If you’re not the type of person that wants to spend their time managing an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, you might consider planting and maintaining an herb garden. While the product might not seem as significant, you’ll still enjoy the constant availability of fresh, delicious herbs to flavor your meals with.
First you’ll want to choose the herbs that you’ll plant. You might have a hard time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. But the best way to choose is to do what I did; just look at what you have in your kitchen. By planting your own collection of these herbs, you can save money on buying them from the grocery store while having the added benefit of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with include rosemary, sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.
When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you should remember that the soil should have extremely good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and stays completely saturated, you have no chance of ever growing a healthy plant. One of the best ways to fix the drainage problem is to dig a foot deep in the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape, thus saving your plants.
When you are ready to begin planting herbs, you might be tempted to buy the more expensive plants from the store. However, with herbs it is much easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed packets. Some herbs grow at a dangerously fast rate. For example, if you plant a mint plant in an open space then it will take over your entire garden in a matter of days. The best way to prevent this problem is to plant the more aggressive plants in pots (with holes in the bottom to allow drainage, of course).
When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have labored so hard over, it can be fatal to your plant to take off too much. If your plant isn’t well established, it isn’t healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks like its not using them. You should wait until your plant has been well established for at least several months before taking off any leaves. This wait will definitely be worth it, because by growing unabated your plant will produce healthily for years to come http://www.besthostbest.com.
Once you’ve harvested your delicious home grown herbs, you’ll want to use them in cooking. Why else would you have grown them? Well first the process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4 hours. After they’re sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively flavor a dish.
If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you should keep them in a plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard will not work, because it will absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days of storage, you should regularly check the container and see if any moisture has accumulated. If it has, you must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If moisture is left from the first drying process, it will encourage mildew while you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.
So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you should probably consider setting up an herb garden. It might require a little bit of work at first to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want to grow. But after the initial hassle, it’s just a matter of harvesting and drying all your favorite herbs.
Make Your Own Fan
One of the great things about spices is that you can grow them yourself with relative ease. And then you will always have fresh spices to use in your cooking. Herb gardens are a delicious way to enjoy your food more and to enjoy the fulfillment that comes from growing plants. Studies have shown that gardening and growing plants actually helps people become more relaxed and enjoy their leisure time. Plants can also help reduce mental fatigue. And, when you grow herbs and spices, you have attractive plants around that do not cost very much money.
Herbs can be grown either outdoors or in. Some people plant herbs as part of their groundcover and flower gardens. This means that they have an attractive landscape that is also useful for cooking. Additionally, when spices like lavender and chamomile are planted as groundcover, a heavenly smell permeates the landscape. Other attractive looking herbs that work well as groundcover include different varieties of thyme, Lippia dulcis (an Aztec herb that adds a sweet and different flavor), and some mints. Oregano has lovely flowers, but after two or three years, it might be too tall for ground cover.
Spices can also be planted in containers and window boxes. If you are worried about the more profuse herbs spreading and taking over a landscape, you can contain them and watch them flourish, even so. Many people like to grow rosemary, parsley and many of the herbs listed above in window boxes and small containers set outside as part of a container garden. You can even add cute touches by using pots, baskets, decorated tin cans, and even old shoes as containers. Most herbs can be successfully grown this way. And once you get them growing, you can have an almost continuous harvest as you can pick what you need, as you need it. Keep them in ceramic or plastic pots, and you can easily move them inside when the weather becomes cold.
Finally, it is possible to herb garden inside. Most spices can grow as long as you have them in a sunny place. You can grow them in pots or in other containers. They can add an attractive look and smell to the house, even during the winter. As long as their location receives ample light from the sun (a window that faces in a southeasterly direction is ideal, especially in winter), your indoor herb garden will flourish. This is great because it allows you to have fresh herbs for your cooking year round.
Many people also find it rewarding to dry some of their own spices. You can preserve spices for some cooking projects and other uses by drying them yourself. It is possible to find the procedure for drying herbs, as well as helpful appliances, by looking online or at your local library.
Growing your own spices by having an herb garden can be a rewarding experience. You know that there are no chemical additives, and you have fresh spices for your food, which always tastes better anyway.
Both Bob Adam & Charles Kassotis are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
