.69
The Letuce Mesclun Bon Vivant Spicy, 'Lactuca sativa', is a custom salad mixture with exciting flavors, colors, and textures that will excite your interest and taste for salads. We've added several unique and tasty greens to the Bon Vivant Mix to make a tasty and texture filled European salad blend. This variety contains Tango, Royal Oak Leaf, Red Salad Bowl, Black Seeded Simpson, Grand Rapids TBR, and Red Salis, Mizuna, Green Endive, and Arugula seeds. This lettuce can also be grown inside in containers.
Tah Tsai Tatsoi Bok Choy - $ 1.69
The Bok Choy Tatsoi Rosette Bok Choy, 'Brassuca rapa var. rosularis', has tender, sweet tasting stalks and leaves that are commonly used in high quality dishes and in salad mixes. The spoon-shaped, dark green, evenly spaced leaves form a plant worthy to be grown for its decorative value. This plant is high in calcium and vitamin content, and the taste is a much stronger flavor than Bok Choy. Tatsoi prefers rich, moist, well drained soil with lots of organic matter. Tatsoi can be harvested at almost any stage of its growth.
Red Leaf Edible Amaranth - $ 1.59
The Amaranth Edible Red Leaf, 'Amaranthus tricolor', is a heat loving summer green that is even more nutritious than spinach or beet greens. This plant is showy enough for blower beds with its coleus appearance. The flavorful foliage has a hearty spinach flavor that is sweet and slightly tangy. Amaranth loves the heat and is a favorite source of salad greens when other spring green crops have all been harvested. Plant when soil temperatures are warm. Amaranth will tolerate most soils, but prefers light, loamy soils.
Burnet Salad - $ 1.59
The Burnet Salad, 'Peterium sanguisorba', has refreshing, light cucumber flavored leaves that will add flavor to salads, soups, and cool summer drinks all year long. Burnet Salad is a hardy perennial that is great for novice gardeners and gourmets. The attractive plant looks like rustic maiden hair fern and can be planted in rock gardens, flower beds, and containers. Soil also must be well drained. Keep flower stalks pruned for the best tasting foliage.
Common Sorrel - $ 1.39
The Sorrel or Common Sorrel, 'Rumex acetosa', is a hardy perennial. The Sorrel leaves have a sharp, lemon/spinach flavor and is one of the earliest spring greens. Sorrel is an underutilized vegetable in the United States and unjustifiably so. The young tender spring leaves can be used as salad greens, famous for Cream of Sorrel soup, cooked like spinach and served with trout or salmon, or mixed in with cooked spinach or chard. Cut older, yellow leaves off to encourage the young, tender, healthy growth.
Borage - $ 1.39
The Borage, 'Borage officinalis', is like a handful of little stars plucked from a deep blue sky and sprinkled on a summer salad that may drive away all melancholy and it is nutricious, tastefully useful herb! Borage is a large plant. The flowers are usually blue, but may be pink or lavender. The Borage is an excellent bee plant and the leaves contain copious amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. Borage prefers well drained rich soil.
Greenhouse Gardener's Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace
Greenhouse Gardener's Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace

The Edible Salad Garden
The Edible Salad Garden

Great Greens
Great Greens

Growing Greens: A Directory of Varieties and how to Cultivate Them Successfully
Growing Greens: A Directory of Varieties and how to Cultivate Them Successfully

Lemongrass and Lime: New Vietnamese Cooking
Lemongrass and Lime: New Vietnamese Cooking

Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrution
Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrution

Herbs
Herbs

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