Start Your Herb Empire With A Mini Herb Garden
When you start growing herbs, it can be a little overwhelming choosing which ones to pick. A mini herb garden is perfect if you are just starting to grow your own. As time passes and you realize which herbs grow best in your area, suit your soil and see how much time you have available, you can work on your herb empire.
You will need to decide what you want to get from your new garden. If you are looking to create a picturesque scene full of lovely colours and scents, you will pick different plants to those that would suit a medicinal garden or a one to be used to produce homemade cosmetics.
Herbs have existed since time began and are mentioned in all the major religions and feature strongly in ancient medicines. They were used for cooking, dyes, disinfectants and of course for embalming. They are really easy to grow and do not require a lot of maintenance. Some prefer the sun while others like the shade. Some grow really quickly while others like Rosemary take their time.
To get the best results from your mini herb garden, it is worth taking some time to prepare the site. Most herbs prefer a slightly alkaline soil and a little space. Don’t skip the preparation phase as having the right foundations will help your herbs to grow strong and fight off pests and bugs. Always plant at the right time of year and don’t forget to feed your seedlings. Setting plants too close together will encourage diseases such as mildew with Mint being the most likely herb to be attacked.
You should make a list of the plants you would like to grow. You will already know what space you have available so make a rough guess based on how high these plants are going to grow as to how many different varieties you will be able to plant. The mistake most beginners make is to plant too many which results in their roots becoming entangled. This has an adverse affect on both the flavor and scent of the herbs.
Make your life easier by starting with the simple ones such as chives, thyme and some of the other savories. You can either grow these from seed or buy small plants depending on your budget and your patience levels! Sometimes you won’t have an option as herbs such as French tarragon and purple sage do not produce seeds unless you live in a very warm climate. Other herbs such as rosemary are so slow growing that most people prefer to start with a plant.
Once your herbs are growing and you can see that you have some healthy plants, you could put some of them into small pots and set up a stall at the bottom of your drive to sell your surplus. A local nursery may buy your surplus herbs or you could even plant them in decorative pots and give them as gifts to other herb loving friends.
Whatever plants you decide on, have fun and experiment with your mini herb garden.
How Fresh Herb Gardening Is So Much More Exciting
There is nothing better than using your own home grown herbs when cooking or making cosmetics and herbal remedies. Fresh herb gardening is so much more exciting than simply buying dried herbs as it is almost impossible to get it wrong. You do not need green fingers to grow most herbs successfully. They do not require a lot of space and even if you don’t have a garden, you can still grow your own by using a window box or container.
Your needs will dictate the type and quantity of herbs you grow. If you just want to add flavour and interest to your cooking a small number of herbs will suffice. You could grow basil, summer savory, chives, watercress and marigold to add flavour to summer salads. For winter meals, thyme, rosemary and salad burnet are good ones.
Fresh herb gardening does include some rules that should be followed to obtain optimum results. For example, the roots of the mint herb will overtake any box so it must be planted in its own separate container. It also grows best in the shade so an idea would be to plant a mint bed with different varieties of this herb such as peppermint, penny royal, curly mint and spear mint on a shady window ledge or shaded area of your garden.
Parsley, thyme and Bay are three herbs that are often used together in cooking so you might want to grow these together. But if you put them in the same pot, you must position them so that the Bay doesn’t overshadow the other two as parsley and thyme need sunlight to grow.
Fresh herbs can also be used for cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Lavender will make your garden smell beautiful. When cut and dried, you can place it under your pillow to help you sleep. Add it to your wardrobe to help scent your clothes or to your bath to help you to relax. Rosemary also smells lovely and will add flavour to lamb and other meats. But it is also good for rinsing your hair adding colour and shine to dark hair. It also stimulates the digestion and circulation. Fennel is also good for adding flavour to fish dishes and drinking an infusion of fennel will help to reduce red eye inflammation.
If you suffer from flatulence or digestive problems, making tea from peppermint leaves may help as will chewing caraway seeds. There are so many different herbs you could grow for both medicinal and cooking uses.
Herbal teas have risen in popularity recently and with your own herbs on your doorstep you will be spoilt for choice. Chamomile tea, which is widely known to aid relaxation, is made from the flowers of the plant.
Fresh herb gardening is perfect for those of us who are not used to gardens and growing things. It is very relaxing and rewarding knowing that you are responsible for the beautiful scents and colours in your garden not to mention the delightful flavours they add to your kitchen and the medicinal benefits that they could bring. Why not try it for yourself and see?
How To Create Your Very Own Windowsill Herb Garden.
