The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A deep love of herbs
UGA expert advises which to grow, how to preserve them, great ways to use them.
UGArden is the University of Georgia’s 4-acre organic student teaching farm. Half an acre is devoted to medicinal herbs, and Noelle Joy is the herb program manager.
As an undergrad studying nutrition science, she first connected with the garden as a volunteer. “I felt like I had found my people,” she said, and she stayed on as an intern, then was awarded a grant to study holy basil for her master’s degree, combining horticulture and food science. Master’s completed, she was given the opportunity to create her own job by expanding the existing medicinal herb program into a production herb farm and business offering medicinal herb products. She and the students produce salves, soaps, lip balms and teas from herbs grown at the farm.
Three years later, she is working on her Ph.D. in horticulture and still managing the herb program. She calls herself an “herbal farmer/scientist.”
Growing herbs, preserving them and recognizing their value as medicine is her passion. She is happy to share her favorite seed sources (Strictly Medicinal Seeds, Southern Exposure Seed and Johnny’s Seed) and places to learn more about herbs (Botanologos School of Herbal Studies, Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine and learningherbs.com). The herb farm also offers a spring plant sale for those who want to skip the seed starting and get right to growing, and she uses her Instagram account (@iamnoellejoy) as another source for information about growing herbs.
She’s got a list of the herbs she thinks we should all be growing.
Her absolute favorite is holy basil, Ocimum tenuiflorum. “It’s considered an adaptogen, meaning it belongs to a class of herbs that can help your body adapt to stress. It’s also called ‘tulsi,’ which is Sanskrit and translates to ‘holy basil’ and is one of the most sacred herbs in India.”
Holy basil is an easy-to-grow annual plant for Georgia, able to adapt to our long growing season and hot/wet/dry shifting conditions. It’s also a plant that can be harvested repeatedly throughout the season. “And it tastes really good. Depending on the variety, it is a little bit sweet, a little bit licorice, a little bit warming. I like to add it to tea blends for the synergy it provides, improving flavor and making everything work well together.”
Other herbs she thinks we should grow in our Georgia gardens (along with a few culinary uses for each):
Perennial herbs:
■ Mints. “My favorite way to use peppermint is in a glass with a little lime and soda water, or chopped into a fruit salad or made into tea. I also like licorice mint, also known as anise hyssop, which is great for digestion.”
■ Thyme. “Dried, it’s great in all kinds of Italian dishes, and used fresh or dried, it’s delicious in pasta sauce. I also like adding fresh thyme to winter squash or root vegetables, and it makes a great culinary oil.”
■ Lemon balm. “Great for tea, great in fruit salad and I really love frozen pops made from lemon balm tea.”
■ Rosemary. “I love it stuffed inside a chicken or fish before roasting and it makes a really nice vinegar and infused oil.”
Annual herbs (some of which are perennial in areas where there is no frost):
■ Lemongrass. “It’s great in tea but it’s also used a lot in Thai cooking and is the base for many Thai soups.”
■ Lemon verbena. “This one is fibrous so it’s not easy to use in cooking, but it has a bright, lemony flavor and is great for making vinegar or tea.”
■ Culinary basil. “I can list so many dishes — pesto, caprese salad, smoked salmon with basil. It’s good in so many things.”
■ Parsley. “I like parsley mixed with basil when making pesto. The parsley keeps the mixture a beautiful green color. And I just chop it up and add to all kinds of dishes, as well as infusing it in vinegar.”
■ Hibiscus roselle. “This is the medicinal hibiscus and the dark red calyx gives a beautiful red color to any dish it’s added to. While we’re most familiar with using the calyx, all parts of the plant are edible, including the leaves and flowers. The immature seed pods taste like tart okra.”