"Heaven forbid, signor, unless it were fruitful of better
pot herbs than any that grow there now," answered old Lisabetta.
"For my part, if I were the owner of the palace, I would bid my gardener cultivate nothing but savory
pot herbs to make a stuffing for roast meat, or to flavor a stew with."
| The English word garlic originates from the Middle Ages, gar (spear), leac (
pot herb).
Wild garlic used in a similar way was popular in the Highlands and was also a common
pot herb in cooking.
We've just started getting in Alexanders - one of the first edible plants of the foraging year which I understand is an escapee from Roman gardens where it was grown as a
pot herb.
My own nemesis is ground elder, introduced to Britain by the Romans as a
pot herb and for its supposed medicinal purposes.
A new enterprise, Cracked
Pot Herb, will sell herbs and pots as well as an herbal luncheon.
The wild British kind, Malva sylvestris , has been used as a medicinal plant and
pot herb at least since Roman times and, in 16th century Britain, had the reputation of curing practically anything.
According to Pliny (23-79 AD), his fellow Romans planted hop in hop gardens, using the young shoots like asparagus and young leaves as a
pot herb. Sometime between 55-700 AD, it seems to have arrived in Central Europe, again used as a vegetable and herb.
These are a
pot herb originally brought by the Romans from the Mediterranean.
Planting a herb
pot Herb pots look attractive, but always bear in mind the ultimate size and spread of each herb.
Rather, to the outsider, it's a self-absorbed, occasionally paranoid, bore that stands before them - unless they too have decided to join them on Planet
Pot Herb much to the irritation of the rest of the company who have to endure hours of ramblings and maniacal laughter.