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Planting an Herb Garden

While I’m busy sunning myself on the beach, I’m grabbing this post from my draft folder.  I’ve been meaning to do this for weeks, and I finally got my act together last week and put my herb garden together.

I mentioned that I’ve been using a lot more fresh ingredients lately in my attempts to eat healthier and with fewer carbs.  Slowly I’ve been collecting potted herbs as I’ve seen them at the grocery store and plopping them in a cereal bowl in my kitchen window sill.  Let’s just say that my window sill was getting P-R-E-T-T-Y crowded.  That, and I was running out of cereal bowls.

So I finally wised up and purchased a planter.  I put the basil, parsley, and oregano together.  I have another individual pot for my mint because I hear it likes to take over.

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Now my herbs have plenty of room to grow!  And my window sill is a lot less cluttered.

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Wish I could say the same for my counter top.  Ahem.

I’m afraid I’m going to wish I’d planted each of the herbs separately.  The long planter on my deck looks kind of sloppy, and the oregano is already falling over.  Any ideas?  Should I stake it?

I’d also like to add thyme and rosemary to my collection.  And perhaps cilantro.

What are your favorite herbs?  Do you grow them or shell out the big bucks at the grocery store?  If you use only dried herbs, I encourage you to try the fresh variety.  It really makes a difference.

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20 Responses

  1. I recommend lemon thyme- while it’s good with chicken and garlic, we use it to soothe mosquito bites. Rub it on after being bitten and it takes the itch right away, plus it makes you smell delicious. Still searching for an herb that keeps the mosquitos from biting in the first place…

  2. The man at our farmer’s market said that basil is best potted alone because it can take over too. Also, it will winter over and come back in the spring where the others won’t. I have oregano, parsley and thyme in my planter box and so far they’re playing nicely together. Now I just have to remember to use them when I cook! Enjoy your vacation!

  3. I have a section in my garden for my herbs that survive the winter, the others are in a strawberry pot outside by the kitchen door.
    I don’t mess with mint…its a nightmare. I added it to a hanging basket one year and it worked really well, every other year has been regrettable.

  4. In our first home after we were married I had an area near the kitchen with lots of pots of indivdual herbs. However, since the kids, I haven’t had any, except the ones I buy in the supermarket and use a little before they die on my window sill.

    I really must plant some again!

    Rosemary, chives and parsley are the ones I used most.

    Did you know we call cilantro coriander? (yes – we use the same name for the dried spice too)

  5. I want to do basil because we use fresh basil quite a bit. I could have had a garden full of basil by now if I took the money I spent on basil at the store :). Thanks for the tips- now I’ll know what to do when I plant mine (eventually).

  6. I’ve been wanting to do this. I want FRESH cilantro and basil! Oh, I wish I could marry cilantro. *sigh*

    So, are you garden-y at all? Was it hard? I do NOT have a green thumb at all.

  7. I just started growing herbs this year. I’m growing basil, oregano, thyme and spearmint.

    I cook with basil nearly every day, but have never used fresh…so it will be fun to find out the differences!

    Hey, are you going to Maine this year? I feel like I’ve gone there two years in a row now through you blog! I’d miss it if we didn’t get to go this year! 😉

  8. This is my first year trying herbs, and it’s wonderful! I use a lot of basil, parsley and cilantro. Those are my must haves and I’ll buy them from the store if need be because fresh herbs really make such a huge difference. I’ve found that since I’ve grown some thyme and oregano this year, I’m using them a lot. I even grew some sage. I’m not sure what to do with it yet, but it’s lovely. I’ve been hanging it to dry. Our growing season is so short, I hope to keep them going through the winter with a grow light.

    I would cut your herbs back a bit. 🙂 They look happy and healthy, and are ready for a good thinning!

  9. I still want to do cilantro this year and just saw the seedlings (which are 10 inches tall, not really seedlings anymore) are marked down to 99 cents (from 4.99) at the country store. Score!
    Oops…forgot to say great post! Looking forward to your next one.

  10. I’ve currently got rosemary, oregano, and basil. The rosemary is what we use most often and it must be super resilient considering it’s still alive (I have two black thumbs). I’d love to get some cilantro going too; it’d be so convenient for the guac we make quite often.

    Unfortunately I can’t pass along any advice. I’m just lucky my herbs haven’t thrown in the towel yet.

  11. Rosemary where I live, NEVER dies, always around, which I love. I have thyme, sage, and mint, these too never die. I do have to plant basil every year, but this year, (we did not have a harsh winter) my basil is coming back, which I love.

    Cilantro — Coriander is actually what cilantro does when it goes to seed.

    And yes, mint will take over, and fast!!! Enjoy all your fresh herbs, they are wonderful!!

  12. Definitely fresh! I don’t know what happened to my cilantro this year. It’s all limp and lame. Sad. Good idea to separate out the mint too. I have a little spot out back with just mint. And a pot of basil still going strong. My herbs in the actual veggie garden didn’t survive all the monstrous rain storms we had.

    I posted a picture of my kitchen counters today too:) I think mine are more cluttered than yours by a long shot though!

  13. I used to grow herbs in pots – mainly basil – and I also grew tomatoes in pots. We bought our first house in December, which meant I could finally grow my first garden!! Our basil is out of this world in the garden (we have a basil plant in a pot, and it’s not as full as the one in the garden.) We also have parsley, mint and a couple of other herbs in separate pots. My mom grows hers (in pots and in the garden) and uses a food dehydrator to dry them. One day I’ll be as ambitious as her 🙂

    Good luck!!

  14. Kellie, no, we are actually NOT going to Maine this year. I KNOW. It’s so weird. But my SIL is having a baby this month in my hometown in VA and we plan to go to VA this year instead.

  15. Let me give it to you straight…herbs always do better in the ground, unless you really take care of them. Or put them in a HUGE pot. I do have some herbs on my deck. In huge pots. 🙂 So actually, some herbs do fine in pots…some do not.

    Basil I don’t even attempt in a pot. It doesn’t grow large enough for me in a pot, so I put that in the ground this year.

    For me, I plant parsely, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil mint and chives. I could plant more, but I just didn’t have time this year…maybe next year!

    Don’t you just love fresh herbs?!

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