Learn how to identify and successfully grow dozens of edible herbs
A great introductory course for those wanting to include herbs in their cooking and garden. Covering a wide range of both popular and little known herbs, this course will have you cooking with confidence! Develop your skills and experience the delights of cooking new recipes with herbs.
Learn drying and other methods of preserving the flavour (eg. herb oils, salts, vinegars)
Course Aims:
- Describe the plant naming system, the major family groups that herbs fall into and the resources available to the culinary herb grower.
- Describe how to manage the cultural requirements of culinary herbs.
- Describe the various methods of propagation, both sexual and asexual, the treatments generally used for seed storage and the handling of cutting material.
- Explain the way in which herbs are used in cooking and which herbs best suit various dishes.
- Discuss the most common herb varieties used in cooking.
- Compare a range of culinary herbs in a single plant family.
- Discuss a range of lesser grown culinary herb varieties.
- Explain the uses of a range of culinary herbs within a specific group of herb plants.
There are 8 lessons in this course:
- Introduction
- Scope and Nature of Culinary Herbs
- Herbs and Horticulture
- Accurately Identifying Herbs
- Plant Classification, binomial system
- Finding the group a herb fits into -Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons, Plant Families
- Pronouncing Plant Name
- Resources – information contacts (ie. nurseries, seed, clubs etc.
- Culture
- Overview
- Soils
- pH Requirements
- Improving solid
- Potting mixes
- Plant Nutrition and Fertilizers
- Water Management for Herbs
- Diagnosing Plant Health Problems
- Pests, Disease and Environmental Problems
- Planting, staking, and establishing herb plants, etc.
- Growing Herbs
- Propagation of herbs
- Seed Propagation
- Cutting Propagation
- Potting Media
- Division, Separation, Layering
- Rejuvenation of Perennials
- Designing a Culinary Herb Garden
- Creating a Kitchen Garden
- Planning a Fragrant Herb Garden
- Companion Planting in Your Design
- Cooking With Herbs
- General Guidelines for Using Herbs in Cooking
- Harvesting Herbs; roots, leaves, seed, fruits
- Handling after Harvest
- Drying Herbs
- Hints for Using a Range of Selected Herbs in Cooking
- Herbs For Garnish
- Herbal Teas: What & how to use different herbs
- Herb Vinegars, oils, butters, cheeses, salts, sugars, honey,, etc
- Herb Confectionary, Cakes, etc.
- Selected Herb Recipes
- Using Herbs with Fruit
- Most Commonly Grown Varieties.
- Review of many Common Culinary herbs, including their culture and culinary use
- Over 20 herbs reviewed in detail, incl. Alliums
- Many additional herbs summarized
- Other Important Groups.
- Lamiaceae (mint family) herbs
- Lemon Scented Herbs and their uses
- Hyssop
- Mints
- Bergamot
- The Basils
- Origanum species
- Rosemary
- Salvias
- Thymes
- Lavenders
- The Lesser Grown Varieties
- Agastache
- Agrimony
- Visnaga
- Apium
- Arctium lappa
- Bundium
- Capparis; and many more
- Using Australian Native Plants as Flavourings
- Special Assignment
- A PBL Project on a selected genus of culinary herbs
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.