Having your own small herb garden is a great way to spice up your home cooking with ease. There’s nothing better than cutting off a few pieces from a plant, taking them to the cutting board and then immediately putting them in your dish. They’re so intensely fresh and flavorful — almost nothing compares.
However, for many people, even a small herb garden can seem like a difficult challenge, especially if you live in an apartment. Where can you possibly grow a garden when living in a small apartment in a city?
Provided you have a balcony of any kind or a kitchen windowsill that gets sunlight, you can easily grow herbs of all kinds. A hardy perennial herb in a pot is probably the easiest possible plant to grow — it can live through all kinds of mistakes and will survive year after year.
Here’s exactly how to do it.
The two things you’ll need (besides plants). There are really only two things required to get started (besides the plants themselves, which we’ll get to in a minute): a few small pots and some potting soil. Don’t worry about tools — if you’re planting in a small pot, you already have the only tool you need, which is a large spoon.
You don’t need anything fancy here — just get three or four basic brown clay pots (make sure they have a few little holes in the bottom for drainage) and a bag of whatever potting soil your local store has available at a good price. If you see a type that’s recommended for herb gardens, you can get that, but don’t spend a bunch of extra money for it. This should be a pretty inexpensive project.
Then, get three great perennial “starter” herbs. So, what should you grow in these pots? For newbies, I recommend three specific herbs. These are all incredibly easy to grow, as you practically can’t kill them, and they keep coming back year after year. Plus, the herbs go well on infinite dishes.
I’m specifically talking about sage, chives and mint. Dedicate one pot to each of these herbs and you’ll find that they do quite well with minimal care. All you have to do is water them occasionally and “feed” them every once in a while (see below).
If you’re just starting with this kind of thing, buy seedlings from your local greenhouse — seedlings, of course, being plants that are already growing, so you don’t have to deal with growing them from seeds. Take them home, put some soil in each pot, put a plant in each pot, then fill it in with soil until your seedling is just sticking out of the ground. Put them in your preferred spot with adequate sunlight and let them grow.
You can certainly try some additional herbs. Certain herbs are annuals, meaning they’ll only last for a year in most climates, while others are perennials. Basil is a great herb that’s incredibly easy to grow and useful in many dishes, for example, but most varieties are annuals.
Keeping the plants and soil healthy. Your herbs will need to be watered regularly. Check them every day or two by sticking your finger in the pot, into the dirt, about an inch deep or so. If it’s dry there, you should water the plants. Fill a cup with water, then pour it in slowly, all around the plant. I usually water them until there’s just the smallest amount of water sitting on the surface of the soil.
As for food, one of the best things you can give your plants is your used coffee grounds. Just spread a little bit of the coffee grounds around on top of the soil, or mix it in the top inch or so of the soil. Active watering will take care of the rest. If you want to do more than that, ask at your local greenhouse for fertilizing options.
If your plants are outdoors, you might find that pests are a problem. Bugs and other things may find your new plants delicious, so you’ll want to be on guard against them. There are a number of simple things you can do if you find little nibbles or little holes in your herbs, but the solutions are incredibly varied depending on the type of pest. Don’t be afraid to stop by your local greenhouse and ask for help if something is attacking your plants.
Cutting herbs for cooking. Most herbs are very simple to cut — just trim the leaves off when you want to use them, starting from the top. Some herbs, like chives, are more like grass — just trim off the tops and use what you need. You can do this with a kitchen knife or a pair of scissors easily.
Most of the time, all you need to do then is rinse the herbs, chop them finely, and add them directly to whatever dish you’re preparing. I love to toss chives into pretty much all vegetables as they’re cooking, and basil goes well with pretty much everything, as does sage. I love making tea with fresh mint and we sometimes use it in other dishes, too.
Consider starting a small herb garden for yourself this spring. It only takes a few inexpensive items and can provide fresh herbs for your dishes for years and years to come.
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How to Start a Great Perennial Herb Garden — Even in an Apartment originally appeared on usnews.com
