They look good, smell good and taste good! And this week on ECR Life, one of SA’s leading gardening experts – and TV personality – Tanya Visser* tells us how to make herbs work for you and your garden.

Tanya has kindly given us this excerpt from the August edition of The Gardener Magazine:

Some Sweet Herbs
By Alice Spenser-Higgs

Sweet flavours and good looks go hand-in-hand in the herb garden. Stevia, rose-scented geranium, pineapple sage, mint, lavender and angelica are some of the herbs with these attributes.

Sweet herbs are the herbs of summer, used for flavouring fruit punches, desserts, teas and teatime favourites like cakes, biscuits and scones.

With the exception of stevia, which is so sweet that it can be used as a substitute for sugar, the herbs with a sweet, fruity or aromatic flavour are not overpowering.

Their presence is subtle, adding just a hint of pineapple in the case of pineapple sage or pineapple mint, or lemony-rose in the case of rose geranium.

Herbs that fall into this category include angelica, cinnamon basil, the mints, pineapple sage, lavender (if used very sparingly), sweet cicely, stevia, rose petals and rose-scented geranium.

Although they are not regarded as sweet herbs, the anise flavour of dill, fennel and agastache leaves also adds sweetness to food, cold drinks and teas.

Rosemary can also be used for flavouring biscuits, cakes and drinks, but, like lavender, it too should be used in very small quantities otherwise the end result can be bitter.

Unlike their savoury counterparts, most sweet herbs are not known for any strong medicinal properties, but they are used for skincare, as well as having other household uses.

They are also very welcome in herb and flower gardens because of their attractive leaves or flowers, or both.

Read more in the August issue of The Gardener Magazine…

WIN! WIN! WIN!

Stand a chance to win a year’s supply to The Gardener Magazine.

To enter, send your details to life@ecr.co.za with “The Gardener” in the subject line.

Competition closes Friday, 6 August 2010 at noon.

The winner will be notified via email.

*Tanya Visser studied horticulture at what was then Technikon Natal in Durban. She’s the editor of The Gardener and Die Tuinier magazines and presenter of The Gardener TV series on the Home Channel. Tanya’s really passionate about plants, gardens and people. She’s equally passionate about sharing her knowledge with others and seeing them put it into practice in their own gardens.