Country Living in Southern Africa

I have a little patch of vegetable and herb garden that is fenced off. The reason that it is fenced of is because there are nyala and springbuck in our garden and they love to eat any plant that looks juicy.

So, today, I finally went into my garden to do some weeding, after a long winter of being lazy it was really necessary. I noticed a strange looking weed and started digging with my little fork and popped out the plant. As it came out, I saw that the plant actually looks like it had been potted before, then it struck me. It was the French Tarragon which I bought late summer to expand my variety of herbs. Luckily I remembered in time and was able to put it back in the soil where it belongs. 🙂

I decided to check in of my favourite gardening books, Jane’s Delicious Herbs, for uses of Tarragon so that I won’t forget again. So here are the facts that looked interesting to me:

*Tarragon leaves can be chewed for toothache and to freshen your breath.

*It can be used to flavour egg dishes, chicken, sauces, salad dressings and soups. You can also preserve the leaves in a good quality wine vinegar and it will make for a lovely flavoured vinegar.

*You can also use the leaves on your compost heap, because it helps to break down and adds valuable minerals.