A Pinch Of Homepage cooking with herbs and spices

Q: Can basil and rosemary be grown together in the same bed? DW

A: Basil will need a bit more water than rosemary and rosemary doesn't like "wet feet." If you keep this in mind when watering the bed, they should be fine together.

Q: A friend of ours gave us a plant she had grown in her garden and it's now in a pot. It was healthy but now there is a brownish black coloration and withering from the base of the leaves from the stem; otherwise the plant appears to be healthy. Could you please tell me how to restore it's health or what this could be? Thank you very much. KK

A: It's hard to say what the problem is. It might be as simple as damage from transplanting. If it is something more serious like Verticillium or Fusarium wilt, you have probably lost the whole plant by now. If it still looks like it's growing well I would just pull off the darkened leaves and see what happens.

Q: How long do Basil Plants live? Thank you RC

A: Basil is usually grown as an annual, meaning it completes its life-cycle in one season, but if you can keep it warm (above 50 degrees F) and give it plenty of light it may last for years.

Q: I cannot eat any nightshade vegetables. What can I use in place of peppers in a recipe? MAA

A: Thanks for making me learn something new. I wasn't sure what all of the nightshade vegetables were so I had to look it up. They are potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, cayenne, and Tabasco sauce. Sure does take away many of the possible substitutes one might consider. Really, it depends on the recipe. Sometimes you could just leave the peppers out but if you need to make up bulk you might use celery, kohlrabi or other mild tasting vegetables. If it is the chile peppers you are looking to replace, you might experiment with turmeric (see "All About Turmeric") Fresh garlic would add a punch too. I wish I could be of more help but, wow, this nightshade business is really limiting!

Q: Hi there....very nice site, I have about 30 purple basil plants and all are what I would call healthy however, they are slowly turning green from the lower leaves up about three quarters of the way, not yellow, they don't look deficient. They are in 4" pots, approx 10" plus or minus, very little bug kill and no real sign of any other problems. They are getting watered three times a day and needing it. I'm in Arkansas and it's 95 up and down. They have been growing from seed for nearly 11 weeks and up until the last week and a half have been deep purple. The aroma is as strong in the greener leaves as it is in the deep purple ones. Other then the loss of color I wouldn't know there is anything
wrong. I'm guessing it's the small pots crowding the roots. They are trying to go to seed this week, pink flowers in the early stage on 20 percent of the
plants....any ideas? DO

A: It's not unusual for a hybrid plant to revert to its original state, particularly when grown from seed. You sometimes see this with variegated leaves too. From what I understand, the best way to maintain the color of purple basil is to take cuttings and root them to get new plants rather than start from seeds. The heat is probably making the basil "bolt," or put out flowers so soon.

Q: What can you sub for sumac? TK

A: Sumac has such a distinctive taste, there is no real substitute. In some cases a sprinkling of lemon juice might mimic the sour taste. Although I haven't tried it, I wonder if tamarind powder would work too. In her book Spices, Manisha Gambhir Harkins offers this advice following a recipe that calls for sumac: "If you can't find sumac but would like to try this salad, opt for a completely different flavor, but still Middle Eastern. In the Levant, caraway is used in many ways, and will give this salad a light anise flavor rather than the sour edge provided by the sumac. Add 1 teaspoon caraway seeds when you heat the oil, then proceed with the recipe--a refreshing alternative."

Q: Is there a substitution for mustard seed when making pickles, I've been unable to find the mustard seed in the spice section. Thanks DL

A: Here's another spice to which nothing else offers a similar flavor. I'm really surprised that you can't find mustard seed, it is such a common spice. Maybe if you asked the store would order it for you.

Q: I have a recipe to use crushed cinnamon sticks in sweet pickles. I’d like to substitute cinnamon oil. How much cinnamon oil equals one cinnamon stick? BJH

A: I can't come up with a definitive answer but judging from what I've read, you would not want to use much more than an eighth of a teaspoon. Cinnamon oil is really powerful stuff.

Q: Hi, I have grown basil for years and always put up huge amounts of pesto. Last summer and this I have had big problems with grasshoppers attacking the plants. The two solutions I have read about are floating row covers and neem oil spray. Is neem oil really safe to eat and would it affect the flavor of the basil at all? What would you recommend? I have about 30 plants and it is early in the season and the grasshoppers are already at it. Thank you, EG

A: Although neem oil is supposedly safe, I think I would go with the floating row covers. Neem oil works systematically, meaning it goes into the roots and throughout the plant, and that just seems icky to me in pesto. One thing to note, grasshoppers lay eggs in the soil that overwinter and then hatch in the spring. You might want to cultivate the soil well in the fall to kill the eggs and perhaps prevent them from turning up next year.

Q: This site is awesome!! Thank you!! I have been around chive plants for almost 60 years and never realized, or heard of, the blossoms ever being used! Please, please, how do I freeze, or dry, the blossoms? Mine are about ready to blow away and I would like to harvest them. Again, please and thank you! LX

A: Thanks to you for your enthusiasm! I have never tried to dry the blossoms but you might give it a whirl by snipping the whole stalk and them hanging them upside down to dry. Try not to have the heads all bunched together. They need air to circulate around them in order to dry completely. Let me know how it goes if you try it.

Q: Hello, An old family recipe for barbeque calls for 1/4 Cup of chopped celery. I need to substitute celery seed for the fresh celery. Would you have a suggestion as to how much celery seed may give the flavor of this amount of fresh celery, without being overwhelming? Thanks for your expertise! CM

A: I want to say one teaspoon but I think I would actually start with half a teaspoon just to make sure you don't overdo it. The seeds are very small and will disperse well.

Q: Hi, I've found several recipes which specify fennel. Since I have quite a bit of fennel seed, how much fennel seed should I use when fennel bulbs are specified? Thank you. MLP

A: This is one of those times you have to be careful. In some recipes, the fennel bulb is actually a vegetable so substituting just seeds would change not only the flavor a bit but also the texture of the recipe. You might add some celery along with the fennel seed as is suggested at the Cook's Thesaurus website.

Q: Hello, I am wondering if chives can be dried at home. I would like to hear from you. Thanks, MM

A: Your best bet for drying chives would be a food dehydrator I think. Most commercial chives are freeze dried.

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