I was very excited this week to notice that one of my favourite herbs, lemon verbena, is starting to produce new leaves.
Blustery crisp days and cold nights, north winds, sleet, hail, snow and cold rain. It's amazing with this mixture of weather that plants manage to plod their way into spring.
I was very excited this week to notice that one of my favourite herbs, lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla), is starting to produce new leaves. In previous years I've known the plant to start sprouting new foliage as late as mid-May, by which time one wonders if the plant died in the winter.
Now is the ideal time to cut lemon verbena back hard. Although this seems brutal it is necessary because otherwise the plant would only produce leaves at the branch tips, making it appear straggly and woody. Cutting the plant back hard, to just above a leaf node, encourages lots of lush new growth - exactly what is needed for use in the kitchen.
The leaves have a wonderful lemon sherbet scent and flavour, with a rough texture. For this reason they're best either chopped up very finely or used to make an infusion in oil, vinegar or water. This can then be used to flavour sauces, home-made ice cream and jellies.
Personally I love a tea made from the leaves, which is both refreshing and relaxing. In France this tea is known as a 'tisane de vervain', which can lead to confusion in the UK as we know vervain as Verbena officinalis, not Aloysia triphylla.
To make lemon verbena tea place three leaves in a cup, pouring over water that has been boiled but allowed to sit for a few minutes. Steep for five minutes, then drink. This tea can also be served cold in summer as a refreshing cuppa.
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