Category Archives: herb growing

How to Create Your Herb Garden Plan

Written on August 30, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing

A Herb Garden Plan to Provide all Your Culinary Herbs

This article is about creating the herb garden plan for a herb garden that will provide all the most commonly used kitchen herbs. This garden will provide you with an easily accessible supply of all the herbs you want for your cooking – throughout the year.

This might seem an ambitious task, but don’t worry if you have never grown herbs before. Herb gardening is really not difficult!

Four Steps for Creating Your Herb Garden Plan

1. Choose Your Herbs

The first thing you need to do is decide which herbs you want to grow. If you don’t spend some time thinking about this you’ll end up growing some herbs you don’t need, and leave out some of the others that are essentials for your cooking.

There are 100’s of herbs to choose from that you could include in your herb garden plan. Some thrive in sunny spots and well-drained soil and others prefer shade and damp conditions. A good rule is to choose a sunny spot. However, you need to know about the ideal conditions for each of your chosen herbs so that you can position them correctly in the herb garden you’ll develop once you have produced your herb garden plan.

Start choosing your herbs by writing down a list of the herbs that you are familiar with or that are commonly used in cooking. In your list write the names first, but leave space to also write down the type (annual or perennial), the best position (sunny, shade) and best soil conditions (well-drained, moist etc). Also leave space to include the height that each herb will grow to.

Now extend your list, including other herbs in your herb garden plan that you might not be so familiar with. Her’s a list of the herbs I think are “essentials” for any kitchen herb garden:

Sage
Tarragon
Dill
Marjoram
Basil
Lemon thyme
Fennel
Chives
Parsley
Rosemary
Bay
Garlic
Mint
Coriander

You’ll need to do some research to complete your list, but this is a very important step in developing your herb garden plan. When your plan is complete it should contain a list of between ten and fifteen herbs.

2. Location and Design for Your Herb Garden Plan

Ideally your herb garden should be near the kitchen so that it’s easy to harvest the herbs fresh when you need them. A good size for your herb garden is 4ft x 6ft. This should enable you to plant all the herbs on your list, including a couple of bushy perennials. Try and choose a spot which is south facing. If some of the herbs you have chosen need a shady spot plan to use the larger herbs such as bay, tarragon, and rosemary to shade them.

The simplest herb garden design to choose is a rectangle, but also think about other designs such as the herb garden “island” and the herb garden raised bed. Or think about creating a long herb garden boarder (good if you have a sunny wall in your garden). Choosing your herb garden design can be lots of fun. Here again, try and do some research on different herb garden designs in your local library or on the internet.

3. Check Soil Conditions

After you have chosen a position for your herb garden you must check on the soil conditions. Although some herbs prefer other conditions, a rich, well-dug, well drained soil is ideal. You may need to dig in plenty of organic matter to enrich your soil, but make sure that it doesn’t contain any weeds, especially perennial ones. If it does, you’ll risk pulling up your herbs when you try to remove the weeds once they begin to grow again.

4. Draw Out Your Herb Garden Design

Now you have chosen your herbs and your herb garden design, draw a diagram of your herb garden on paper (graph paper if you have any). Draw it out to scale. Make one foot of your herb garden equivalent to two inches on your paper.

Example Herb Garden Plan

Now use some different colored paper to cut out rough circles to represent your herbs when they are fully grown. These circles should have a diameter equivalent to the height your herb will eventually grow (use the same scale of one foot to two inches). You may want to grow more than one of some types of herbs (e.g. sage and basil), so allow space for these as well. You should only need one each of the larger herbs such as rosemary and bay.

Put the cut circles onto your scaled paper diagram and move them around until you have good positions for all your herbs. Some people also take into account the color of the flowers that the herbs will produce, but I suggest you avoid this complication. Once you have gone through one herb growing season you can easily move your herbs for the following year (but don’t keep moving the perennial herbs).

When you have created your herb garden design, you’ll know exactly where to plant your herbs. A good tip is to use some colored sand to create full-size circles on the ground in positions exactly corresponding to those in your herb garden design. This will make sure you plant your herbs in exactly the right spots with the right amount of space around them to allow for growth. Don’t forget to try and take into account the needs of the herbs that want a little more shade.

Review Your Herb Garden Plan

Your herb garden plan will enable you create an attractive herb garden that contains all the herbs you need for your cooking. After your first year herb gardening review your herb garden plan. You will probably want to change some of the annual herbs you chose in your original plan. That’s quite OK, that’s all part of the fun of herb gardening. You may also want to enhance the appearance of your herb garden with statues or ornaments so that you end up with a kitchen herb garden which looks good, smells good and improves your cooking!

Happy herb gardening,

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Growing Mint – Identifying and Eliminating Mint Rust

Written on June 12, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in Herb diseases, herb growing

How to Spot Mint Rust on Your Growing Mint

Mint Rust

Mint is a strong resilient plant that is quite able to look after itself providing you don’t over-water it. However, if you are growing mint regularly the chances are that at some stage your mint will be affected by the mint rust fungus.

You’ll be able to recognize the rust fungus (called Puccinia menthae by the scientific community) on your growing mint because your mint plant will look very unhealthy.

