Everyone has their own favourite herb(s) that they cannot be without. Mine is Lavender, what's yours? Have a Wonderful Day! Bettina Thomas-Smith Herbs Editor

Hi Bettina,

I voted of course and can't wait to see the results - any one willing to take a bet on the top herb?

I will take a deep breath and say tie first for lavender and garlic.

The prize - more of an obligation perhaps, could be for the winning bet to offer a specific use for the top herb/s - from a recipe where it is one of the main ingredients to say a specific medicinal use.

Whatever, liked your idea of a poll so hope you get lots of takers Bettina.

Cheers and welcome to the Herbs site albeit a tad belated.

I voted for three of my favorites, but missing from the list was oregano and coriander/cilantro. I use lots of both of them.

I use oregano and coriander quite a lot too, Mona - also mint which I find particularly good with cucumber in salads, or mixed with yoghurt and cucumber - yum....

I also use oregano and cilantro. I think the winner would be garlic or basil.

Basil, Dill, Parsley, Thyme, and Garlic.

I do not cook with lavender but I love the smell in oils and lotions, soap, and candles.

Garlic! Then basil.

After those big ones: Rosemary, cilatnro, dill.

For sweet herbs my big ones are vanilla and cinnamon, then nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

I might also like to stick cardamom and cumin in there somewhere!

I would like to add cinnamon to my list. Cinnamon not only tastes good, it lowers the blood sugar level and just the scent makes me feel good.

I often place cinnamon sticks, cloves, and citrus peel in a pot to simmer on the stove. It is an uplifting, nostalgic fragrance that drifts through my cottage. It is an aromatherapy treatment I use to encourage a good mood.

I do like rosemary too, and also cinnamon, but I think cinnamon is classified as a spice.

I have also simmered cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel in water on the stove. You can use the same helping of it for days, just keep adding water. It really smells good and makes you feel good.

I love all your feedback, thank you kindly! I think my next one will be top 5 herbs for cooking...breaking them down into categories. It will be fun to see what everyone picked though. I just love lavender as it calms and relaxes me (and my furbabies). ************* Bettina Thomas-Smith Herbs Editor

Hello there everyone,

Simmering herbs on the stove is a trick people use here now and then to sell property!

Potential buyers coming in like the smell and if the kitchen is a key room for such a potential buyer, I believe the scent of cinnamon and vanilla and citrus make people feel comfortable with the surroundings and they can envisage themselves as living there.

Or so says a friendly Estate Agent I know who says too she can't be scientific but swears that this trick has worked to raise sales for her. There we are then.

Cheers

There was a tie for the top 2. They are Garlic and Basil. Thank you to all that voted!! ____________________ Bettina Thomas-Smith Herbs Editor

Cmon Jill and Dianne ... you both got it right so you have to pay now! We want recipes and uses for GARLIC and BASIL!

It is written in the book of life on page 24, paragraph three lines 4 to 6 that anyone who guesses herb choices right from polls run must pay in this way donchyaknow!

Smiling I say cheeeers now

P S I can tell you all, as odd as it sounds, that raw fresh (not bottled or pickled) GARLIC sandwiches are really stinky (!) but eaten with buttered bread, they will chase away a sore throat and a cold within 48 hours. I offer that as I got one right.

Hmmm. I don't know how to cook. How about garlic, basil, buffalo mozzarella balls and slices roma tomatoes? That's a Caprese salad, adding olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Thanks Jill, that sounds great and tastes even better I bet! And it uses both the top voted ingredients and not just one.

We have a cheese factory outlet somewhere close to my suburb, so I should visit it and get some of those buffalo cheese balls if there is such a product here in SA. They may have to import it and do I am sure. Would goat's cheese taste similar and be a good enough alternative do you think?

Cheers

No, goat's cheese is not similar to mozzarella. You can use regular mozzarella in making a Caprese salad.

To the best of my knowledge, there are South African producers of bufalo mazzarella

Thanks for this FrankJBN, I will do both ... find buffalo cheese and use regular mozzarella.

Funny how some things are on the menu for some people and not for others to the extent that these simple questions seem out of place.

I was speaking to a friend earlier on who was astonished that I had not heard of a Caprese salad. She laughed with glee and in seeming wonderment! Ah well. I say thanks, got something new to pursue!

Cheers

Lestie, surely the time for the raw garlic sandwiches is before catching a cold to keep germ-laden folk at a distance.

Yeah, i'd try that. goat cheese is good with anything! They are not the same taste or texture though.

Oh Mona, I like your wink! And yes, I guess so but then I wouldn't want to chase all or too many away.

I used to know a girl at junior school who used to eat raw onions like you or I might eat an apple. She would bring them in peeled and bite into them much as one does. She did that for fun and because she liked them so, had picked up the habit (?) from her Mom who did the same thing and guess what ... she chased people away all the time. Poor kid then, didn't realise why no-one wanted to play with her on her onion days.

Cheers now

Hi Mona,

I should have put Cilantro...I cannot make my homemade Salsa without it! Just love the stuff.

Maybe in the next poll I will add it.

Arg, my ground cilantro didn't make it. Too much sun. Seriously, anything that says Full Sun when i buy it needs to go straight into the shade in AZ.

I have a sheet over my tomatoes to shade them and they really need that sheet.

i feel like I am gardening upsidedown.

Hello:) i love them all but if i had to choose well i use Chamomile,rose buds and Acai berry in almost every tea i make lol acai berry for taste and all the nutrients, i love this fruit! but i absolutely love working with all herbs and natural recourses!:) *Tish Marie* **Herbadvice.weebly.com**