Happy Mother’s Day! At least once a year I go back to my roots and remind myself why I cannot seem to exist without herbs. I do not mean why I am a gardener. That is genetic inheritance. My grandparents on my mother’s side were farmers. My grandfather on my father’s side was a flower gardener. My father’s mother is the one who helped me to plant my first garden with pansies, bleeding hearts, columbine and coral bells among other plants. So the gardening part was well ingrained before I was 10. As a result Mother’s Day which is close to the frost free day for my area -- when outdoor gardening risks diminish, is a weekend I love to garden.
Herb gardening is uniquely mine in my family. I really like to look at flower gardens, but except for a few old fashioned perennials I never grew many flowers. Instead I prefer greenery, so I think that is why the herbs work so well for me. And I find it fun to experiment with the vast flavors that herbs provide. That keeps the scientist hidden inside me happy too!
When you cook with herbs it is not really just about adding fresh or dried chopped herbs to a dish. It is much more subtle to make an herbal vinegar with fresh herbs and use it to craft a salad dressing or a marinade. Or produce an herbal butter that you dot over plain steamed vegetables to bring out their true nature.
All of these suggestions can be done with a few herbs in pots on the patio. So let’s discuss container gardening with herbs!
If you like to combine herbs in containers, remember to place taller growers in the center and lower growers on the outside edges. Thyme is a great companion in the pot to Basil, Dill and Tarragon. Tarragon which can get 3 feet tall in the ground will be a much smaller grower in a pot, so remember to plan accordingly. When choosing perennials for the container, try dwarf varieties or hybrids which generally have all the flavor and scent of the original cultivar, but often have a more decorative leaf and generally a smaller growing habit.
Planting your Containers
After deciding what herbs you would like to plant, you want to go and get the following supplies:
- Containers
- Potting Mix / Soil Mix
- Herb Seeds and/or herb seedlings
- Spade
- Watering can
- Base filler
A soil mix in the pots high in organic matter is a must. I create my own blend rather than buying something that may not last the season. 5 parts top soil; 2 parts cool compost or peat moss; 1 part course (not play) sand. The sand increases the oxygen and the compost provides the organic matter. Later in the season I use a mix of 50% top soil and 50% compost to top off the pots as the soil sinks. This adds more nutrients and replaces what is lost to erosion.
Select pots with holes in the bottom or sides, so excess water can escape.
Choose large pots, such as 12- to 24-inch-diameter planters. Choose plastic or composition planters instead of clay, which allow less water to evaporate from the soil.
If you are just starting out, you might want to use herb seedlings as they require less work than growing your herbs from seeds.
Once you have gathered all your supplies together, it's time to start creating
your container herb garden!
Place a base filler in the bottom of the pot to aid drainage. You can use Styrofoam peanuts, crushed
aluminum cans, broken clay pots, or anything similar. About an inch or so in the bottom is
great. Then fill your container with
soil mix. The amount of soil you put in
depends on whether you use seeds or seedling to plant your herb garden. In
general, if you are using seeds, fill your container to about 1 inch from the
rim so that you will have room to cover your seeds with a little additional
soil.
Always check the instructions on the seed packet as they will usually give you
more detail on how best to plant your seeds. If you are using seedlings on the
other hand, you want to cover the base of your container with only a few inches
of soil so that you can fit the seedlings in. When you have arranged all your
seedlings in the container you can fill the spaces around them with more soil.
As with seeds, you also want to follow the instructions that accompany your seedlings. If your seedlings to do come supplies with instructions, you can try looking up the information on the internet. These instructions are important for telling you the best growing conditions for your herbs. You might need to move your containers around to give them access to sufficient sunlight to help them grow.
Finally when you are done, give your containers a good watering! And of course do not forget to water your herb garden over the coming days.
Follow these steps and it shouldn’t be long before you have a beautiful and bountiful container herb garden just brimming with delicious fresh herbs!
Using the Herbs
There are simple ways to start using herbs. Like individual sprigs of rosemary over
broiled lamb chops; Or adding ribbons of
basil to your completed spaghetti to give it a burse of bright flavor. Or mixing chopped fresh chives into butter
whipped with sour cream for a topping on any kind of potatoes that makes them a
special treat. These can make using
herbs simple, fast and give you a new taste on the palette.
If your window or patio herbs start to get tall, cut them. Fresh herbs will keep in the refrigerator for several days with the stems wrapped in a damp paper towel and popped into a zip seal bag. If longer storage is needed, chopped them and place the herbs in an ice cube tray, cover them with water and freeze. When you cook soup, stews, chili or sauces, just drop in a cube. If you like many, pop dinner into the crock-pot, remember herbs lose flavor during long cooking times, so just drop in a few cubes when you get home and by the time you are ready to eat the fresh dynamic of the herbs will be released just by reaching into the freezer.
- Chose containers with trays or get trays and
fill them with pebbles. Herbs do not like to have wet feet, but they
also like to have a bit of water to draw on in the heat of the day.
Placing the pot in a tray will keep you from watering twice during the hot
days of summer.
- Don't let your herbs flower, unless you want
to look at rather than eat them. Herb flavors change when they
create flowers, so cut those flower heads off to preserve the best flavors
for cooking and tea.
- Throughout the growing season pinch back the
ends of the branches to promote more branching and the production of more
leaves to harvest. Check daily for dryness and water when t he soil
is dry about 1" depth. Do not overwater and provide good
drainage.
- To test soil for dryness, poke your finger into
the soil: If it feels dry to a depth of one inch in a 12 inch pot and two
inches in a 24 or larger pot, water.