On closer inspection you’ll find orange pustules on the stems and leaves. As the infection progresses the leaves turn brown and die.

What Causes It?

Mint is meant to be particularly susceptible to mint rust if it’s grown in the full sun, but in my experience you’re just as likely to get it if your mint is not in full sun. Infected plants will contaminate the soil and will carry the infection through the winter into the following year.

What to Do About Mint Rust in Growing Mint

Sadly, there isn’t a good chemical remedy for mint rust if you want to be able to use your mint after treatment. I haven’t yet come across an organic treatment, although I am still looking.

If you correctly diagnose that you have mint rust on your growing mint it’s important to act quickly to deal with it because the “spores” which develop with the disease drop onto the soil and will affect your mint in following year and could also infect other herbs such as majoram and savory.

Take the following steps:

Step 1: Cut off all the stems of the growing mint immediately the rust is noticed, and keep cutting them off during the growing season.

Step 2: During the winter make a small fire with straw over the top of the mint roots. This kills off the spores which carry the disease

Step 3: In the spring watch carefully for a repeat of the rust in your growing mint. If it returns repeat the procedure or dig the mint plant up and destroy it.

Growing Mint the Following Season

If you decided you want to keep your mint plant and try and encourage it back to healthy life, quarantine it in its own pot and keep it well away from all your other herbs. Use the straw fire treatment as described above and watch carefully for signs of rust when the mint starts to grow the following season. Also use the straw fire treatment on the soil where your mint used to grow.

I thoroughly recommend always growing mint in a pot on top of your herb garden (if you’ve got one) or on your patio. This will help to restrict root growth and enable you to deal quickly with infected plants. Use your pot just for mint. You can make it more interesting by having a number of varieties of mint in the same pot.

Don’t despair if you get mint rust on your growing mint; it happens to all herb gardeners at least once during their herb growing lives!

Happy herb gardening,

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How to Succeed at Growing Mint Indoors

Written on June 10, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing, pots & containers

The Pros and Cons of Growing Mint Indoors

Herbs really grow best in the full sun, but some herbs such as mint, will tolerate some shade and therefore can be grown indoors throughout the year. This is a big bonus if you like using mint in your recipes – you’ll always have a supply of your favorite herb to hand.

The down-side of growing mint indoors is that it won’t flourish as well as it does outdoors, and will really need to be replaced each year. This isn’t a great problem though. You can propagate your mint by taking cuttings of existing plants. Alternatively grow your mint from seed each year.

Four Steps to Successful Indoor Mint Growing

The rest of this article outlines four steps or stages that you should follow if you want to be successful growing mint indoors.

- Choose the Growing Location

- Purchase a Suitable Pot

- Create a Good Growing Environment

- Nurture and Feed Your Mint Regularly

Choose a Suitable Location

Although mint will accept a measure of shade try and find a place where there’s as much sun as possible. Also, make sure that there’s some ventilation available, especially on a very hot days. Herbs like mint enjoy a cool breeze in the summer.

Pot of Cullinary Mint

Choose a Suitable Pot

Choose a pot that will enable you to accommodate several mint plants when you’re growing mint indoors.

I suggest buying several varieties of mint (see below). A circular pot of 12 inches in diameter will hold around five or six plants.

The pot should have drainage holes in the bottom and be placed in a tray which can be kept topped-up regularly with water. You can improve the appearance of the tray by filling it with pebbles if you wish.

Create a Good Growing Environment

Fill your chosen pot with good quality potting compost. Try and get compost that has added nutrient to give your mint a good start. Alternatively, add nutrient granules to a basic compost (mix both of these together thoroughly before planting).

If the indoor container you’ve chosen is just for mint try and get hold of (or grow) several mint varieties. In this way you’ll not only get the nice smell of mint in your indoor container, but also a display of different colour leaves and flowers.

When selecting the mint varieties for growing mint indoors I suggest you consider corsican mint, spearmint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint, ginger mint, catmint, pennyroyal, lemon mint and wild mint. You might need to carry out a little research on the main uses for each of these mints

Nurture and Feed Your Mint Regularly

Once planted, keep your mint plants well-watered at all times. Mint likes a wet soil. However, during the winter when the mint is not growing fast, don’t water quite so much. You can allow the soil to go moderately dry between each new batch of water.

Your mint needs to be regularly fed with nutrient during the summer, but ease off with the feeding over the winter months.

The Enjoyment of Growing Mint Indoors

Growing mint indoors is definitely worthwhile if you are a big user of mint. When you are growing mint indoors you can use your fresh mint throughout the year in recipes, in drinks and for medicinal purposes, without having to dry and store the mint leaves over the winter. You might like to try growing other herbs such as Spanish thyme and Indian borage indoors. Like mint these can cope with a certain amount of shade and therefore are suitable for indoor growing. Once you have been successful at growing mint indoors you might also like to try growing these two herbs indoors also.

Happy herb gardening,

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Growing Rosemary from Cuttings

Written on May 31, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in herb cuttings, herb growing

How to Start Growing Rosemary from Cuttings

If you need to find out why you must grow rosemary in your garden, watch this video:

Whilst lots of people buy rosemary plants for their herb gardens, its not difficult to grow them yourself either from seed or by taking cuttings. Of the two methods, growing rosemary from cuttings is by far the easiest. In this article I’ll run through the steps you need to follow to do it successfully.

