Herb Garden

themusicaldemocrat

themusicaldemocrat

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I very much want to start an herb garden next spring. I've never done it before and I'm not the most "green thumb" guy ever. I'm going to google some information about it, but I'm curious as to any "tricks of the trade" you may be aware of out there. I'd also like to know how much I'm going to be able to grow? How can I easily dry and store it? What's the best herb to start with?
 
I've never done this but it shouldn't be that hard. A friend has a few different types (sorry, don't know the names in English) growing in a flower pot right next to her outside table. It's great when you can just snap a leaf or two and add it to your food right before eating.
 
How big is the area you are planning to use for the herb garden? Can you describe the type of soil? Sandy, clay, peaty etc is the patch in full sun, part sun or full shade? Are you planning on trying with seeds or potted plants that you then plant out? what herbs do you usually use and what are your favorites and finally where are you in what country - this will affect what you can grow?

Sorry to bombard you with questions but we can be of more help if we have a few more details.
 
Well, I am in the Eastern Arkansas delta region. The patch of land is in a developed subdivision and I've just moved there as of late this summer so I've not dug up any dirt to see what it looks like yet. I should definitely do that. As for the land I want to use, preferably, it would be a patch in the back of the house wedged up against the back porch, but I don't think it's going to get full sun. Is there anything that can grow well with less sun? I'd like to grow some garlic, oregano and parsley for sure.
 
OK - from my experience

Oregano prefers light sandy soil in full sun. It will tolerate cold winters once it is established, but will not survive harsh winters. In my old garden it thrived in the worst soil I had- very dry & sandy exposed to the full sun and coped with -10C in the winter. It spreads over time, and tends to grow to about 2 foot high. Anywhere that Marjoram grows well, Oregano will also grow well. Remember it is a mediterranean herb originally.

Garlic - needs much sun as well - the more the better. Soil is important with it prefering fertile soil which is well drain and not compact, so light and airy. I never really sucessfully managed to grow any decent sized garlic.

Parsley - needs full sun ideally. It needs good fertile soil and prefers (in my experience) damper soil. It needs water to prevent it running to seed. It is also a biennial which is one that takes 2 years to flower & seed. In the right soil & condition I have seen it grow to more than 5 foot tall!

Rosemary is reasonably easy to grow assuming that you don't have an excess of the beetle that kills the plant. It needs a warm sheltered spot, but I have found it will grow in only partial sun, though it is meant to be a full sun herb as well. With time, rosemary bushes grow really large and also spread out a long way. Again it is a mediterranean herb, so think of those conditions, but it has surprised me, surviving snow and -10C conditions once established.

Chives & sage will pretty much grow anywhere from experience. Both tolerate full shade conditions, but prefer sunshine, but I have seen chives wilt in excessive heat & sun, so your spot sounds ideal for them.

Thyme is another really useful one to grow, if you can get hold of common thyme (I hate lemon thyme). It again prefers full sun, in well drained soil, but will handle partial shade but not freezing conditions.

All of the above will not cope well with waterlogged soil. If your soil is not well drained, you may need to add sand or other suitable material to it to assist the herbs, or grow them in pots.
 
WOW SatNav! This is a great list that is truly handy for all of us wanting to start an herb garden.

I have tried small pots with seeds already planted that are sold at some supermarkets, but I have not succeeded with them, so I was wondering what herbs and what methods use to get them growing, so your list comes really handy for me too.

Thanks for posting it :)
 
In the UK the fresh herbs sold in supermarkets in the veg section are cultivated in such a manner that they will not survive. I have even struggled to keep supermarket mint alive. The potted herbs that I planted out this summer in our new home are all from a graden centre where they are unsurprisingly designed to grow rather than live a week before being eaten and the rest thrown away.

BTW - mint likes water, but do not plant it out in soil - it must be in a container with no holes near the ground unless all you happen to ever want in your garden is mint. All mints spread by their root system, with individual stems having the ability to touch soil, sprout/grow roots and become an independant plant within a very short period of time. Peppermint in particular likes very damp conditions, so will need watering frequently. I'm rather partial to peppermint tea, so have a large bucket of peppermint by the kitchen door!
 