If you are looking for some pretty and useful plants that are easy to grow but you have limited space, why not create your very own windowsill herb garden.
You can chose from a variety of ready made boxes such as plastic, wooden or those made from fiberglass. The decision will depend partly on your budget and also on the style of house you live in. Avoid metal window boxes as they absorb heat too quickly and this could cause the roots to shrivel. Fiberglass tends to be expensive, plastic is cheap and will last a long time but I think wooden ones look the best. They are more natural and you can get a size to fit your window exactly. The wood will need to be at least 2cms thick for strength; you should fit a drip tray underneath which should be secured before you start planting herbs.
Herbs are, generally, quite easy to grow where ever they are planted. They do not require planting in deep soil so are perfect for growing in windowsill boxes. Choose the windows that get the most sun in the growing season, as herbs generally originate in warm climates so can require up to 7 hours of sunshine to grow properly. Choose your crop with care as some such as Mint are not suitable to grow in a box unless they have their own separate container. They have underground runners that will overtake the entire space very quickly.
When deciding on the type of window box you are looking to create, you need to make a decision on whether you want to grow cooking herbs or fragrance herbs. The second variety will introduce a wonderful scent into the room when the window is open if you chose lemon thyme and pineapple sage. Some people think herb gardens made up of cooking herbs are boring but this is not the case. Cooking herbs are not all green. You can design a wonderful colourful display if you include some gold or silver thyme, purple sage or tricolor with its pink and white leaves.
You can also design a windowsill herb garden for Winter and Summer. In the winter we tend to eat roast meats and stews so growing the herbs that complement these dishes would be a great idea. Rosemary, thyme, sage and parsley will all grow happily in a winter box. In the summer, when salads are on the menu, you could add chives, basil or marigold grown in your summer box to help add some flavour.
If you have a lot of windows and one lies in a shady area, you might want to consider filling it with separate pots of mint as this herb loves the shade. You will need to use different pots to contain the growth of the roots and use a mixture of apple mint, peppermint and spearmint. All have lovely flavours and smell delicious too.
I hope that this has given you plenty of ideas for your windowsill herb garden.
Get Started With These 5 Simple Herb Garden Designs
There are so many different uses for herbs that it can get quite confusing knowing which ones you should be growing. Here are five simple herb garden designs to get you started:
- Winter herb garden:
When picking herbs for your winter herb garden design, you should think about the type of meals you often eat when it is colder. We eat stews, roast meats and thick warming soups. You can improve the flavour of these dishes by adding some of your own home grown rosemary, thyme, Welsh onion, parsley or sage.
- Summer herb garden:
When the sun is shining we no longer need warming soup or hearty stews. Instead we tend to eat more salads which can get a little repetitive and boring. The solution is our second herb garden design which is a summer garden. Fresh dill, chervil, chives, marigold and basil will add interest and flavour to any salad as well as increasing the vitamin and mineral content.
- Cosmetic herb garden:
A lot of herbs are extremely useful in the preparation of cosmetics. There is nothing quite as soothing as a chamomile face mask. If you are stressed or having trouble sleeping a lavender bath will help as will putting dried lavender leaves under your pillow. Sage is wonderful for oily skin while comfrey works best on dry skin.
- Medicinal herb garden
If you like natural remedies you will be pleased to know that one herb garden design you could have is a medicinal one. Most medicinal herbs can be used for the treatment of more than one ailment so you do not need acres of space. If you suffer from a lot of bruises and sprains, grow some comfrey to treat bruises and parsley to treat sprains. You simply crush the leaves and apply direct to the injury.
Nettles or garlic juice is great for painting onto chilblains. Drinking nettle tea is also supposed to be very good for you. Drinking parsley leaf tea may help reduce the discomfort caused by hemorrhoids while applying thyme and summer savory will help sooth insect bites.
- Decorative herb garden
You do not just have to grow herbs that you have to use for something. You can grow herbs simply because they are very pretty and very aromatic, so why not grow them purely for this reason. Wouldn’t it be nice to sit in your garden, whatever the size, on a summers evening and simply enjoy the sight and smell of your herb garden. Sometimes, to make us feel good, we need to be surrounded with beautiful scenery and ornamental plants in your garden or window box will do just that. There are many varieties to choose from. For example, Borage has brilliant blue flowers whereas Hyssop will add pink, white and deep blue colours to your garden. Lavender is a very popular herb to grow for its aroma and there are many different varieties to choose from. You could even grow a whole garden full of all the different Lavender varieties – no that would make an impact!
I hope that these 5 simple herb garden designs have given you some ideas for your own new herb garden.
