Herb Garden
Herb Garden
Indoor Organic Herb Garden
Growing an organic herb garden is a delightful project. The fragrant plants not only look and smell good; they are also good for flavoring foods.
Indoor organic herb gardens have the advantage of being year-round, giving a continuous supply of fresh herbs. An indoor organic herb garden can be as small as a few pots on a window sill or as large as a greenhouse filled with containers of aromatic organic herbs.
Herb Choices
There are many ways to decide which herbs to include in your organic herb garden. Here are some ideas.
1. Italian Herb Garden: Plant rosemary, oregano, basil, fennel, and chives. Terra cotta containers will make your indoor organic herb garden look authentically old world.
2. French Herb Garden: Begin with lemon basil, marjoram, and parsley, and add other herbs you like to use in French cooking.
3. Fragrant Herb Garden: Choose angelica, bergamot, catmint, chamomile, thyme, lavender, lemon balm, mint, and sage. This organic herb garden is a natural air freshener.
4. Tea Herb Garden: If you enjoy herbal teas, your organic herb garden might focus on appropriate herbs for your tea: catnip, chamomile, lavender, lemon grass, mint, and peppermint.
You may not want to theme your indoor organic herb garden, but simply grow a few herbs that appeal to you.
Containers
Many herbs are well-suited to container gardening, but you will want to choose containers according to the herbs you intend to grow.
1. Those tiny herb peat pots sold in discount stores give the wrong idea. Your indoor organic herb garden will not last long with such small thinking.
2. Begin with containers a bit larger than those in which the live nursery plants were purchased. This will give your plants room to start growing.
3. Once your herbs are stabilized and growing well, transplant them into larger containers.
4. Basil, mint, oregano, and sage are examples of herbs that can be grown in pots of about 8 to 10 inches.
5. If you want a large crop of herbs that is constantly being replenished in your organic herb garden, use 3 to 5 gallon containers. This will assure you of having plenty of rosemary, basil, etc. when you want it.
Container Soil
Indoor organic herb gardens call for building organic soil. Your soil should have a pH of about 7, since herbs prefer a more alkaline soil. If yours is too acid, add some calcified seaweed. Be sure you use only organic fertilizers to build your soil.
Indoor Lighting
An indoor organic herb garden will need lighting, especially if your room is not sunny. Lighting is especially important for year-round indoor gardens.
Different plants have different light requirements, some preferring bright sun and others preferring shade. Most herbs prefer full sun, but there are exceptions, so learn what each of your herbs needs.
Incandescent lights, even though called "grow lights", are a poor choice for your indoor organic herb garden. Fluorescent lights are better, and have the advantage of being inexpensive, easily available, and easy to set up. The best choice for lighting your indoor organic herb garden is high intensity discharge lighting, often called HID lights. These are even more affordable and efficient.
Useful and Beautiful
An indoor organic herb garden can be both useful and beautiful. Herbs are generally eager to please, and require little maintenance. Simply give them the right food, water, and sunlight, and they will reward you abundantly.
About the Author
© 2007, Anna Hart. Anna Hart invites you to read more of her articles about organic gardening at
http://www.organicspringtime.com
. Anna is posting new articles every week on that site, each one dealing with some facet of organic gardening. If you want information on
locating live organic herb plants
for your organic herb garden, you won't want to miss Anna's article on the subject.
How to make a mini herb garden?
I really like to use fresh herbs when i cook so i like to have an herb garden. I don't have a green thumb and usually end up killing my plants/forgetting about them/smashing them etc. I would like to have one in my kitchen where i could take a little better care of it and use it easier. Does anyone have any tips or good ideas for a mini herb garden indoors?
As much sun as possible, they thrive with loads of direct sun. Don't bother beginning with seeds, go with seedlings or more mature plants.
Herbs don't tolerate north-facing windows, or any window that gets less than four hours of direct sunshine a day.
Get a parsley plant from the nursery, and bring it in. The older leaves will fall off, but the thick taproot will drive new growth from the center.
