Some plants that provide food for honeybees are treats for our tummies, too—including a variety of easy-to-grow herbs.
If you want an herb garden that feeds both your belly and the bees, you may need to plant extra and allow some of the herbs to flower while trimming others back. Basil, for example, is only of use to bees when it flowers, while home chefs are advised to pinch off buds as soon as they appear. Oregano, on the other hand, attracts pollinators whether it is flowering or not.
Other herbs we’ve grown to share with the bees:
- Rosemary (gone to flower)
- Flowering sage, or salvia (I don’t do much cooking with sage but it’s beautiful and bees love it.)
- Cilantro (gone to flower)
- Chives (gone to flower)
- Thyme (I simmer sprigs on the stovetop with lemon and vanilla extract to make the house smell good.)
- Mint (We go through a lot of mint—we like our Moscow Mules!)
- Dill (gone to flower)
This is by no means a comprehensive list of bee-friendly herbs. It’s just what I see when I look out our window, along with lavender. Lots and lots of lavender, which honeybees love. We have one big flower bed with nothing but lavender, and it is always abuzz. (We do plenty of mixing and matching in our other flower beds, but single-species groupings are more enticing and enriching to bees.)
With lavender, the flower is the edible part so there’s no “ours” and “theirs” in the lavender bed, but the bees nevertheless trespass on a small clump of culinary lavender I keep closer to the back door.
The purple flowers can be used for baking, to infuse water or lemonade, or to make lavender simple syrup for cocktails.
Here are some of the ways we use up our share of the other herbs.
Dilly Potato Salad
3 lbs red potatoes
1 bunch green onions
20 cloves of garlic
About ½ cup olive oil from a Texas producer (I sometimes add a little more)
About ¼ cup high quality red wine vinegar (I sometimes add a little more)
Fresh dill to taste (I used a lot!)
Boil potatoes in salted water with whole, peeled garlic cloves. (Use this trick to peel garlic quickly.) Dice the cooked potatoes and combine with the cooked garlic in a bowl. Let them cool down. Slice green onions and add to bowl. Chop the dill (discard stems) and add to bowl. Add oil and vinegar and some salt. Mix well. Refrigerate.
Clearly, we like potato salad, but if you follow the next recipe as written, you have to really like potato salad or have 10 to 12 people to feed. I suggest you halve the recipe.
New Potato Salad with Rosemary and Blue Cheese
5 lbs red new potatoes
1/3 c dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Dressing
1-1/4 c mayonnaise
1-1/4 c sour cream
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2-1/2 Tbsp cider vinegar
½ lb crumbled blue cheese
5 green onions, chopped
1-1/2 c chopped celery (I usually use less than the recipe calls for)
Boil potatoes until tender; drain; cool slightly. Cut into bite-size pieces. Transfer to large bowl. Add wine and season with salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss; cool. In separate bowl, combine rest of ingredients. Mix with potatoes. Cover and refrigerate before serving. Feeds 10-12.
Dad’s Ceviche
1 lb fish (We generally use a firm, white fish)
½ c freshly squeezed lime juice
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp hot sauce
Salt and pepper
1 red onion
1 red pepper (I omit because Jeff hates bell peppers)
1 stalk celery
½ c cilantro
Cut raw fish to desired size. Combine fish in glass bowl with lime juice, garlic, hot sauce, S&P. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Add onion, red pepper, celery, cilantro. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 more hour.
Roasted Corn with Cilantro-Lime Butter
Ears of corn (1 per person)
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ c chopped cilantro leaves
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 tsp salt
¾ tsp cayenne
To make the cilantro-lime butter, put the butter in a mixing both and with a rubber spatula mix in the cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, salt, and cayenne. Coat each ear of corn with 2 Tbsp of the cilantro-lime butter, wrap each ear individually with foil, and roast until hot and steaming in a 400-degree oven, about 25 mins. Serve with extra butter.
Grilled Cantaloupe with Mint and Honey
1 cantaloupe - peeled, seeded, and cubed
1/4 c butter
1/2 c honey
1/3 c chopped fresh mint leaves
4 skewers
Preheat grill to medium heat. Skewer the cantaloupe chunks. In a small saucepan, heat butter with honey until melted. Stir in mint. Brush cantaloupe with honey mixture. Grill skewers on lightly oiled grate 4 to 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Serve with remaining sauce. If you want to bust out the ice cream maker, this tastes great with homemade vanilla ice cream. (Of course, Blue Bell is an acceptable substitute!)
Ali’s Favorite Minted Creamed Peas
1 1-lb bag thawed frozen green peas
¾ c heavy cream
¼ c plus 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp finely chopped celery
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Briskly simmer cream with ¼ c mint in a 1- to 1-1/2 quart heavy sauce pan until slightly thickened and reduced to about ½ c, 4-5 minutes. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing and discarding mint. Cook celery and onion in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until softened, about 4 mins. Add peas and cook, stirring, until heated through, 3-5 mins. Stir in cream, salt, and pepper and briskly simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until peas are well coated, about 1 min. Stir in remaining 2 Tbsp mint and salt to taste.