Herb Garden

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Do any of you have herb gardens? I know Jafo does, he's posted photos! I want to begin growing my own.

I live in a townhouse, with only the kitchen window facing east, and the deck far too shaded by trees to be suitable for any such endeavor. With that said I am wondering if I do begin a small herb garden in my kitchen window, would you think it worth my while?

What are some of your own growing experiences?

Hungry for fresh! CCCathy

[KYHeirloomer]

Go for it, Cathy,

Even partial sun can work with herbs, so they might grow on the deck. And an east-facing window is fine.

I find that, for practical purposes, you want to go with a minimum of an 8" pot. This could crowd a window pretty badly. So you might want to consider a window box, instead, with a selection of kitchen herbs all growing together.

Meanwhile, out on the deck, find the spot that gets the most light. Then plant a selection of herbs in the various openings in a strawberry pot.

If you can't find started plants locally (always the best bet with herbs), check out Horizen Herbs' seed selection.

Good luck.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thanks KYH ! I am going to go for it!

P.S. Only not today, it is snowing like crazy right now! Yipeee, we do not get much of that here!

[Jafo232]

Let me just suggest you stay away from those small little hydroponic herb gardens you see on TV. You know, the one with the huge light? My mother bought one of these, and they work fine, if you only want to use your herbs once every 3 weeks.

Growing herbs inside with low light will generally get you some stringy lanky looking herbs. They will be reaching for light and producing sparse leaves and low oil content.

Outdoors is the way to go. Herbs will do just fine, even facing east. Where I live, I put some out on my porch facing east:

They get sun there for about 6 - 8 hours during the spring and summer, depending on the time of the season. As you can see, they do just fine there.

I grow more herbs just out of the shot view of this pic where there is full sun, but the ones on the porch are really close to my kitchen, so I can grab them when they are needed without trudging to the garden.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

Thanks for the advice, Jafo. I am going to try and hope for a good little amount of fresh herbs....I figure here I will be able to get started indoors and move them out as time goes by and it warms up. The photo of your herbs is beautiful and an inspiration. I love the suggestion that KYH gave, which is to plant different varieties in each of the openings of a strawberry pot, how convienient! I think it's a nifty idea and I would not have too many different pots to contend with and fertilize. With all the openings in a strawberry pot it would mean quite a few different types of herbs to enjoy!

[KYHeirloomer]

Love those tubs, Jafo.

Do you know the dimensions, offhand?

[sddonegan]

Whats the best time of the year to plant herbs?

[KYHeirloomer]

Depends on what you mean by "plant."

You can start them indoors anytime, under lights, and keep them going until you're ready to transplant.

Check with your extension service or weather office to find out your average last frost. Then plan on planting in the ground no earlier than two weeks after that. I'm guessing that would be mid-April in the Atlanta area.

Although there are exceptions, most herbs are delicate, and you don't want to plant them in cold ground. Root shock will kill 'em in a heartbeat.

However, if you've got them in tubs or pots, you can move them in and out as appropriate.

On the other hand, virtually all perennial herbs will winter over down there. So, once you have things like rosemary, lavender, and the mints established they'll do fine all by themselves.

[Jafo232]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

Love those tubs, Jafo.

Do you know the dimensions, offhand?

They are 2 feet long, 1 foot wide. They have a groove on the bottom so you can set them on a railing and they will stay put. You can get different size grooves depending on your railing.

They sell them at my local Agway.

[supercooker28]

obviously its worth the en devour, but don't get your hopes too high. without lots of sun your herbs will grow very slowly.

even if you dont get much from it, its still super fun making that 1 meal from all your herbs, lol.