Grow Tarragon for French Recipes and Herb Vinegar

Tarragon vinegar is perhaps the best known herb vinegar. For anyone who has not made herb vinegar, let's just do it now and have that one successful accomplishment on the shelf.

If you are not a fan of tarragon, choose any other herb.

Gather

• 2 cups of white wine vinegar - or vinegar of your choice.

• sprigs of tarragon – two sprigs tarragon, 3-4” long

• a pint jar - a piece of plastic wrap big enough to drape over all sides of the pint jar – a 4 or 5” square.

Instructions

Open the clean jar, drop tarragon springs, fill with vinegar. Cover top of jar with plastic, screw on lid. Wait one week, taste the vinegar. Reassemble, lid and continue to marinate tarragon in vinegar for another week. Taste vinegar.

Ta da! Homemade tarragon vinegar for pennies.

Now, what do I do with Tarragon Vinegar?

• Recipe Tarragon Chicken*

• Add a splash over cooked greens (spinach, kale, chard)

• Salad dressing the simplest of all: 1 part herb vinegar to 2 parts olive oil

What to know more about herb vinegar? See Making herb vinegars

A lighter French inspired recipe to showcase fresh tarragon from your garden. Quick to fix entré simple enough for weekday meals and tasty enough for a special occasion.

Fresh tarragon is essential for this recipe.

Tarragon tea is sometimes served to cap a fine dinner. This aromatic herb is believed to be detoxifying.

Associated with serenity and calm, tarragon tea may help cure insomnia. Consider adding a tablespoon of the dainty green leaves to hot water for tea. Some people with insomnia combine tarragon with chamomile herbs in a tea to promote restful sleep.

Make tarragon tea by infusing a tablespoon of the herbs into a cup of near-boiling water. Let the mix steep for ten minutes, strain and drink. Next time you have trouble sleeping, head to the kitchen spice cabinet.

Herbes Fines, a blend of chervil, chives, parsley and tarragon are best fresh. These plants are easy to find as starter plants online or in nurseries. They will thrive in a container garden and can appreciate some afternoon shade.

The fresh herb recipe is perfect for omelets or scrambled eggs. Add the fresh combo to spring greens and salads.

It's a favorite for herb butter. Make several batches while the herbs are at their best. Freeze for later use.

Herbes Fines white wine vinegar captures the essence of spring. Long after these tender herbs are gone because of the heat, Herbes Fines herb butter and wine vinegar become your garden gold.

It makes a great vinaigrette for mild cole slaw or spinach salad.

The herbal foursome makes a delicious and light herb vinegar.

An excellent way to preserve your summer herbs for use in fall and winter.

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Stir together all ingredients in small bowl.

Spoon into a small serving bowl or chill 15 minutes and shape into a log. At the end of the season, make several herb butter logs and freeze to use

Try steamed green beans topped with a slice of tarragon butter.

French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus)

I can't say why tarragon grows so well in my garden. French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is growing in the well drained soil of a sunny raised bed.

In the winter, add a heavy cover of chopped leaf mulch. Tarragon goes dormant and disappears in winter. In the spring it comes back bigger and more beautiful.

If you want to add tarragon to your herb garden, you must buy a starter plant. Tarragon has rhizomatous roots, which is how it reproduces, from the rhizomes. It seldom produces flowers and when it does, the seeds are sterile.

Tarragon has antibacterial properties. In ancient times, tarragon was used to treat mad dog and dragon bites. In folk medicine, tarragon has been used for digestive problems and intestinal worms. Since I have never had a need for this type of medical care, I can't speak to it's effectiveness.

What to know more about spring greens? Jumpstart your garden season.