ALABAMA A&M and AUBURN UNIVERSITIES

HERBS BRING OUT THE SMELLS AND TASTES OF THE HOLIDAYS

AUBURN, NOV. 22---Mmmmmm...What's that wonderful smell? More than likely, this time of year, it's the aroma of herbs and spices from holiday cooking or from incense and beeswax candles.

Herb gardening in Alabama doesn't stop in cold weather, says Mary Beth Musgrove, Extension horticulture associate with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. In fact, herbs, such as parsley, chervil, coriander, salad burnet, chamomile and sorrell, do their best during cold weather.

Products made from herbs make great holiday gifts. Good-flavored vinegars, mustards, jellies, honeys, butters, oils and teas, all come from herbs and most cooking methods are easy.

Herbs also make great holiday decorations. They can be dried and used on Advent and straw wreaths, in existing flower arrangements, small bouquets or tussie-mussies, as ornaments on Christmas trees and in sweet sachet bags and potpourri.

Musgrove says for winter indoor herb gardening, good light and proper water are essential. The amount of moisture a plant uses is directly influenced by the light a plant receives. When growing herbs indoors, use additional florescent lighting if you don't have a sunny south or west window.

Herbs that grow well indoors are rosemary, lemon thyme, parsley, spike lavender and scented geraniums.

SOURCE: Mary Beth Musgrove, Extension Horticulturist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 844-5481