A Guide To Growing Fresh Herbs

In today's economy, growing fresh herbs to use when creating meals is a good way to save money and provide fresh, wholesome food to your family. Growing fresh herbs takes only a little time on your part but the rewards of growing culinary herbs that can be sliced and diced and added to a favorite recipe are well worth the effort.

Best Choices for Growing Fresh Herbs

If you're growing fresh herbs for the first time, start off by selecting the herbs you plan to use the most often. For example, if Italian cooking is your forte then oregano would be a good first choice as it complements tomato based recipes. Other choices to consider would be caraway, parsley and chervil that go well with soups salads and stews. Basil, marjoram and tarragon work with meat dishes while cilantro adds zest to soups and beans. Rosemary and sage add savory flavor to stuffing and chamomile and sweet woodruff make fragrant teas.

Options for Growing Fresh Herbs

There are several options for growing fresh herbs and it all depends on how much time you can devote as well as how much room you have for the garden and how many herbs you want to plant and harvest.

Traditional Garden

If you have room in your yard for a traditional garden and you have a variety of different herb plants to grow, then creating a traditional garden area in your yard would be the best route. Keep the herb garden close to the house so it's convenient for you to step outside and quickly snip some herbs. Make sure the garden is in an area providing direct sunlight and is well-drained.

Indoor Garden

Growing fresh herbs, in an indoor environment, works well if you plan to grow only a few plants that can survive on a windowsill or any other sunny part of the house. Other than the occasional watering and checking for pests, the plants should thrive and produce flavorful herbs.

Container Garden

This option allows you to grow a larger number of herbs in separate containers that can be placed outside. The containers can be anything that can hold the plants as long as they can provide good drainage. This type of garden is considered portable as the containers used for growing fresh herbs can be moved whenever necessary. Container gardens are convenient for anyone who does not have the time to maintain an actual garden but wants to grow more than a few herb plants.