Enjoying and Planting an Herb Garden
Herbs are used for cooking in our food, as well as herbs that help prevent or remedy illnesses, such as garlic, as it helps to lower one’s blood pressure. However, when some people plant a garden in the spring they somehow over look the aspect of planting herbs. Maybe it is because some herbs are harder to grow than others. Maybe it is because they do not realize how good herbs can make your garden look.
Planting an herb garden does not have to be restricted to the outside. Herbs make great looking gardens inside your home as well. Many herbs have very nice looking blooms and even have nice smells, such as mint. However, there are many people that enjoy an outside garden with their choice of herbs planted in it. It is a good idea to plant the herb section as near the kitchen as possible. Most herbs like to be in full sunlight, however, there are some that like shade as well.
There are many people who do not have the natural type of soil that is needed to grow herbs. So the soil that you use will depend greatly on what ingredients you mix with it. When you first start mixing your soil you should use a good 10-10-10 fertilizer. Be careful not to over fertilize your soil. Using a spreader will help distribute the fertilizer in an even manner. When the plants have developed, about half way through the season, you will need to spread more fertilizer down, as the plants have used most of the nutrients in the fertilizer by this time.
At the end of the season, some of your herbs will die back to the ground, such as oregano, sweet fennel, tarragon, and mint. Mint should be kept more to itself than in the middle of the garden. There are many herbs that stay green all year round, such as rosemary, sage, and thyme; however, these need to be pruned by removing all the dead leaves and stems once spring has arrived. These herbs grow more than two years. Annual herbs are basil, dill, chervil, and cilantro. These annual herbs will have to be replanted from fresh young plants.
Nothing tastes better than food that you have grown yourself; and you cannot get any fresher herbs anywhere. You can dry and even freeze some herbs; such as angelica, bay leaves, chamomile, dill, fennel, oregano, rosemary, and sage are just a few herbs that can be dried and stored in the pantry for future use.
Herbs that can be frozen include thyme, tarragon, parsley, fennel leaves, chives, and garlic. When freezing these herbs you should use a plastic zip lock bag and lay them flat in the freezer.
Here are some of the herbs that are great to start with when planting an herb garden, even if you have never grown one before. Bay plant-start it in a pot and bring it inside during the winter. Dill- you will need at least 4 to 6 plants to start; thyme at least 4 plants; and 2 plants of fennel. With oregano, tarragon, and parsley you can never plant too much. For rosemary one plant will do while for sage, two plants depending how much you like sage. Sweet basil at least 8 plants, because it takes a lot to cover one pound of pasta. Winter savory is the same as sweet basil it depends how much you want in your sauces.
