A Beginner’s Guide to a Kitchen Herb Garden

Oh, the power of fresh herbs. Biting into your meal and experiencing your taste buds coming alive with enjoyment is an experience to be delight in. Of course, dried herbs may be more convenient at times, however they lack the essential oils of fresh herbs that make flavors come alive. To keep your taste buds content, why not grow a kitchen herb garden. Even if you don’t have a green thumb and don’t have a vegetable garden, herbs are uncomplicated to raise inside and all you need to get going are some pots, soil, plant food and a little water, natural light and nurturing.

When designing a kitchen herb garden, you should understand that there are mainly two sorts of herbs – perennial and annual. Both annuals and perennials are perfect for indoor herb gardening and a delicious addition to any dish.

Annual herbs like dill, cilantro, chervil, basil, marjoram, chamomile and savory will grow for one season only before dying, however raising them inside will likely lengthen that time frame somewhat. Perennials that are appropriate for a kitchen herb garden consist of rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, lavender, chives and tarragon. These varieties of plants yield new growth every year and the more you cut off to use for cooking, the bigger and healthier these herbs will get.

Since perennials and annuals have different growing schedules, it might be prudent to use separate containers for each kind. That way, when an annual plant eventually dies off or must be replaced, you won’t be disturbing the well being and growth of a perennial that can produce for many more seasons.

For the beginner, it’s a smart move to avail yourself of seedlings rather than starting your herbs from seed. Lots of people find it a bit tricky to start from scratch and become discouraged. Yet as soon as they grow to be seedlings or young plants, they are really easy to take care of. You can use a variety of different herbs in a single large pot or use smaller separate containers and plant the herbs separately. It’s utterly up to your own preferences, however you have to remember that annuals will need to grow with other annuals and perennials need to be grown separately.

The type of container makes no difference providing there is a drainage hole underneath to keep the dirt from becoming waterlogged. The position of the pots, in contrast, does make a difference, and you must have a window ledge or some alternative area to locate your kitchen herb garden where it can get lots of daylight. As long as you can supply the sunlight and a bit of upkeep, you could soon be using fresh herbs in your next meal and bringing great joy to your taste buds.