Herb Gardening Tips
Herb Gardening Tips:Â How to start your own herb garden:
What I have recently discovered is there are lots of people out there that want to grow their own herbs and want to start a new hobby that is based around herb gardening. They just keep putting it off as they haven’t got a clue where to start! But that’s where I come in, in this article I’m going to give you a few tips and pointers on how to start off your own herb garden, whether it is for a hobby or for fun. Some people want to do it so they know exactly where their herbs are coming from and who can blame them? Its very simple to get going one you know all you need to know about herbs, from how to grow them, where to grow them and how to harvest them.
First you need to consider where you want you herb garden, whether you want it indoors (greenhouse) or outdoors. You need to consider how much rain and sunshine you get on average a year. Next you should do some research on the herbs you are going to be growing. You should know everything about all the herbs you plant. Herbs are segregated into three different categories. There are annuals, perennials, biennials. You must know which group your herb falls into to know how to look after it correctly.
Basil, Cilantro and summer savoury are all classed as annuals and annuals cannot survive a frost which means they should be planted from a seed every year. These are all your medicinal and culinary herbs, so it’s a small price to pay.
Sage and winter savouries are all classed as perennials. It is much easier to plant these kinds of herbs as they can survive winter climates. One good example is Sage, which is very good for food flavouring and is also very popular.
Parsley, Angelica and Caraway are all examples of biennials. These herbs are usually planted in the late spring. They form their leaves in the first season, and in the second season they flower, and then they die. For the majority of people, these herbs tend to be used as garnish. Garnish is used to enhance the flavour of all foods and drinks.
There are then two categories of culinary and medicinal herbs. Culinary herbs are used in many different aspects of cooking. The flavours and scents are usually what determine the category into which the herbs fall. The medicinal herbs have been medically proven to cure certain aches and pains. There are also herbs that can be used for both these purposes. There is also such thing as aromatic herbs. These herbs were more popular in the olden days, before perfume was invented. The oils were extracted from the herbs and that’s what people used as perfume. They also remain fragrant when they are dried out (potpourri) Examples of these herbs are rosemary, thyme, marjoram, mint and lavender. A little research goes a far way before you start your herb gardening, so I do suggest you do so. I will also suggest you buy your herbs from a garden centre rather than a supermarket; they are fresher and are a lot more reliable.
Like everything you do in life there are always pros and cons to it. There are good points and there are downfalls.
Pros;
- When you compare it to traditional methods of growing, gardening is a lot more productive. You will save a space and grow more.
- You use less soil; this can prevent damaged or wasted crops.
- You can customise the nutrient mix used, use a different amount for every different herb, rather than having to buy a different mix.
- Water consumption is far less; herb gardening needs only 1/10th of the water needed to accommodate a simple soil garden. This is helped by the lack of weeds present to consume any water.
- It is very eco-friendly as they are being grown in a contained environment
Cons;
- Nutrient mixtures and growing mediums can be quite costly, so expenses can be quite steep.
- A lot of research must be done before you begin and maybe throughout the growing season.
- A lot of time and effort has to go into herb gardening, especially with the high price; you should not let your crops die.
Here are a few tips on how to be successful at herb gardening.
- You need to have a healthy garden before you can start growing herbs in it. You need to make sure you have no weeds
- You should also make sure you know all about growing techniques and the proper lighting you need to be successful.
- You should always harvest herbs in the morning and this is when they have their highest concentration of oils.
- You should always wash them in cold water and leave the on a rack to dry out. The herbs usually take three days to dry out.
Herb gardening is a great hobby to have to fill in those hours of boredom and can also help you save money in the long run on all herbs and spices you buy from the shops. It can also cut you down on medical bills if you do the research and learn how to use the medicinal herbs. You should also learn what herbs are good for certain injuries or illness’s before using them.
There is a lot more to know about all different routes of herb gardening but these are the basic things you have to know before getting started. Just remember all the tips and pointers given to you in this article and you should be fine, just don’t forget all your research, which is of critical importance before you start and throughout the process. Good luck on harvesting your own herb garden and I hope this information helped!
