Beginners Guide to Growing a Sustainable Herb Garden
I think most people, green fingered or not, fancy growing some herbs. I have friends that would never dream of pruning roses, would look at me blankly if I mentioned “the no dig method” and have no intention of growing their own spinach, which is of course totally fine, it’s not everyone’s gig. But as soon as they move into their own house. have a little bit of space, garden or just a balcony, they ask me how to grow their own herbs, or at least keep the pot of basil they brought from the supermarket alive.
There’s not one of us that doesn’t have some sort of herb, dried or fresh in their kitchen and of course they mean something difference everyone. Whether you use herbs first thing in the morning for your homemade tea, or only in your cocktail after 5pm or you just throw that old mixed pot of something in your Bolognese, we all have herbs in our life and I think the idea of growing our own makes us feel like we have finally made it as a grown up. (Even if you’ve managed to successfully parent three kids, had a high flying career and own four dogs, you ain’t made it until someone tells you your basil plant looks like its thriving… am I right?)
Of course for me growing my own herbs meant cutting down on plastic packaging and add something sustainable to the kitchen. Plus saving on the pennies.
Look no further, whether you’ve done this before or not I’ve got you covered when it comes to making this herb growing malarkey easy peasy.
First of all…..
Pick Perennial herbs
Perennial (per + ennial literally meaning through the years) means a plant that will live longer than 2 years. By planting perennials your herb plants will keep on growing back year after year with just a little bit of simple and easy care. Much more sustainable than buying new plants every year and easier than trying to grow and cultivate new plants every year. Its the lazy man’s kitchen garden and I’m all for that.
Lavendar, oregano, mint, rosemary, thyme, chives, and sage are all great perennials and make up the bulk of my herb garden.
Start by buying some seeds, a ready grown plant or ask friends and family for cutting.
Starting your herb garden doesn’t have to cost you much. Find a bed in your garden, preferably close to the kitchen (you’ll inevitably find yourself popping out there in the dark with no shoes) or source some pots. I say source some pots rather than run out and buy them straight away. The Tip Shop (literally the shop at your local tip, have a look I’m sure you’ll have one) is my first stop when I need new pots. You wouldn’t believe how many great ones end up there. I’m not one for them matching or looking shiny and new. There’s something lovely about a miss match of colours, shapes and sizes. Antique shops and vintage stored are also a good place to look.
The next step is to get planting. If you decide to sow your own seeds do it in a smaller pots in early spring. Keep them somewhere warm like you window sill and plant them out when they are an inch or two tall. If your not confident enough to do this pop to your local garden center and buy some plants. Plant them into the bigger pots you’ve collected or straight into your garden so they have lots of room to grow.
Keep on picking those herb plants.
Much like everything in nature a plant has one goal and that is to reproduce. It will keep growing until it flowers and produces seeds before it dies or dies back until next. To stop it getting to the flowering stage you need to keep picking it so it keeps on growing bigger and bushier. BUT do not just pick its leaves because it will just grow taller and keep heading towards those flowers. To achieve this you need to snip it at the base of a stalk where there are two leaves like in the picture below. If you do this it will sprout two new stalks from these leaves, therefore doubling each stem every time.
If you find your not eating your herbs as much as you thought pick away anyway. It will keep it producing those tasty leaves for you all season long.
Plant herbs like they are flowers.
If you have limited space you may be wondering whether you should plant flowers or herbs. You want herbs for cooking, to save you buying them and cutting down on plastic packaging but you also want your small space to look beautiful and floral. Well have you thought about using herbs as flowers?
In the last point I may have told you to keep your herbs from flowering to make them last longer but that doesn’t mean you can’t let some of them flower to give you a pretty floral display. Some of the flowers also taste pretty yummy.
However if your growing chives let them flowers away. Chives will spread year after year and produce the prettiest flowers which are delicious in salads, giving a onion type flavour.
I try to plant lots of chives at the front on my herb beds. They give a lovely floral display at the front and the greener herbs fill out behind them.
Keep some herbs in pots.
Some herbs such as mint will spread easily and take over. For this reason I have lots of different types on mint in pots to fill out my patio. I love mint but I don’t want it in every part of the garden.
Re-pot mint plants.
Every year I re-pot my mint plants as their roots tend to grow around the edge and will stop them growing back quiet as well the next year. I simply take the plant out of the pot, then quiet literally saw it in half (mint plants are very hardy) put each half in spread pots and fill the empty space with peat free compost. If you want lots of mint pots then great, if not put one half in your the compost bin, or even better pass it on to a friend. This is the method I learned from my mum and it has yet to fail us.
Harvesting your herbs at the end of summer.
Many of your perennial herbs will die back through the winter and come back the next spring. But never fear there are many ways you can harvest and preserve your herbs to see you through the winter months without having to buy any from the supermarket. Saving you money and of course the dreaded plastic packaging.
dry your herbs.
Pick big bunches of your herbs at the end of the summer when all that picking to make them bushier has paid off. Tie them together and hang upside down in a dry spot. They will look pretty and rustic hanging in your kitchen. Once dry you could leave them there just picking leaves off when you need them, or pop them in the food process to chop finely and into an airtight container or jar. They will last for ages like this and will add flavour to your food whenever you need it. This works well for herbs such as oregano, sage, and rosemary.
You can speed up the drying process if you not keen to have them hanging around by putting them in a low oven for an hour or so.
Freeze your Herbs.
Finely chop your fresh herbs, pop in a bag and into the freezer. This works really well for mint, coriander and chives.
Freeze mint leaves whole if your going to use them for tea or mojitos at Christmas.
Make Herb infused vinegar or oil.
This couldn’t be easier, pop either oil or white vinegar in a fancy bottle, pop as many of your chosen herb in as you like depending on how strong a flavour you want and leave for a few weeks before using. Who wouldn’t like rosemary flavoured olive oil to dip their bread in?
Make herby butter.
Melt butter in a pan, add herbs, rosemary, oregano or basil are good for this. Pour into ice cube tray, freeze once cooled. When frozen remove and pop into freezer bags to save space. When you need one for making garlic bread, cooking pawns in etc just take out the freezer to defrost and their good to go.
Can’t wait to hear about all the yummy food and drinks you make with your very own grown up herb garden. Do message to let me know.
Hannah xx
