Herb Garden Tips – Must Read Introduction to Herb Gardening
It can be really frustrating to get half way into a recipe and suddenly discover that you need two leaves of fresh basil, or that you need fresh cilantro for a garnish. Stopping in the middle of dinner preparations to run to the store is rarely an option, so you end up serving a dish that is good, but could have been so much more if you had all of the ingredients.
One way to ensure that you have a ready supply of fresh herbs on hand at all times is to grow your own. It’s not as hard as it sounds, and you don’t need a tilled garden plot to do it. There are many commercially prepared planters that make growing your own herbs an easy option. These pots and trays come pre-filled with the seeds already placed in the correct kind of soil for the herbs to grow well. All you really need to do is follow the instructions about sunlight and water. You can even make it fun and get the kids involved in watering and caring for the “herb garden.”
Some find that they enjoy the gardening process as much as they do having the herbs at hand when they need them.
These folks often possess a bit of a green thumb and are looking for a little more gardening excitement than just removing the plastic wrap from a pre-stuffed pot and adding water. One option for the botanically inclined is to transplant shoots. If cut off pieces of herb are planted quickly into a proper mixture of topsoil and compost, then they will take root and begin to grow just as if they had been seeded. You may also find it helpful to use a hormone rooting powder. This will aid your new plant as it begins to grow roots out of what used to be leaf nodes.
If you are going to be potting your own herbs, whether by seeding them, transplanting them, or trying to get shoots to take root, then you need to make sure that your pots are safe for food.
Stay away from any pot that may have lead in its composition. For that matter, you want to stay away from any pot that is painted with a bright color, as these pigments usually contain lead as well. Your best choice is found in using plastic or terra-cotta pots. These are always food safe.
Enjoy the process, as well as the fruits, of your new herb garden. The ability to walk out of your back door and snip off your own fresh ingredients is very fulfilling. Check one more item off of your stress list knowing that you’ll never serve an incomplete recipe again.
