Grow Gourmet Herbs You Can Cook With

August 7th, 2012 Garden

When you consider herb gardening, you present yourself with the opportunity to add a new wrinkle to your home cooking. This new hobby can prove exciting, but also cheap and easy. Read on into the following paragraphs for some simple steps you can take that give you herbs you can use in your recipes at dinnertime!

Figure out which herbs you actually would use. There are probably a number of herbs that you use in your regular cooking right now that you could start growing in order to save yourself money at the grocery store. However, as long as you are going to herb garden, you might as well try out some new ones. Still, it is best to know which ones you would actually wind up using in your personal cooking style.

Make sure that you get only the best seeds and soil. You are not just growing flowers you want your guests and neighbors to be impressed with. The herbs you are growing are going to get eaten, so you want them as pure, strong and healthy as possible.

Finding the right pot is a decision you need to get correct from the start. The pot needs to be big enough to accommodate the plant at maturity. The amount of drainage that needs to be at the bottom also varies on the specific herb you are going to grow in it. Know how much room an herb needs at maturity, in terms of both width and depth of the roots.

Do your homework about where to best grow your herbs. Certain plants might do better outdoors than in or need some moving around depending on weather. Some herbs are going to be nice to you and can just sit on any counter in your home indoors.

For ones you plant outside, and especially in the ground, you need to be mindful of invasive species. Removing and preventing these has to be done, lest you lose your crop. However, you can not just spray down lots of weedkiller close to your herbs, otherwise you might be loathe and suspicious to eat them yourself after harvest. Use natural or manual removal methods of invasive species.

Sow your seeds according to any instructions that come with them, but also make sure to talk to other herb gardeners in your area for local advice. Make some friends among the staff at your local gardening shop, and find an online or local chapter of herb gardeners for socialization and advice. Not only can this serve as a source of future friendships for those that share your passion for gardening, but you can also perhaps start a cooking club and share meals using all your herbs after harvest!

When you have a good herb garden in your back yard, you have a constant supply of the same ingredients that cooks use at your favorite restaurant. When you follow these simple steps, you can be on the successful path to making gourmet cooking a luxury you enjoy every night, all thanks to your very own herb garden!