Coriander (cilantro), garden cress, and dill are short-lived annuals that, when cut for harvest, do not regrow.
Unless you still have lots of winter sun, growth of most indoor herbs will slow or even stop during the winter, even with enough warmth. When growth slows, reduce harvests and hold back a little on the water. Reducing the indoor temperature to 60º to 65ºF, if possible, also helps. With few exceptions, herbs require excellent drainage, add sharp sand or perlite to a good sterilized compost-based mix. Most herbs do well in soils of pH 6 to 7. In general, water less often and more thoroughly, and only when the soil is actually dry.
Plants to try:
Chives, Dill, Mint, Basil, Greek Oregano, Broadleaf Thyme, Blue Boy Rosemary, Dwarf Garden Sage. For better care of each, look up each one individually for best results.
Herb Garden
30 Minute Herb Garden
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Herb Garden $49.99 Kate Ward Thacker Herb Garden - Giclee Print |
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Edible Herb Garden $12.65 A guide to cultivating and cooking herbs provides details on designing a herb garden and includes recipes for appetizers, soups, side dishes, and main dishes |
Benefits of Herb Gardening
Benefits of Herb Gardening
Herbs are the group of plants grown for adding flavor, scent, medicinal or other quality uses. Herbs are used for cooking, medicines, and for spiritual purposes. In medicinal and spiritual use, any part of plant might be considered herb, including leaves, flowers, roots, seeds, root bark, resin, berries, and other portions of plant. Herb gardens are the gardens where the herbs are grown for different purposes. Herb gardening can be done in a small place in the corner of your flower garden or even in your kitchen or balcony. It is important to follow the proper herb gardening tips to take good care your herb garden.
Apart from the medicinal use, herbs have numerous other benefits. They can be used to add flavor to your food. Some of the benefits of growing herb gardens are listed below.
Benefits of Herb Gardening:
- Herbs have number of uses. When you grow herb gardens you can get the fresh herbs right at your fingertips whenever needed. You can grow them outside, inside or even in your kitchen and have the right ingredients waiting for you.
- Herbs can add flavor to your meals. Adding new herbs while cooking and experimenting can make it a new meal.
- Aromatic herbs are the herbs that have pleasant fragrance. These herbs can be used in perfumes and scents. Growing such herbs in your herb garden can keep the environment fresh and healthy.
- Adding fresh herbs in your diet is a great way to boost the vitamin value in your meals. It is not the only health benefit of herb gardens. Gardening is also a wonderful exercise that will keep you fit and healthy.
- Fresh herbs can be expensive when you purchase them from market. Also, the shopkeeper may not keep all the herbs that you need and you have to look for the specialty store and pay even more amount for the herb. Planting the necessary herbs in your herb garden will help you to save money and get the required herbs at one place.
- Dried or fresh herbs make a wonderful gift. You can put them in the pretty jar and gift them to your friends and relatives.
- Herbs require little space to grow. The major benefit of herb gardening is that it can be grown in the limited available space. It can be grown in any corner of your garden or even in your balcony. When growing in balcony, plant the herbs in the pots so that they can be moved whenever required.
- Turmeric is the herb that found numerous medicinal and cooking applications. It is the good antiseptic for healing the wounds. It can be added in food for flavor.
The herb gardening tips will help you to maintain your herb garden and grow the necessary herbs properly.
About the Author
I Aileen Edword provide all information about Herb gardening, Herb gardening tips and benefits of Herb Gardening.
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OXO Salad Spinner The OXO GOOD GRIPS Salad Spinner family is growing! The Little Salad & Herb Spinner, a small version of our big Spinner, is perfect for drying salad for two, herbs or berries. The Little Spinner features our patented pump mechanism that makes it easy to spin salad by simply pressing the soft knob. Our patented brake lets you stop the basket to unload it, and a non-slip ring keeps the bowl steady o... |
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Herb Garden