I have always loved herbs. When I was growing up, we used herbs in everyday cooking in our traditional Lebanese household. All nine children learned at an early age how to distinguish basil from marjoram, which mint was to be picked for kibbee, and how many sprigs of thyme it took for a kettle full of dolmathas.
My first herb garden was not a formal knot garden (a formal garden in a square frame), but an ordinary one like my mother’s. Along with her heirloom mint, I planted basil, dill, sage, thyme and marjoram. I later added caraway and bay when I started cooking for my German husband. Cilantro, ginger and cumin found their place in the garden when I experimented with Asian cuisines. Next came the scented sweet herbs for [private_membership circle] jellies, honey and sugars. After that, I planted a little plot of Shaker herbs. I even had a corner of the garden with spa herbs – those aromatic and healing herbs used in bath salts, exfoliants, etc. Without realizing, I had created theme herb gardens!
If you’re a novice with growing herbs, think of the foods you like to eat. If you like Italian foods, you might start with parsley, rosemary, thyme, basil and oregano. I would certainly add parsley to that list, since it’s a beautiful herb for landscaping, as well.
Get the kids involved with their own little patch of herbs. They love to plant catnip for cats. Try a pizza garden with Italian herbs or a salad garden with parsley and baby greens. When they take ownership of a project like this, kids will eat a more healthful diet and usually love to cook with the herbs they grow.
Seldom bothered by pests, most herbs thrive in a well-drained, sunny location. If you have to grow in partial shade, try chervil, mint, tarragon, fennel, lemon balm, parsley and lovage. Among the sun loving herbs are basil, rosemary, lavender, chives, sage, thyme, marjoram, oregano and dill. But herbs don’t always follow the rules. You may have a sun-loving herb do quite well in a shady location. So experiment and see what works best for you. Your herbs will let you know what they like!
Plant your herbs as close to the kitchen as possible. Above all, relax. You can have an eclectic and rather jumbled herb garden like mine, or you can have a theme garden. And you don’t need a plow and the lower forty to plant herbs. My Mom used to say you could garden in a teacup! Container gardening is huge right now, and with good reason. Most herbs take well to containers. (Look for more a blog post from me soon with information about “Container Gardening”.)
Herb growing is not difficult or intimidating. Herbs require very little care and don’t like to be babied.
As a rule, general garden soil works well, with a bit of fertilizer thrown in when you plant. After that, unless you grow herbs in containers, you won’t need to fertilize regularly.
After the herbs are established, watering should be done only when the soil is dry about 4” down. Too much water and fertilizer diminish the volatile oils in most herbs.
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Rita Nader Heikenfeld is founding editor of www.Abouteating.com
a popular website that showcases her many interests in healthy living.
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