Once you've grown your herbs and flowers, put them to good use in the kitchen. Here are some tips:

Don't chop different kinds of herbs together, because the flavors get lost. Instead, chop them individually. A real time saver can be to roll each variety of herb into a cigar shape and then slice through it.
Also, remember that some herbs make a beautiful garnish for special meals you might be serving.

Bay Laurel (laurus nobilis)
Bay is a herb that is better dried than fresh. Use it to make bouquet garni. Add a leaf or two to marinades, stock, pates, stuffings and curries. When poaching fish, add a bay leaf to the water. A leaf in the storage jare of rice will impart its flavor to the rice. Also add to rice when cooking and remove before serving.

Lovage (levisticum officinalis)
In the german lanuage this herb is called Maggikraut. Maggi being a flavoring similar to soy sauce in taste, this tells you about the flavor this herb adds to your soups and stews. Indispensible in german potatoe soup. It serves very well as salt substitute in salt reduced diets.

Majoram (origanum mjorana)
Majoram has a distinct savory flavor. It is suitable for soups, pasta, fish, game, beef, chicken, meat loaf, hamburger meat and sausages. Tomatoes, zuchini, potatoes and peppers are enhanced by its flavor. It is also used in omlettes and cheese dishes.

Oregano (origanum vulgare)
This is the wild cousin of the cultivated Majoram. Its flavor is much stronger though.
Oregano is good with pizza, can be used as the majoram but more sparingly. A must in italian and greek cooking.

Parsley (petroselinium crispum)
Parsley is a taprooted biannual plant that no cook should be without. The culinary uses of this herb make it very popular. Parsley is used in bouquet garni and eaten to freshen breath. Use the vitamin and mineral rich leaves as garnish and add to soups, salads and savory dishes. It is eaten as a vegetable in the middle east, it is one of the main incredience in tabhouli. The root is also used in soups and stews or raw with other veggies to dip.
Grown near roses it improves their scent and health.

Rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis)
This aromatic leaf aids the digestion of fats, and traditionnally is sprinkled on lamb and pork or added to sausage meats, pates and stuffings. Put a whole spring in the oven to flavor bread when baking. Make roremary oil or vinegar. Add leaves, presoaked in hot water, to oranges soaked in wine. In spaghetti sauce it makes for a real italian flavor.

Sage (salvia officinalis)
Sage is a strongly flavored pungent herb which complements strongly flavored foods and aids the digestion of fats. It makes a good flavoring for cheese and cream dips. Use leaves in onion soup with stewed tomatoes, omlettes, herb scones and breads. Try a sage jelly, -butter or -vinegar.

Thyme (thymus vulgaris)
Common thyme is used in bouquet garni and has a long history of culinary use. It stimulates the apetite and aids digestion of fatty food. Use in meat, shellfish, poltry and game. Try lemon thyme in fish dishes.

Sunflower (heliantus annuus)
The flower is best eaten in the bud stage when it tastes similar to artichokes. Once the flower opens, the petals may be used like chrysanthemums, the flavor is distinctly bittersweet.
Eat raw buds in salad, or steam and serve like artichokes.

Click here for a Herbal Cookbook