Grow Herbs for your Kitchen
If you’re thinking of planting a garden for culinary herbs e have a few tips to help you along your journey.
Herbs grown in your own garden are fresh, and many are very easy to grow. They also save you money as you can just harvest what you need rather than buy whole bunch and end up throwing half away.
Where To Start With Herbs
Start off by listing the herbs that use most often, our list includes some you can grow year round, depending on climate:
See links below about growing and propagating many of these herbs, many have different requirements, so choose the herbs that you like and learn how to grow them.
Our Top 12 Culinary Herbs
Here are our favourite Culinary Herbs and they are in two groups, both in order of our favourites.
Harder herbs and grown from cuttings.
Seasonal soft herbs and are grown from seeds:
Is Garlic a Herb?
Garlic is actually a vegetable, however it is used like a herb…. And it is high on our list of favourites, here is how to grow garlic..
Five things to know about growing herbs.
- Herbs and spices vary in the growing conditions required.
- Some require full sun and a well drained soil, others require moisture and shade.
- Some herbs can be harvested continuously, others are harvested the whole plant at a time.
- Many herbs can be grown the year round, some are treated like annuals.
- The best herbs to grow are those that you will use the most.
All of these can be grown in the garden OR in containers, with the exception of mint, which can spread easily and is best restricted to containers. Oregano can also be a bit of pest with its spreading habit but is easier to control.
The easiest ones to grow in most gardens are Rosemary, Thyme and Sage however the best are the ones you use the most…..
Many herbs also attract bees and other pollinators to the garden and that is great if you grow veggies as well as the rest of the garden……
Herbs fall into a number of categories.
- Culinary Herbs – Popular varieties used in cooking, include rosemary, parsley, sage, oregano,thyme, chervil, chives, basil, dill and many more.
- Medicinal Herbs – Used for centuries to treat various conditions. Aloe has been used to treat burns, lavender is used as an aromatic, witch hazel is a herb used in cosmetics, valerian as a sedative. Liquorice is used both as a flavouring and medicinally
- Aromatic Herbs – Used in perfumes, incense, soaps and potpourri.
- Insect repellent herbs – Wormwood and tansy are two herbs used as insect repellents.
Growing Herbs
Herbs and Spices have been grown for centuries and hundreds are offered for sale by mail order. In the home garden herb plants can be grown from seedlings or seeds. Raised bed gardens for herbs (picture below) are popular as is growing selected herbs in pots and containers.
Herb growing instructions and uses are included with individual A – Z herb plant profiles.
Buying Herb Plants
Herb plants are easy to buy online with many specialist herb nurseries having a wide range of herb plants for sale by mail order. Growing conditions vary greatly, so ask your supplier for an information sheet. You need to make sure that you check with a reliable source before using herbs medicinally. Information on specific herb plants and spices.
The range of herb plants and seeds that you can buy online is much wider than that presented in most supermarkets, many culinary herbs and aromatic herb plants not readily available can be grown from seeds or seedlings for sale online.
Herb plants are are one of the most popular plants grown, available as seedlings, tubestock or as seeds from specialist growers many are available year round.
And yes you can grow your own saffron.
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