Garden by Design ~8~

I love cooking with fresh herbs, but for some reason whenever I get those little pots of herbs from the grocery store, I can never manage to keep them alive for more than a couple of weeks.  I’m hoping that after caring for multiple herbs and vegetables this summer, I’ll be more adept at keeping them.

I love many different herbs, but one of my favorites has be to thyme.  It’s so fragrant and flavorful, and so pretty to look at!

In doing a little bit of research for this post, I learned that there are over 400 different varieties of thyme.  Kind of blows my mind.  Makes me feel like a bit of a thyme rookie – I’ve only ever had the regular thyme you get at the supermarket, and lemon thyme which I did manage to grow one year.  But with so many varieties, well…you can just have thyme after thyme!  Okay, corny.  Sorry.  But seriously, don’t you want to try them all?  I do!!

Now, you may not know this (I didn’t until just now), but thyme is also an unsung superhero in the world of herbs.  Besides adding tons of flavor to your favorite dishes, it also has amazing health properties.

We’re talking some pretty serious super powers here.

Feeling a little blue?  Have some thyme!  It contains carvacrol which is known to be a natural mood enhancer! (Also found in oregano)  It also has some tumor fighting kick-ass toughness, so that’s something to be happy about as well, especially if there’s a history of cancer in our family.  And lets face it…we sort of all have a history of cancer in our families these days.

Been a bit under the weather?  Maybe a little thyme can help!  This stuff is pretty potent and will gladly assist you in giving your sore throat a run for its money. Its antimicrobial and antibacterial properties are tough enough to even kick your bronchitis to the curb! Talk about fighting power!

What really made me take notice however, is that it apparently also has the ability to prevent food poisoning by being a natural preservative and prevent the growth of bacteria on your food (meats).  An herb that can make my chicken taste wonderful, and keep the nasties away?  Sign me up!!

I plan on growing enough of this herb to have plenty of it fresh all summer, as well as drying a bunch to last me through the long cold months.  It seems there’s nothing this little butt-kicker can’t do!

What’s on YOUR spice rack?