April/May 2004
By Barbara Pleasant
GROWING YOUR OWN
RELATED CONTENT
MOTHERS HERB'S GARDEN, THYME July/August 1979 by LINDA SLATEER: Lately, more and more people hove b...
THE HEALTHY PLATE: Recipe for pork tenderloin with roasted red grapes and thyme...
Aug. 28 is International Kitchen Garden Day, an annual celebration of food gardening, local food an...
Get this Gardening Guide and find answers to all your organic gardening questions....
All garden rhymes need gritty, well-drained soil, and plenty of fresh air and sunshine, just as their wild ancestors did in the Mediterranean basin. At the same time, they benefit from regular feedings with an organic fertilizer, which help keep the plants lush and healthy. Most strains are reliably hardy to Zone 5; a few can even withstand winters to Zone 4.
English and French thymes can be started from seeds (with patience), or nursery plants are widely available. The best strains of citrus thyme are vegetatively propagated, so it is best to purchase plants of these types. When shopping for thyme plants you will use for cooking, pinch off a piece of leaf to taste before you buy.
English and French thymes are upright growers; the citrus rhymes grow into dainty, fine-textured mounds that look pretty along the edges of flower beds. Bloom colors range from white to pink and purple, and although bloom time varies with climate, it generally arrives by midsummer. Bees and other beneficial insects will flock to the plantings when they're in flower.
With any type of thyme, you can expect to see new growth soon after setting out plants in the spring. If you want to gather lots of leaves to dry and use in cooking, make a major harvest in early summer, cutting plants back by half their size. The sheared plants will then produce a replacement crop, which you can harvest in late summer.
Dry the cut stems on screens in a warm, well-ventilated place, out of direct sunlight, or in a 150-degree oven. You will discover that the thyme stems, studded with little leaves, are easy to handle and that the leaves dry very quickly. When they feel crisp, strip them from the stems and store them whole in an airtight container, away from the light. Thyme leaves, properly dried and stored, retain their culinary quality for at least a year.
After three years in the garden, thyme plants often become woody and prone to disease, so replacements will be needed. The best way to propagate your favorites is to root stem cuttings taken from your own plants in spring. Or, you can root stems while they are still attached to the parent plants using a technique called layering.
Here's how to layer: Early in the summer, bend a stem over until it touches the soil. Remove the leaves from all but the tip of the stem. Bury a 1-inch middle section of stem 1 inch deep, and anchor it in place with a piece of wire (a paper clip works well) or small stone. In a month or two, new root will have formed, and you can cut the layered stem from the parent plant and move it to a new place. Citrus and creeping rhymes can be dug and divided, preferably in early spring, just as new growth begins, and both types can be layered, too.
North Carolina writer Barbara Pleasant is a MOTHER EARTH NEWS contributing editor. Her newest book is The Whole Herb, recently released by Square One Publishers.
