Creating Your Organic Herb Garden

Nothing is more rewarding than an organic herb garden. The convenience of stepping out of your house and in to your own backyard to pick home grown organic herbs and vegetables is a true time saver especially when you forgot to pick them up at the grocery store. Additionally, it is nice to know that they are the freshest organically grown herbs available. Some people prefer to have an indoor herb garden, but that’s a subject we can address in later in another segment. Let’s talk about creating your organic herb garden.

A backyard organic herb garden does not require much space. An area as small as 10 feet by 10 feet is adequate for a family of four. Of course, you can always expand if you desire to broaden the array of herbs you began with.

If you prefer, you can build a raised garden by using landscape timbers or you can drive stakes in the ground and attach boards to them. Either way a raised garden tends to be easier to work and in my experiences for some reason they develop less weeds.

Create An Organic Garden
To start, dig up the earth, add more store purchased soil, plus mulch, then mix well. That will give you a great soil to work with and will ensure a more productive organic herb garden.

Before you purchase seeds, do a little research on what herbs you want to grow. Keep in mind those herbs that you use most frequently and check to see if it is plausible to grow them in your area. To some extent, your climate will determine what herbs you can grow.

For example, you may want to grow some bay leaf because you use a lot of it for cooking. Bay leaf, as the name implies, comes from a tree. It is not easy to grow from seed. The most reliable growing method for bay leaf is to use a cutting. If you really feel inclined to grow bay leaf, I suggest purchasing a starter plant from a nursery.

Sticking with the easier grown organic herbs might be the best solution, particularly if you are new to the gardening game. A sure fire easy to grow herb would be garlic and it has great health benefits. You might want to try elephant garlic just for fun. The end result is a very large garlic pod, but not quite as strong in taste as the usual smaller pods.

Plant your garlic cloves early in the spring as they need a fairly long growing season. Each clove should be planted about two inches deep and about six inches apart from one another. Garlic will grow in just about any soil, thought it does best in moist sandy soil with lots of sun. That is evidenced by its large commercial growth in Texas, Louisiana and California. We are constantly being told about the benefits of garlic, so why not give it a try.

Chives are also easy to grow and will multiply rapidly with very little care. They are great in soups, salads and cut and sprinkled on baked potatoes with all the other added goodies.

Another of the more popular herbs to grow and use is basil. Sweet basil tops the list. There are many varieties of basil, but do not be confused. Your local nursery should have the right seeds or plants for you to purchase.

Basil is know as the herb of love and rivals all other herbs in its usage. It has a sweet flavor and aroma which gives it multiple uses; spaghetti sauce, pizza, tossed salads, salad dressings, eggs and cheese dishes, vegetable dishes, poultry, veal, rolls, breads and lastly apples. This list alone would suggest it as a must in an organic herb garden.

Yet another good herb to plant is mint. It is easily grown. In fact, it will take over your garden if not kept in check. There are many flavors of mint to choose from; lemon, orange and believe it or not, a chocolate flavor. We all know that a little mint in ice tea enhances the taste. Mint can also be used to make jelly and sauces. It can be sprinkled on peas, carrots, potatoes and fish.

There are many other herbs to grow. The list is long, so your choices are many. Once again, I must say there are great joys and benefits of having a backyard organic herb garden. Start small and grow big. You won’t regret it. Happy growing.

Article contributed by Shya