It will only take a few weeks during the late spring or summer to transform a few cuttings into flourishing rosemary plants which can be used around your garden (perhaps to grow an aromatic hedge as described in the video).

There are three key steps involved in growing rosemary from cuttings:

Taking and Preparing Your Cuttings
Planting these Cuttings in Compost
Nurturing and Encouraging the Cuttings to Grow

I’ll take you through each of these steps in turn, but first here’s a list of what you’ll need to do it . . .

Materials You’ll Need for Growing Rosemary

Apart from the secateurs, none of these items is expensive:

Mixture of potting compost and sand (2/3 of compost to 1/3 of sand)
Some 3 or 5 inch pots (plastic ones are fine)
Secateurs or a sharp knife

I’ll explain where all these things fit in as we go through the three steps.

Step 1: Taking and Preparing Your Rosemary Cuttings

It goes without saying that you need to have a rosemary plant from which to take your cuttings. Or you can find a neighbor that’s growing rosemary in his/her garden and ask if you can take a few cuttings.

The three main ways in which you can take these cuttings are:

From the young tender stems of the rosemary. Do this in the spring, but it’s also possible to take cuttings in the summer after flowering. Choose stems that are 2 to 4 inches long, but avoid the ones that have flower buds on.
From herb stems that have just started to harden. These can be used as cuttings from the middle of summer until the fall. Take cuttings which are 4 to 6 inches long. As with the previous cuttings, avoid stems with flower buds
From established herb plant stems that have grown hard (i.e. they are no longer green). These stems can be used for cuttings in the autumn. Choose stems that are 6 to 15 inches long.

In each case make a clean cut with your secateurs or knife just below the leaf nodes (this is the point where the leaves join the stem). On this part of the stem there are more plant cells. They will encourage root growth when the cutting is planted.

Trim your cuttings by removing leaves just above the cut. If you are working with hardwood stems remove the growing tip of the stem before planting.

Step 2: Planting The Cuttings in Compost

Now fill your plant pots 3/4 full with your compost and sand mix and push your stem cuttings firmly (but not too firmly!) into the soil at the edge of the pot.

If you are using a 3 inch pot you should be able to plant three cuttings around the edge. The stems should be buried to a depth of about a 1/4 to 1/3 of their length (except for your cuttings from established plant stems – these should be planted to a depth of 1 to 2 inches).

Once your cuttings have been planted insert three tall sticks (about 12 inches tall) into each pot. Cover the pots with a plastic bag to help retain moisture. The sticks will keep the bag away from the cuttings.

Step 3: Nurturing and Encouraging the Cuttings to Grow

Store your pots in a warm area, but out of direct sunlight. The warmth will encourage the roots of your growing rosemary to develop. Keep the pots watered, but avoid over-watering. Remove the plastic bags from time to time because too much moisture will encourage the growth of mold.

When you are growing rosemary from cuttings your softwood and semi-hardwood stems will form roots within five to six weeks. Your hardwood stem cuttings will take a little longer. When you observe signs of growth you can remove the bags and sticks.

Once your newly propagated herbs are established, you can replant the growing rosemary in pots or in your herb garden.

Some Final Tips about Growing Rosemary

If you follow the steps I have outlined, it’s not difficult growing rosemary from cuttings. You may find some of your cuttings don’t take, but that’s not unusual. Once you have mastered the technique you’ll be able to produce lots of different sorts of cuttings from other varieties of rosemary (there are five or six popular varieties) and from other herbs that can be propagated in the same way.

However, when you are growing rosemary make sure that you look after it during the winter. Cold winters are not kind to rosemary, which Is why there is always a good market for rosemary plants and young bushes in the spring. Growing rosemary can be quite a profitable business!

Happy herb gardening,

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How to Grow Mint in Your Herb Garden

Written on May 9, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing

What You Need to Know About Growing Mint and About Mint Varieties

If you are thinking about growing a herb garden or have just started one, one of the most useful herbs you can grow is mint. Mint has been used for hundreds of years to help obscure bad smells, assist recovery from illnesses, repel insects and to prepare flavor-some food and drinks. These are just some of the very different ways to use mint, and the applications are just as relevant today as they have been throughout history.

If you are thinking of growing herbs outdoors or indoors or already grow them but don’t grow mint, you need to start including mint in your herb growing plans. It’s not difficult grow. You can grow it from cuttings and seeds, or you can buy mint plants for just a few dollars.

Here’s my quick guide to growing mint and some suggestions on ways to use it at home.

It covers the following areas:

- Types of mint

- Growing mint from cuttings

- Growing mint from seeds

- Harvesting & preserving mint

- How to use your mint

Types of Mint

A 16th Century monk carried out a lot of research on mint plants, and managed to identify over 600 different varieties! You would have difficulty tracking a lot of these mint varieties down today. Here’s a list of mints that are fairly easy to get hold of today (it’s very easy to find suppliers on the internet):

The following mints can be easily purchased as plants or seeds: Corsican mint, spearmint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint, and ginger mint.

And these mints can be purchased as seeds – cat mint, pennyroyal, lemon mint and wild mint.

