Grow Herbs
Essential Herbs for Beginners
New to growing your own herbs and spices? To start off, choosing a number of basic herbs makes the process relatively easy, coupled with the fact that they bring out a number of flavors and scents for culinary purposes. Basil is the most popular green due to its fresh sweet taste, commonly used in pasta and salads, pesto. It grows best in full sun, in a loose soil that is well drained and will grow happily in either an indoor container or an outdoor garden. Both flat-leaf (Italian) and curly parsley are used for enriching the dishes’ taste with the fresh green herb aroma; mostly used in soups, sauces, stews, meat dishes, salads and as garnish. It thrives in areas that receive partial shades and in moist soil, thus it can be planted in any garden. Mint is a popular type of herb with a fresh smell and taste and can be incorporated in teas, cocktails, and desserts mostly the spearmint and peppermint types. Mint likes moist but well-drained soil with partial shade and is a rapid grower; hence it is best grown in a container. Finally, thyme has roughly savoury and bitter taste prized for smoothing out meat, vegetables, and herbal marinades. This grows well in a soil that has good drainage and in a location that has full sun exposure it is edible and can also be used for garnishing. Begins using these basic herbs not only familiarizes the beginner with the pleasure of growing their own herbs but its incorporation allows the use of fresh, grown right at the backyard herbs to our everyday cooking.Indoor Herb Gardening
Herb Garden Design Ideas
Herb gardening is fun , yet it is a great way of increasing functional food and it comes with practicality by just designing it. No matter you wish to have a small herb garden in a corner of the backyard or want a little balcony with herb plants or would like to incorporate kitchen windowsill with the herbs, it is completely possible. Optimally placing herbs helps to add pleasing to the eye visuals to the environment as well as easy access to raw ingredients for experimenting with and constructing stunning dishes as well as for health remedies.
The selection of the location is also one of the basic steps in the herb garden design. Herbs grow better in areas that are sunny and need good drainage, and locations that get direct sun are the south side or that receive 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. Often in cities or homes with restricted areas for plants, people turn to specific kinds of gardens such as veritcal gardens for herbs. The wall gardens are gardens that are grown vertically on the wall or any structure and the plant locally known as herb is usually grown in this type of gardens as it makes efficient use of the available space and also beautifies the building.
When designing your layout for the herbs, it is advisable to organize the herbs with the similar water and sunlight requirements into the same area. These includes rosemary, thyme and oregano which requires well drained soil and can be grouped together while basil, parsley and cilantro requires soil with ability to hold water. The Other approach used in improving herbs growth and naturally controlling pests is companion planting; whereby placing herbs such as basil next to tomatoes would help in enhancing the flavor of tomatoes and at the same time repel pests that affect both plants.
Harvesting and Preserving Herbs
Gardening is a good craft to practice, and it gets fulfilling when one is in a position to harvest and preserve the herbs gazetted in the spare plot. Even from the time that the herbs are set out in a garden until the time they are ready for use, understanding how and when to pick them will help in the use of fresh herbs as well as the fragrance that comes with them throughout the year. Also, Canning helps in preserving some herbs to be used for such purposes as cooking, medicinal, and ornamental during the summer and early autumn when the growing of the herbs is out of season.
The time that is taken in the process of herbs’ harvesting has marked effect in terms of their taste and efficiency. In fact, for most of the herbs, it is most preferred when they are harvested in a stage slightly before they bloom. This is the point where the densities of their oils which are responsible for the beans flavorful profile and therapeutic value are highest. Ideally, harvesting is done in the morning when the dew has formed a film on the plants thus avoiding staking or stressing the herbs and when the herbs’ flavors are ripest.
One inevitably needs to understand that various herbs need certain methods of gathering. With regards to the leafy herbs such as appearance of basil, parsley, and cilantro, you can cut them using scissors at the stem of the plant or take off the individual leaves as required. This fosters the plants to grow on and on, thus guaranteeing the clients a constant source of fresh leaves. Most of the woody plants including rosemary, thyme and sage are better harvested through pinching of the young shoots or by using a pair of scissors and cut stems at the base of the plant. One should not cut most of the leaves off because some leaves perform photosynthesis and help the plant to grow.
Herb Companion
Herb companion garden or grouping is the practice of planting different herbs side by side, or intercropping them creating nutritionally, medically, and aesthetically synergistic space. It based on the principles of horticulture that some plants are thought to improve the growth and taste of adjacent herbs, to protect from insects, or to supply nutrients. Actually, when choosing the plants to be grown around each other, there ought to be some considerations in an aspect that follows the compatibility nature of plants to other plants in the garden.
The first concept of the principles of herb companion planting is about learning the relationships between the plants. For example, basil, sage, or rosemary that are used as condiments are thought to repel several pests for example aphids, mosquitoes, and cabbage moths when grown in the vicinity of crops that might be affected for instance tomatoes or cabbage. The smell of marigolds also ensure they can fight nematodes and any other bad bugs hence they can accompany most of the herbs and vegetables. Also, intercropping with flowering herbs like lavender or chamomile among vegetables crop will help to draw pollinators like bees or butterflies, and other beneficial wildlife, so increasing crop yields.
Another aspect grouped under companion planting is nutrition that implies a feeding pattern of plants. Annual herbs like dill and Coriander belong to leguminosae that can fix nitrogen in the soil for the growth of other plants that may require nitrogen like most green leafy and brassica. On the other hand, the erect types of herbs such as fennel or tarragon can act as the screen and shield to other herbs such as mint or parsley by shading the latter in cases of scorching sun or high temperatures.
Seasonal Herb Gardening
Seasonal herb gardening is a vibrant way of growing, by harmonizing with the seasonal trends in planning where to grow the herbs, how to nurture the plants in order to be in synch with the seasons. It involves choosing and preparing the specific herbs that should be planted and be provided with special care throughout the year and harvested at the most suitable time. Perhaps, the most crucial step is the knowledge of how to garden during the specific seasons, so that the quantity and the quality of fresh and strong herbs can be reached to the highest extent, treating the peculiarities of different periods of the year.
With the arrival of spring, comes the period of plant growth and as such, herb gardens can be started afresh. During this time of the year when the sun is out more often and the heat is a bit softer, basil, cilantro, and dill grow their tender leaves in a matter of days. This is perhaps the best period for direct sowing of plants in the garden or planting seeds in pots for them to be transplanted to the garden later. It is also within the spring that biennial herbs like chives, mint, and thyme are planted because they require a lot of time in the soil developing their root before the scorching heat of the sun sets in.
Summer is a both a good and a bad time for herb gardening. Due to abundant light and heat, most of the herbs grow best and develop their full aromatic and flavour character. Although Basil loves warmth, it grows very well during the summer months, and it with it produces fresh leaves for culinary use all summer. However, it may be too hot sometimes and the period of drought can be long in which case it may be necessary to water the herbs regularly so that they do not wither. Summer is also a great time for obtaining herbs in the peak of their flavor and using them to dry bunches of oregano and sage or freezing basil pesto from a bumper crop of the herb.
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