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Note: Germination instructions are not on seed packets, follow the instructions below for starting seed.
Tarragon seed can be sown as early in the spring as the ground can be worked, in a sunny well-drained location. Plant seeds 1/8 inch deep and cover with fine soil, well pressed down. Tarragon plants may also be started indoors early.
Thin to 8 to 12 inches apart when Tarragon plants are 2 inches tall.
Tarragon has a sweet anise taste, often compared to licorice and pepper. Connoisseurs all over the world use tarragon for its most unusual and intriguing flavor. The leaves are aromatic, imparting their sweetish aftertaste and strong yet subtle flavor.
The warm sweet taste of tarragon combines well with classic French sauces (Béarnaise, Hollandaise and Tartar) and also goes well with artichokes, cucumber salad, deviled eggs, fish and particularly chicken, flavoring for goat and feta cheeses, marinades, omelets, potato salad; tarragon adds a savory richness to mild vegetable dishes, either sprinkled over the top with a little butter or in a sauce. Add tarragon at the end of cooking, so to impart its delicate and aromatic delicious piquant flavor.
One of the best uses of tarragon is in flavored vinegar. Using the fresh leaves place into a jar and pour white vinegar to cover. Let the mixture steep in the sun for two weeks, strain through cheesecloth. You will have a delicious salad dressing.
Tarragon is effective for treating digestive upsets and good for minor skin irritations. Since tarragon has a numbing and calming effect, doctors would give a patient a leaf to taste before taking unpleasant tasting medicine.
Store away from natural ripening fruit vegetables such as tomatoes, bananas and peppers. Freezing tarragon will retain its flavor quite nicely where drying will lose most of its aroma.