I’ll not attempt to describe all these different types of mint here. I suggest you do some research and find out more about the mint plants I have named. They are the ones you are likely to coma across most frequently.

Towards the end of my article I have described how you can use spearmint, peppermint, apple mint and penny royal in and around your home.

Growing Mint Herbs from Cuttings

Of course this assumes that you already have some mint plants or have a friendly neighbor willing to let you take cuttings from his or her mint.

Make cuttings from the root or stem or divide the mint plant into two or more smaller plants. You can do this in the spring or the autumn. Most mints grow very vigorously and are easy to propagate from cuttings.

Growing Mint Herbs from Seed

Use the internet to find suppliers of mint seed (Amazon is always a good choice). Sow your seeds in seed trays using a suitable soil-less potting compost.

I get on best with seed trays that have multiple separate sowing compartments and plastic lids (go to my article on growing herbs from seed for more information). One or two seeds can be grown in each compartment, and the lids help to keep the compost moist.

Whatever type of container you choose to use make sure you have a layer of compost about one inch deep. Make it really moist and then sprinkle the seeds on top. Cover them with a thin layer of the compost and then put a piece of clear plastic or glass on top (the seed trays I mentioned include a plastic cover).

Cover your container with a newspaper until the seeds germinate (just a few days if its warm), and keep the soil moist. When germination has occurred remove the cover and keep the young seedlings in a fairly warm area – but not in direct sunlight.

Harvesting and Preserving Your Mint Herbs

Harvest your mint leaves before flowers appear (start in early spring if you already have plants). Try and do it in the morning when the essential essences of the mint plant are at their most intense. Cut a handful or so of leaves each time, but leave sufficient leaves on the plant so that it can continue to grow and produce more leaves for future harvests.

Use your mint fresh whenever you can, but it’s also possible to preserve it by drying or freezing the mint leaves, or by preserving them in oil or vinegar.

Using Your Mint

As I mentioned above, there are lots of uses for the mint you grow. Some you’ll know about, but others will be new to you. I suggest you experiment with all of them in order to discover what a useful and beneficial herb mint is.

In Cooking:

- Make mint (spearmint) sauce (it goes well with roast lamb)

- Add mint (spearmint and apple mint) leaves to new potatoes and peas

- Make mint and chocolate ice cream and mint sorbet

Drinks:

- Make mint (peppermint) tea

- Make mint julep and raspberry and mint yoghurt drinks

Medicinal:

- Use mint (spearmint) oil on a handkerchief to help with colds.

- Make herbal poses and invalid bouquets.

- Macerate mint (peppermint or spearmint) leaves and use them as a rub for migraines and other aches and pains

Garden:

- Grow mint (spearmint) near roses to deter aphids

- Grow mint plants near dog kennels to repel flies.

Get Started with Mint Growing Now

My list of the uses of mint is far from complete. In it I have only introduced you to the uses of just a couple of types of mint. Start your mint growing with the mints I have mentioned above, but build up the collection of mints in your herb garden to four or five types, and experiment with different ways of using them.

Once you have started growing mint alongside the other herbs in your herb garden and using it around the home, you’ll not want to stop growing it. And I can almost guarantee that you’ll soon start giving mint to your friends to try out (once you have enough for yourself that is!).

Happy herb gardening,

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Growing Basil in Your Herb Garden

Written on April 19, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing, herb Seeds

Start Your Herb Garden by Growing Basil

If you’re thinking of growing an herb garden its got to include basil. No herb garden could be considered complete without this attractive and useful herb. It’s the first herb I grew when I started herb gardening many years ago (mainly because I use so much of it in my cooking), and my herb garden today wouldn’t be the same without it. Since I started growing basil I have learned that it’s not only a key ingredient of many excellent (even famous!) food recipes, but it can also be used as a tonic, an aid to digestion and for aromatherapy.

In this article I will:

Introduce you to some of the different types of basil
Provide some simple instructions on how to grow basil from seed
Advise you on harvesting and storing your basil
Suggest some ways of using basil around the home.

The Main Types of Basil

Basil, like a number of the well-known herbs frequently found in the kitchen, has a long history. It has its origins in India, where it was regarded as a holy plant. This can probably be explained by the intense almost mystical smell that it has when concentrated into an essence (when the oil from the plant is dissolved in alcohol).

There are lots of different sorts of basil, but the four varieties of basil you are likely to come across and might want to grow are:

1. Broad leafed green basil (see picture) which has large green leaves and white flowers.
2. Dark opal basil which has crinkled leaves and pale pink flowers
3. Lemon basil which has aromatic, scented leaves and white flowers
4. Sweet basil (the variety used in Italian cooking) which has white flowers and a clove-like smell.

It’s not difficult to buy different varieties of basil plant. Any good garden center or nursery is likely to have a selection of types. But it’s also very straightforward to grow basil from seed.

Growing Basil – Seeds and Materials

Basil can either be grown in pots and containers on your patio, or if your intention is to start a herb garden, amongst your vegetables or flowers. It’s an annual plant, so it must be grown from seed each year. The seed isn’t difficult to get hold of. Most seed merchants have a range of different varieties of basil seed to choose from. And if you do buy seed I recommend that you grow several varieties in order to find the ones you like. If you don’t want to do this just buy common basil.

