Green house north of Erath keeping up with demand for herbs

More than 10 greenhouses make up L&S Greenhouse in northern Erath, where each one houses different types of vegetables and flowers such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, petunias and a vast variety of herbs, which are quickly gaining demand now.
“A lot of people are starting to cook with herbs and a lot of the restaurants are demanding them also,” said Mary Shiner, co-owner of L&S Greenhouse. “They have been starting to get popular, and I just started getting heavily into it. I always grew herbs, but we are now selling them at a higher scale.”
Within the confines of one of those greenhouses, more than 30 of the roughly 75 different kinds of herbs have been growing, some for at least two months. However, these herbs have quite the longevity, with some lasting for as long as a year. Though this year’s cold snaps have hindered some of the plants along with some of the produce, it has not slowed down the growing process all that much.
Among them are oregano, chives, sweet basil, peppermint, rosemary and onion tops.
While some herbs are used for cooking, others can be used for medicinal purposes.
For example, peppermint can be made into an oil that can help with cold symptoms as well as indigestion and nausea. Thyme can be used to relieve bronchitis. Chamomile can relieve anxiety and indigeston. There are also some that are used for headaches, toothaches and even body cleansing.
“We sell the plants,” said Glenda LeBlanc, who also looks over the greenhouses. “The consumer would buy that and put it in a flowerpot in their windowsill and if they want something fresh, they go and cook with it.”
L&S Greenhouse has been growing these plants for more than a year, mainly picking up slack from an older lady in Scott who used to grow them before she stopped. Around this time, the demand for these has been growing with spring approaching.
“We are usually busy now or around March or April,” said LeBlanc. “Most people plant them in the spring. Some come home with us. The rate we take these out every day, they won’t stay in here long. We don’t ship them. We deliver them in a van.”
“I sell them to local nurseries and feed stores in cities such as Baton Rouge and Alexandria and we also sell them here at the nursery,” Shiner added.
The high demand can also be attributed to more people becoming health-conscious and are seeking a more natural way to cure illness or spice up their cooking. They can either be ground up or the whole leaf can be used. There are also quite a bit that goes into growing them, including how the plant should be handled by the consumer.
“You have to seed it, put it in the greenhouse where the temperature stays the same, and let it grow,” LeBlanc explained. “Then you would have to water it every day so we can transplant it. They (the consumer) can plant it outside, but they can’t seed it outside. Some are warm-weather plants and some aren’t. We’re still learning which ones are and which aren’t. It’s been a learning process.”