Tulsi - holy basil

Yes I know. This is definitely not a chile pepper, but since I grow it, and I think that it's a beauty - I want to share these pictures with you :-)

 

Look at the beautiful purple colour of these flowers! I hope they produce seeds, so I can use for next season.

The leaves make excellent tea. A true yogi tea :-)

Namaste!
  Mats

My herb garden

Lately I have become more and more interested in ayurveda, and the herbs used in herbal medicine. So this year, I am not only growing chile peppers. I'm also growing some herbs.

Tulsi green (holy basil)
A common herb in ayurveda. I grow this one so I can make tea and use it in my cooking.

Basil Genovese
A must when making pesto :-)

Salvia officinalis
We like fresh salvia on fish and chicken. It's a nice plant to grow.

Fenugreek
I use fenugreek for sprouting. The sprouts have a fresh "curry" like taste, and we like them a lot. Of course I also had to put the seeds in soil, and this is how the plant looks.

Turmeric
Turmeric is another spice I use on a regular basis. Mostly in its dried format, but lately I have been using the fresh root. It has a very strong taste, is quite "oily" and has a strong yellow colour. I put some of the roots in soil, and after a couple off weeks this "thing" came up :-)

Ajwain
According to ayurveda, Ajwain is a strong digestive stimulant. I use the seeds in some of my cooking, and decided to try to grow it. And here is the result. It's an interesting looking plant. Don't you agree?