After you have purchased your seeds you’ll also need to get hold of or buy:

A small bag of soil-less growing medium to sow your seeds in
Some seed trays. I prefer the ones that are divided into small compartments and have a plastic cover
A watering can with a very fine sprinkler attachment
A quantity of small (3 or 5 inch) plastic flower pots to plant your basil seedlings in

Five Steps to Creating Your Herb Garden

I said above that basil isn’t a difficult plant to grow. It isn’t providing you follow a few simple steps:

Step 1

- Fill your seed trays with the compost
- Water the seed trays (but not too much)
- Place several seeds in each cell of the seed tray

Step 2

- Cover your seed trays with a later of very fine soil-less compost (Don’t bury seeds too deep)
- Spray or water the trays lightly with water again, and then put the plastic covers on
- If you have different varieties of basil label the seed trays with the appropriate names

Step 3

- Put some black polythene or newspaper over the trays (this will help germination)
- Place the trays on your window-shelf or in a warmish outhouse (make sure the temperature is above 5 degrees centigrade)
- Keep the trays moist

Step 4

- When seeds have germinated (3 – 4 days) remove the black polythene/ newspaper covering
- Put the trays in a light place (but not direct sunlight)

Step 5

- Transplant the seedlings into plastic pots when they are about 2 inches tall.
- Place the pots in a light ventilated area and water them regularly
- Replant the basil in larger pots or in your herb garden when they are 3/ 4 inches tall and the weather is warm enough (try not to touch the leaves too much when you do this).

When you are starting a herb garden and growing a herb like basil, it’s important to remember that basil, like many other herbs, likes a little moisture and plenty of sunshine. Keep your basil plants under these conditions and they will thrive and produce an ongoing crop of delicious fresh basil leaves.

Watch out for plant diseases. If the leaves of your basil wither and turn brown or spotty, there’s not much you can do about it. Throw the affected plant away quickly so that it doesn’t pass its illness on to the other plants and spoil your harvest of basil leaves.

Harvesting & Storing Your Basil

Don’t let your basil leaves get too big and course. Harvest the young fresh leaves as they are produced. Also, to prevent the plants from growing too fast, nip out the flowers when they appear. If you do this you will be able to enjoy your basil all through the summer months. You should be able to harvest large crops of leaves during the growing season, and because of this you will find that on occasions during the year you have almost more basil than you can deal with. However, don’t leave the leaves on the plant to grow large and course. Harvest them and store or preserve them.

There are several ways of storing/preserving basil. A common one is to paint the leaves with olive oil and freeze them in a bag. Another is to layer the leaves in olive oil in a big jar along with a little salt. With either of these methods you can take out leaves as you need them (they will store well like this for about six months).

When I have got lots of basil I use it to make pesto sauce which I then freeze and use in my favorite recipes throughout the year. As an alternative you can use your extra basil to prepare basil essence, which has a beautiful smell and can be used to sooth aches and pains.

There are lots of uses for basil which will enable you to enjoy the pleasures from this herb all through the winter. I recommend that you carry out some research to find out more about these different uses.

Happy herb gardening,

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Growing Herbs from Seeds

Written on February 1, 2011 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing

Develop a Herb Garden Plan

If you regularly use herbs in your cooking and would like to have your own abundant supply of fresh herbs, why not try growing herbs from seeds?

In this article I have outlined five simple steps that will explain how to do it.

You should start by putting together a herb gardening plan in November and December ready to start in the spring of the following year. You’ll find lots of information to help you prepare a plan on other parts of this website, as well as recommendations on what herbs to grow and where to buy them.

Your herb gardening plan will also help you to choose the best times to sow your herb seeds. This is important when you are growing herbs from seeds because it will ensure that you have a plentiful supply of herbs throughout the year and a good final crop in the autumn to store for use over the winter.

Growing herbs from seeds needn’t take up a lot of time or require a lot of effort if you follow the instructions I have provided below.

Growing Herbs from Seeds – Choosing your Herbs

You probably already have some favorite herbs you’d like to grow. When I started herb growing herbs from seeds, I grew basil because I wanted lots of fresh basil to use in my cooking. Other herb gardening beginners I know started herb growing herbs like parsley, chives and sage, because, like me, they were already familiar with these herbs and used them regularly for their favorite recipes.

But don’t just stick with the herbs you know. Do a little research and find some other useful herbs that are less familiar to you. If you need to get some ideas, send of for some illustrated seed catalogs or carry out some searches for herb seeds using the the internet.

Also garden centers generally have special display areas for herbs. You can touch and smell them and get ideas on herbs you’d like to grow.

As well as basil, I now grow parsley, chives, sage, oregano and borage. All of these herbs are frequently used in the preparation of meals, salads and drinks. They are all good choices for you when you set about growing herbs from seeds.

If you really haven’t the time to carry out all the research but want a selection of herb seeds that will get you started, I recommend buying a package of different sorts of herb seeds from Amazon.

The selection of twelve herb seeds illustrated provides excellent value for money at around $12. If you chose to purchase the individual packets of herb seeds, it could easily cost you twice as much.

