Make a kitchen herb garden
Herbs add flavor to food, but they also look and smell beautiful. Here is a step by step guide to creating a healthy herb garden.
Start at the beginning
You will need:
- a spot that gets a few hours of direct sunlight;
- pots or other small containers;
- potting soil (preferably organic); and
- herb seeds (or seedlings) – choose herbs that you’ll enjoy using in your cooking.
Step 1: Soak your seeds in water and place them between wet paper towels for about four hours before planting.
Step 2: Put about 2.5 cm of gravel at the bottom of the pot for drainage, before filling your pots with potting soil.
Step 3: Get planting.
If you are planting seeds sprinkle them over the soil and cover with another 5 to 10 mm of soil.
If you are planting seedlings dig a small hole and cover the roots with soil.
If you are planting more than one seed or seedling in the same container plant them a few centimetres away from each other to allow growing space.
If you are mixing herbs in a container separate the perennials (seasonal growers) from the annuals (grow all year round) – this makes maintaining and replanting easier in coming years.
Top tip
Label your herbs so you know what’s been planted where. Simply stick flags into the soil after planting each seed or seedling.
Step 4: Get watering.
If you are planting seeds keep containers in a warm place once you have watered them thoroughly. Once the seeds have started sprouting, you can move them to the windowsill for direct sunlight.
If you are planting seedlings simply water and leave them on the windowsill.
Top tip
Watering deeply every few days is better than a light watering every day. Your soil should always be moist to the touch.
Step 5: Take 15 minutes every day to look after your herbs and trim them – this creates space and encourages new growth.
Step 6: Harvest the outer sections first and allow the herbs to continue growing.
Step 7: Continue to feed the soil by adding a bit of compost or mulch on top. You may even prefer to replace the soil completely each year.
What herbs to plant
Fresh herbs at the tips of your fingers! Here are some of our tips on what to grow and when.
Happy planting!
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