MARCH/APRIL 2015
15
Gardening: Start Growing Fresh Cooking Herbs Now
Easy to grow, simple to care for, at hand when needed
by Frank Kourt,
Staff Writer
As we turn the
corner from winter
to spring, our
thoughts naturally turn to gardening, and thoughts of gardening
naturally lead one to think of good
things to eat.
If the idea of babying vegetable
plants through drought and frost
– not to mention defending them
from insects and animals – turns
you off, there is still some relatively
simple and carefree garden work
you can do. You can grow your own
fresh herbs for cooking.
Herbs are generally among the
easiest things to grow, and they’ll
provide you with fresh flavor all
summer long. Just walk out the
back door and with a few snips of
the scissors, you’ve got all the fresh
flavor you need.
The most important thing to remember about growing fresh herbs
is to plant them in a sunny spot in
well-drained soil. Best of all, they’re
reasonably trouble free. Most need
no fertilizer, and bugs and animals
tend to shy away from them. In
fact, they’re often recommended
as “companion plantings” to be
planted near vegetables because
bugs stay away from them.
Even if you don’t have a garden
spot, herbs will grow quite well
in containers such as big planters,
as long as they’re kept in the sun
and watered well. We grow huge
containers of basil every year to
use in making pesto and for other
cooking projects. Almost all herbs,
including parsley, oregano, thyme,
tarragon, basil, rosemary, marjoram
and sage, grow well in this area.
Now is a good time to get herb
seedlings going for transplanting outside in late May, when the
danger of frost has passed. All you
need is a number of peat pots,
some starter such as Jiffy Mix, trays
to put the pots in and seeds.
Make sure you mark each pot so
you’ll know what’s planted where.
We use color-coded toothpicks.
Keep your seedlings in a sunny
window (southern or eastern
exposure) and water frequently.
When it comes time to plant them
outdoors, you can put them in the
ground, peat pot and all, and have a
fresh taste of summer in your daily
cooking.
If you don’t feel like fooling
around with growing your own
herbs from seed, you’ll find plenty
of bedding plants, all grown and
ready to put into the ground, at
your local gardening center.
A word of caution: Spearmint,
oregano and tarragon grow like
proverbial weeds. They are perennials, which means they return year
after year. They have a tendency
to take over an herb garden, so it’s
best to keep them contained. Parsley is biennial, which means you’ll
get two years out of one planting.
Some herbs are quite hardy and
will easily withstand a light frost.
Among these are both curly leaf
and Italian flat leaf parsley and
rosemary. Hot-weather-loving
herbs, such as basil, need to go into
the ground when the weather is
warmer. Let the information on the
tag that comes with the bedding
plant be your guide about when to
plant.
While I have quite successfully
planted herbs in the ground near
my vegetable garden, I now tend to
use containers because I can keep
them right on my patio. They’re
close at hand when I need to use
fresh herbs in my cooking. I usually
get large plastic tubs and fill them
with fertilized soil such as MiracleGro and let each herb have its own
tub to grow as big as it desires.
Just remember to keep those tubs
watered during dry summer conditions.
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