Go to “herb seeds for sale” on Amazon to look at this and other special deals for growing herbs from seeds.

What You Need to Get Hold of for Growing Herbs from Seeds

It won’t cost you a lot of money to create a herb garden if you are growing herbs from seeds, but there are a number of things you’ll need to get hold of. Some of them you’ll need to buy, but others could be borrowed from neighbors. The things you need are:

1. One small bag of soil-less growing medium to sow your seeds in. Avoid using garden soil – its texture and nutrient content might not be good for growing seeds

2. Several of the type of seed trays that are divided into separate compartments or cells, and have transparent plastic covers. You can get the “seed starting kit” illustrated from Amazon for around $25. The covers protect the seeds and help keep the soil moist during germination. You’ll need two or three of these to grow a selection of twelve herbs. Just buy one if you only want to start with a small number of herbs.

3. Kitchen or fine garden sieve. You’ll need this to prepare some really fine soil-less medium to go over your seeds once you have sown them

4. Water spray (like the ones used for spraying insecticide on roses) or a small watering can with a watering attachment that has very fine holes

5. Sufficient 3 inch plastic flower pots to plant your small seedlings in once they have grown.

Five Steps to Follow When Growing Herbs from Seeds

Follow these five simple steps and you can be sure of producing a healthy and flourishing crop of herbs when growing herbs from seeds.

STEP 1

Fill your seed trays with the soil-less compost
Use the water spray or watering can to wet the seed trays (don’t make the soil-less compost too wet)
Place two or three seeds in each cell of the seed tray

STEP 2

Cover your seed trays with finely sieved soil-less compost (Don’t bury seeds too deep)
Spray or water the trays lightly with water again, and then cover them with their plastic covers
Label each tray so that you know what herbs they contain

STEP 3

Cover the trays with black polythene or newspaper and put them on your window-shelf or in a green house
Check regularly and keep the soil-less compost moist
Watch carefully for the seeds to germinate.

STEP 4

When seeds have germinated take the black polythene/ newspaper covering off the seed trays
Put the trays in a light place (but not direct sunlight)

STEP 5

Replant your seedlings in the 3 inch plastic pots when they have grown into firm young plants (1 to 2 inches tall) by:- Filling each 3 inch pot three quarters full with the soil-less compost

- Making a large hole in the soil at the center of each pot

- Transferring each plant (and the “root-ball” of soil) to it’s own pot

- Firming the soil around the plant afterwards

Keep the pots in a light ventilated area and water regularly
Replant your herb plants in your herb garden or patio herb container when they have grown into strong young plants 2-3 inches tall

Tips on Harvesting your Herbs

After you have followed the steps I have outlined for growing herbs from seeds you’ll be able to watch your herbs grow and start harvesting them in the early summer. When you do harvest them, don’t remove too many leaves at one time. If you stick to this rule your herbs will quickly regrow, and you’ll be able to continue harvesting them again and again through the summer and into the autumn.

Throughout the summer period you’ll be able to enjoy using your own home-grown herbs. You will also have something to boast about at your next dinner party when you use the herbs you’ve grown in your favorite recipes and describe your success at growing herbs from seeds.

Happy herb gardening,

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Growing Garlic in Pots or Containers

Written on November 11, 2010 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing

Tips and Instructions for Growing Garlic in Pots

Why grow your own garlic? Isn’t it far easier to buy it from the shop? And if you haven’t got a garden or aren’t really keen on gardens can you really start growing garlic at home in pots?

In this article I’ll try and give you the answers to these questions. If I manage to convince you that growing your own garlic isn’t such a bad idea I’ll provide you with some simple instructions on how you can start growing garlic in pots in your own home.

Garlic Bulbs

Garlic is one of the most famous of all the herbs. It has a reputation for preventing a whole range of illnesses from the common cold and flu through to the plague! Even today with the vast numbers of over the counter cold remedies and prescription medicines available, lots of herb growing enthusiasts start taking it (usually as odor-free tablets!) during the colder weather to reduce the chances of catching colds and flu.

However, garlic is best known today for its ability to enhance the taste of food. It makes a superb addition to many recipes, enhancing and bringing out the flavor of other ingredients.

If you have used it in recipes you probably bought it from a local shop or convenience store, but if you want garlic that is full of taste or want to sample different varieties you will need to start growing your own garlic.

Growing Garlic in Pots isn’t Difficult

Garlic, isn’t difficult to grow. You don’t need your own vegetable or herb garden to do it. For just a few dollars and with some “insider information” you can easily make a success of growing garlic in pots at home. And once you’ve succeeded in growing your own garlic, you might be tempted to try growing other herbs also.

To make a start at growing garlic in pots or containers, all you need are some garlic cloves (obtained by splitting up your garlic bulbs) and a few basic materials. If you start growing your garlic in October or November you will have a first harvest the following June, and then a major crop in August or September. This main crop can either be used immediately or stored for use over the winter.

Follow the following simple steps.

Find a Good Growing Position

When you start growing your garlic, choose a place near to your kitchen where you can get at your garlic easily. Make sure the position you choose is sunny for a fair part of the day. You can use any sort of pot you like, but it should have some drainage holes at the bottom. The pot or container should also be about a foot in diameter so that you can plant a reasonable number of garlic cloves. All being well, each clove will produce one new garlic bulb at the end of the growing season.