Holy moley SatNav! Thanks for the great information! Being in the Southern US, I think the "harsh winter" concept should be a whole lot less of an issue. But I can see the need for full light for most things. Everything would probably prefer to have more sun. I don't have a whole lot of room that I want to use, so I'm interested in how much yield I can get from just a few plants. Which of the herbs you described above will produce the most yield per plant? Thanks again so much. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has gotten help from this.
 
Its going to be a trade off between yield, what you want and your soil type.

Hard stemmed Garlic should really be being planted around now (at least that is the case in the UK) to get it established before winter. It produces the bigger cloves and bulbs but my experience with garlic has been that I have been better off buying it from the supermarket. You may find a warmer climate more suitable for it, I think I just had the wrong type soil - onions did not grow very well either. Soft stemmed garlic is usually planted once the worst of the winter is over, and is harvested much later on in the year. Yeild wise, do not expect the bulb sizes you get from supermarkets/markets.

Parsley - I normally grow curley leaved parsley which does not seem to grow quite as fast a flat leaved parsley.

Oregano & marjoram grow well and self seed - expect them to turn up in flagstone cracks and pretty much anywhere a tiny seed can germinate. Good for bees and insects.

Sage also grows very well and can take over very quickly. Bees like sage as well when it is established enough to flower - takes a few years from experience

Sweet Wood ruff, grows exceptionally well and likes damp shaded areas - but unless you know it, the likelihood is that you won't actually be using it! It is however a really good gap filler (just don't expect to eradicate it) and attracks bees and other insects.

Hyssop also grows really well and again insects/bees really like it - it also looks quite pretty with its blue/purple flowers.

Thyme is regretfully as very slow growing herb - the result is that I usually have 4 or 5 plants of it just to deal with the amount we consumer during the year (and that won't be enough for our use: I homecook everything). Thyme is however a great one for the bees as well.

But at the end of the day, it is what will grow in your soil and sun conditions that counts when it comes to yield. If oregano won't grow in your soil you are not going ot get a good yield! And the best way of finding out, is simply to plant everything you want in that patch on the first year and see what survives.
 
Once again SatNav, this is so very helpful! Thanks again. I'm going to give the oregano, parsley and garlic a try. I may try the thyme to see how it does, but I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't work out.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
In the UK the fresh herbs sold in supermarkets in the veg section are cultivated in such a manner that they will not survive. I have even struggled to keep supermarket mint alive. !
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I have found Aldi herbs in pots to be good and have a nice basil that has lasted through the summer outside but was brought in for the winter.
 
I would imagine that the climate in the UK is MUCH different than where I am in the US. The South has a lot of different weather just depending upon the day. Sometimes it will be nice and balmy in December! Very strange and hard to predict.
 
themusicaldemocrat said:
I would imagine that the climate in the UK is MUCH different than where I am in the US. The South has a lot of different weather just depending upon the day. Sometimes it will be nice and balmy in December! Very strange and hard to predict.
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given that most of the herbs we grow are originally from the mediterranean (rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, majoram etc), I would hope that they would have less problems growing where you are in the US than in the UK. Balmy warm weather in winter would be ideal for them given that is what Greece and other mediterranean countries have, (as well as cold wet & windy).
 
You can grow herbs in flower pots or even on the kitchen windowsill. All of my herbs are growing in flower pots, which is convenient for when I need to move them around. Growing garlic takes almost an entire year, so you may want to start with easier things like mint, oregano, parsley, thyme and basil. Plan on growing a bit more than you need of certain herbs because while aromatic herbs repel some pests, they attract butterflies and other flying insects that lay eggs on the plants.
 
Sometimes I am thinking also to grow herbs even on pot containers so that if there is a need I will just pick it up right there in an instant. There are times when I am doing the groceries some herbs are not available all the time and this is sometimes the cause for a delay in cooking of some of the foods we want to eat. All of the above informations given are all interesting and a good idea to start that kind of gardening for herbs at home. :)
 
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