Herb Gardening
Herb gardening is becoming more and more popular every day, and for a good reason. Herbs have practical value, serve a purpose, and with herb gardening you can actually use your plants. When most people think of herb gardening they automatically think of cooking, but herbs are also grown for their pleasant aroma and their beauty.
One important part of herb gardening is drying the herbs for use during the winter months, especially if you plan on cooking with them. First the tops of leafy herbs have to be cut, washed, and hung up for the water to evaporate. Then, tie stems together and hang up in a paper bag to dry. After two to three weeks they must be removed; crumble the leaves, dry them out in the oven, and store in a glass jar.
One of the most common herbs gown in herb gardening is basil. “Dark Opal” and regular green basil are beautiful additions to any garden and often used as decoration. Dark Opal has light pink flowers and dark red leaves. Basil isn’t just used for its looks; it is used for extra flavor in tomato juices and pastes.
Chives are very petite looking and resemble a blade of grass. They are much stronger than they look, however, and will grow well through a drought and a drought. Their toughness and sturdiness makes Chives a perfect plant for herb gardening, especially if the gardener doesn’t want plants that require a lot of hassle. Chives are good used in salads, egg dishes, and many different sauces.
Mint is also very simple to grow and is good to use in mint jelly, mint juleps, lemonade, and any other kind of fruity drink. Mint is also good in herb gardening for its unique minty smell. Two herbs that appear in nearly everyone’s herb garden are thyme and sage. Both of these herb gardening favorites are used for flavoring soups, chicken, turkey, pork, and other sausages. Sage is also grown sometimes for its beautiful blue spiked flowers.
Lavender is probably the best smelling herb in all of herb gardening and is often used in candles, as a perfume scent, and to improve the smell in linen chests. The light purple flowers smell absolutely lovely.
Other types of herbs often grown in herb gardening include borage (used in salads), chervil (used in egg dishes), sweet marjoram (flavors lamb, fish, salad, and soup), sesame (flavors crackers, cookies, and bread), and dill (flavors meats and used in pickles). Herb gardening allows gardeners to use herbs from their own garden for cooking, looks, and smell. Herb gardening will produce much fresher herbs with more flavor than store-bought herbs, and are a lot cheaper.
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Herb Gardening
Why would you want to have your own herb garden?
First, it is not only a brilliant addition to your existing garden or patio because it serves more than decorative purposes. Growing your own herbs is not that expensive either compared to buying herbs at the supermarket. Homegrown herbs are better tasting because they are fresher than the ones you buy outside. Herb gardening is not that hard, but still requires proper planning. If you’re just starting out in making your own herb garden, there are several things you have to consider to have a constant resource of fresh herbs all year long.
Things to Plan Out
1. Herbs
The first thing to think about is what sort of herbs you want to grow. Herbs should be selected according to your own preference. What herbs do you need? What will you use them for? Do you want to blend herbs into your own cooking recipes? Or are you more inclined with medicinal herbs? Here are several types of herbs you might want to look at.
Culinary Herbs. Most herb gardeners usually use their plants to use for their favorite recipes. Herbs have various types of uses in cooking – some have strong flavors used in small amounts to add flavor. A quick glimpse of basic herbs found in the supermarket will help you find out which herbs are usually used for cooking. Here is a short list of what culinary herbs you might want to consider using.
Winter savory, rosemary and sage are strong herbs
Sweet basil, dill, mint, sweet marjoram, tarragon, thyme are strong enough for accents
Chives, parsley, summer savory are used for blending.
Aromatic Herbs. You can also grow herbs used for aromatic oils although they may not be as popular to grow like other types of herbs. Oils from aromatic herbs can be used to make perfumes and oils. Mint, marjoram, lovage, rosemary, and basil are some of the most common aromatic herbs around.
Medicinal Herbs. Herbs are long believed to have curative and therapeutic powers. But, while present medical knowledge recognizes some herbs to possess these healing properties, you should use these types of herbs carefully.
2. Location
Herbs will need a lot of sunlight so it is best to allot a location that is suitable for their growth. If you are growing an indoor herb garden, then a fluorescent light containing the full spectrum of all will be adequate. You can also relocate your herbs during the winter.
3. Materials and Containers
Ceramic and clay pots with a good drainage system are usually used for herb gardening. If you want to plant them on the ground, be sure to use natural organic products to get rid of pets, insects, snails or slugs.
With these three things in mind, you should be able to start your own herbal garden!
HERB GARDENING
HERB GARDENING
Herbs have been around since time immemorial and served different kinds of purposes. They have been used to treat illness and flavour cooking; they were even believed to have magical powers. Do you want to have your own herb garden? Here are a few ideas on how to establish an herb garden.
Plan your garden
Consider the herbs you want to plant. Think about their types. Would you like annuals, biennials or perennials?
How much space will they occupy in your garden? If you want, you can purchase a book that can give you the right information on what specific plants you are planning to grow.
List or draw your garden on paper first. Separate the annuals from the perennials so when the time comes that you have to pull out the annuals, you won't be disturbing the perennials. Perennials can be planted on the edge of your garden so when it is time to till your garden they won't be in danger of getting dug up.
Another thing to remember is that you have to plant the tall ones at the back and the shorter ones in front. Also, provide your plants with enough space to grow. Proper position shall help you in this area.
If you would rather keep herbs out of your garden (and some are quite invasive) you could have herb pots. These are large containers with three or more outlets for the herbs. Fill the pot up to the first outlet and plant it before continuing on with the filling and planting process. Usually, the herb that requires the most water is planted in the bottom hole, while the variety that requires the least, goes in the highest hole.
Some Design Ideas
You can consider having a square herb bed. You can have your square bed divided into four by two paths crossing at mid point measuring 3 feet. You can border it with stone or brick. A wooden ladder may also do the trick. You can lay it down on your garden and plant your herbs between its rungs. You can also choose to have a wagon wheel bed. Planting here is like planting with the wooden ladders. Plant your herbs in between the wagon wheel's wedges.
Get Your Plants Growing
Of course, different plants have different needs, but many of them require alkaline soil. This is the reason why you have to determine the herbs you want to plant in the planning stage. This can more or less help you find out how you should care for your plants. If you germinate your herbs from seeds, remember to follow the directions on the packet for soil, watering and temperature.
Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. You just have to provide them with an effective drainage, sunlight, enough humidity or moisture and fertile soil. Even with just minimally meeting these requirements they will be bound produce a good harvest.
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