Buying Your Garlic Cloves:

Garlic is grown by planting the individual cloves of garlic. Each clove when fully grown will become another garlic bulb. If you want to start growing garlic in pots you will need about four or five garlic bulbs to provide you with enough cloves to plant in your pot.

Although garlic bulbs can be purchased from most local food stores, it’s better to buy them from a specialist supplier. The reason for this is that garlic bulbs purchased in a shop or convenience store are very often treated with chemicals to prevent them from sprouting. Needless to say, this is not you want! Also, a specialist garlic bulb supplier will offer you a choice of different varieties of garlic, varying from mild to strong. See my list of garlic varieties to choose from.

Planting Your Pots or Container:

Fill your container with a good quality ‘seed and potting compost’. Break the bulbs into cloves as described above, and plant them 1 ½ to 2 inches deep and about 3 to 4 inches apart. Make sure you plant the cloves the right way up – the bottom of the clove has a slightly concave end.

This short video provides a very good introduction to preparing and planting your garlic bulbs. It illustrates how to plant garlic in the garden, but is just as relevant to growing garlic in pots

Planting and Growing Garlic in Pots:

The ideal time to plant is October/ November. You can plant later, but by planting the cloves at this time of the year they will be able to develop some roots before the cold weather sets in. Keep your newly planted pot or container in a cool place (around 10 degrees centigrade) for about a month. This will help to ensure that each clove produces a bulb. Keep your cloves well watered. It’s easy to forget you need to water regularly if you are growing garlic in pots, because pots dry out much more easily than garden soil.

Harvesting Your Garlic:

Your garlic should be ready for harvesting any time between August to September the following year depending upon the weather and the variety of garlic you have chosen to grow. You’ll get information about planting and harvesting different varieties when you buy your garlic bulbs from the specialist supplier.

It can sometimes be very difficult to decide when your garlic is ripe enough to dig up. The leaves may look strong and healthy, but if you dig them up too early your bulbs will be too small. However, if you harvest too late your bulbs will have started to lose their quality.

The best thing to do is to pull up a single bulb in late June and see how many sheaths (the thin papery layers that surround the bulb) you can peel off the bulb, if the answer is three then the bulb is ready to be lifted. If you can remove four or more layers then it is best to wait another couple of weeks or at least until most of the leaves have turned brown.

Storing Your Garlic:

After you have pulled up your complete crop of garlic, lay the bulbs with their leaves attached on paper or sacking in a dry area. When they have dried out completely, remove the leaves and store them in a dry place. If you feel inclined you can try and plait your bulbs together with their leaves to produce a “garlic string”. If you follow these storage instructions carefully you’ll be able to keep your garlic in good condition for around six months, although some varieties will keep longer.

The “Secrets” of Using Garlic in Your Recipes

Garlic can be used in lots of different recipes and always tastes best when it’s fresh. The distinctive flavor of garlic is released in varying intensities depending on how it is prepared and used in recipes. The more the cloves are chopped or crushed, the more their juices and essential oils are released. For the mildest flavor, use garlic in whole cloves or large slices. For medium to full flavor, chop or mince the garlic to produce small pieces. For a full-on garlic intensity, smash, puree or press the cloves with a garlic press to release its juices and oils.

Once you start growing garlic in pots or containers you’ll have regular supplies of fresh garlic, and you’ll be able to experiment much more easily with new recipes. And when you do this you’ll not only get better garlic flavours in your food; the garlic will also be helping to keep you healthy at the same time!

Happy herb growing,

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Italian Herb Garden

Written on August 12, 2010 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing, themed herb gardens

The Variety and Romance of an Italian Herb Garden

Many recipes in Europe and the West are of Italian origin and make lots of use of herbs which have been used for herb growing in Italy for generations (many of them going back to the time of the Romans). For this reason, many enthusiastic herbs gardeners theme their herb gardens as Italian herb gardens.

Growing your own herbs in an Italian herb garden provides a huge range of options for layout, design and content. However, you don’t need to go as far as suggested in the adjoining picture. It’s as easy to create interest and atmosphere with a small Italian herb garden as it is with a large one.

Some of the most famous and tastiest herbs in the world come from Italy. Some of the best cuisines come from Italy and are famous in part for their herbs.

Some Well-known Herbs for an Italian Herb Garden

An Italian Herb Garden

Basil is a well know herb found in most Italian herb gardens and many Italian recipes. Basil will not only add flavor to many Italian cuisines, it is useful in the garden to other plants. Planting basil next to your peppers and tomatoes will actually improve their flavor. Also, basil will also repel flies and mosquitoes.

Parsley is a relatively hard herb plant to grow but it is useful in not only Italian dishes but many other types of cuisines. Many generations ago before their were breath mints it was found that eating fresh, raw parsley after a meal eradicated the bad breath left over from enjoying a flavorful cuisine. The tradition arose to serve parsley on a small dish after the meal. The tradition lives today by using parsley as a garnish on a variety of meals.

