David, I agree, my neighbour has lovage which is very tough. I’ve also read Russian taragon and sage might overwinter. For me dill & cilantro self sow easily. I’ve had some parsley live under the snow. I’d imagine zone 2b is tough to find options. Indoors, I’ve kept the same rosemary and mother basil plant alive indoors for nearly four years. The basil has been surprisingly easy to propagate by placing new cuttings in water. Sadly the mother plant got thrips this year, I’ll have to see I can any clean cuttings.

I'll probably just need to get creative with my seasonings. I tried out a recipe for yarrow pasta last night, and it was absolutely VILE. Still, there's plenty of juniper in the area, and I suppose that it's an option for a winter seasoning. I think you're onto something with the self-seeders, though, and that's the way I'll probably go in the future.

David, I like your foraging idea. I’ve read very young spruce tips are tasty. For seeds I found some ideas here, I saw they have wild mint seeds: http://ravensongherbals.com/herbs

My neighbour has borage which comes back very reliably every year. For me, I like the fresh herbs during the winter season, so I try to keep what I can potted in the windows. Often I’ll keep a bunch of green onions from the store in water, and snip as needed, usually they’ll last for a month or two. Dill freezes nicely though.

I tried spruce tips last year, and while they're okay, I never really got over the taste of eating tree. And a really resiny tree. And I'm no stranger to eating trees: I spent much of my teen years foraging around Toronto and eating mulberry shoots, linden buds, and black locust blossoms, but all of those are delicious and, really, superior wild foods. Spruce just tastes like spruce, no matter how you cut it (or cook it).

I'm going to gather some this weekend and try a quick pickle on a small batch. I'll give others a light blanch and perhaps a saute.

David - how are all your other zone pushing experiments going?

UPDATE: I tried pickling spruce tips last weekend, and boy are they VILE! I fully recommend them to anyone, anywhere, who's ever dreamt of pickling a conifer and serving it to unsuspecting guests.

My horseradish has survived an infestation of larkspur and delphinium. I guess that's another herb I can add to the "hardy" list.