Oregano is as decorative as it is flavorful. When it is fully mature it will sprout pretty little purple flowers. Oregano should not be harvested until it has flowered because this is when the plant is most flavorful.

Fennel is famous for its seeds that grace and enhance the flavors of Italian sausage. The interesting thing about fennel is that the plant looses its flavor as it matures. It is a perennial plant that should be divided and replanted every few years to savor its flavor.

Rosemary, like basil, is an Italian herb that is beneficial to the garden. It grows into a large shrub that spouts pretty little blue flowers. It helps the garden by attracting bees. Although it is a tough evergreen perennial, it is sensitive to frost.

Garlic is probably the most used herb in Italian cuisines. No Italian herb garden in an Italian herb garden would be complete without this useful herb. Garlic is not difficult to grow. Garlic cloves can be planted and will thrive in just about any garden with very little attention. They can be stored to be used at a later time after they are harvested by freezing them or pickling them to store in the refrigerator.

Sage is used in a variety of Italian dishes from meats to salads. New shoots of the plant contain the most flavor so it is recommended not to let sage plants to get to woody by keeping them trim. New shoots will be encouraged to grow. Sage can be harvested after it blooms.

Plan the Development of Your Italian Herb Garden

There are lots of herbs that can be included in an Italian herb garden. Don’t try and go too far at the start when you are developing your Italian herb garden. Carefully consider which herbs are best for your garden. Think about the growing conditions each plant needs and consider whether or not you can provide them. Yes, Italian herbs add flavor to food but they should also be looked at as more than that. They also make amazing additions to landscape designs. They can be displayed for their color and aroma as well as appreciated for the flavor they bring to your food. By planting Italian herbs amongst other plants, you will be graced with the sweet aromas straight from Italy. When you have completed your Italian herb garden it will be like taking a stroll on an Italian hill side.

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Start Herb Growing with Herb Growing Kits

Written on August 12, 2010 by Adam Gilpin in herb growing

The No-risk Approach to Starting a Herb Garden

Indoor Herb Growing kits are designed for those who want an easy all-in-one approach to herb growing. If you just haven’t got the time to sit down and learn about the basics of herb growing or to buy the bits and pieces necessary to set up your own herb garden then a herb growing kit could be your best route into growing your own herbs.

Types of Herb Growing Kits

Herb Growing Kits range from starter kits with just 3 or 4 different types of herb seeds to larger kits with a much wide range of herb seeds. The basic kits cost just a few dollars. The larger kits cost between 50 and 80 dollars because they also contain plastic pots for transplanting the herbs outside once they have grown.

The Indoor Culinary Herb Garden Starter Kit shown above is available from Amazon. It contains Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Chives, Savory, Garlic Chives, Mustard, Sage, and it’s on sale for around $32.

Herb growing kits are also available which meet the needs of those who are interested in particular categories of herbs.

Italian herbs

Containing the herbs that are very widely used in Italian-style cooking – Basil, Oregano, and Parsley.

Culinary Herbs

Lemon Balm, Catnip, Rosemary, Peppermint, German Chamomile, Fever Few, Lavender, Lemon Grass, Marigold, Lemon Bergamot, Angelica, Anise.

Medicinal Herbs

Echinacea, Milk Thistle, Peppermint, Yarrow, German Chamomile, St. Johnswort, Burdock, Fever Few, Lemon Balm, Valerian, Cayenne, Astragalus (Chinese Milkvetch)

Tea Herbs

Lemon Balm, Catnip, Rosemary, Peppermint, German Chamomile, Fever Few, Lavender, Lemon Grass, Marigold, Lemon Bergamot, Angelica, Anise.

In addition to the instructions on herb growing, kits of tea herbs frequently also contain recipes on how to prepare infusions (sometimes also including bags for holding the herbs and an infuser) .

What’s in Herb Growing Kits?

Herb growing kits usually contain the following items:

Herb Seeds – enclosed in sealed packets. There are generally just enough seeds for one batch of herbs

Peat Moss Pellets (see picture) – hard cylindrical pellets which expand and soften on watering. The seeds are placed on top of the pellets.

Fiber Pots/Planting Tray – the pellets are placed in fiber pots or planting trays

Instructions on how to grow and look after your herbs

Larger kits also sometimes contain planters for transplanting the herbs once they have germinated and grown into small plants

Advantages of Kits

Herbs ready to harvest indoors – no treks out into the garden with a torch in the pouring rain. The herbs are there when you want them
Can grow all year round – because indoor temperature conditions are more likely than not to be constant throughout the year
Great for small apartments – The smaller kits can be put on window shelves
Easy to care for – its easy to make sure the herbs are getting the sun when it shines and that you are watering them regularly
Good way to begin herb growing – this is without doubt an easy and painless way to start herb gardening

Disadvantages of Kits

Only small quantities of herbs – at least for the starter kits
Limited range of herbs – only those suited to to the limited space in the pots provided and to indoor temperature conditions
Need to start over when herbs have been used up

Some kits overcome these disadvantages by offering planters to which herbs can be transplanted outside once they become big.

Where Can Herb Growing Kits be Purchased?

Herb growing kits are very widely available. The basic kits are marketed widely as presents and can readily be purchased on Amazon and at nurseries and garden centers.

Happy herb growing,

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