Growing herbs as been a popular activity throughout history dating back to the Bible. Producing herbs in one’s home herb garden has always been a time tested method of assuring a constant supply on these fine flavorful plants.

This took a backdrop with the enduring popularity of convenient food stores and mass manufacturing of these ”products”, however, actually there is a strong resurgence of interest in the joy of creating and maintaining a personal home herb garden. The pleasure and excitement of growing herbs has been rediscovered and is even practiced in small apartments in urban areas.

Returning to this wonderful and practical hobby can be for many different reasons. The home herb garden can be cultivated for economical reasons, freshness and availability of the product, the scents and flavors associated with having herbs growing in your environment. There are many other reasons that can be attributed to this pastime if not simply for the sheer pleasure of seeing these beautiful plants come to life in your environment.

If you are among the newly initiated, you may have to do a little homework to start you off in the right direction. There is a large selection of different herbs to choose from when starting a herb garden project.

There are basically 73 different herbs recognized and are divided into 4 main categories classified for their individual usage. However, certain herb can be used for more than one purpose so can be classified in more than one category.

The list of herbs is quite extensive and can be classified in 4 main categories: aromatic, medicinal, ornamental and culinary. The gardener can choose which herbs he will be growing by defining the usage he plans to use them for once harvested. This is a brief review of the 4 main categories.

Culinary Usage
The many usage of herbs to enhance the taste of food has been mentioned repeatably through history. So many recipes have been created and savored by the perfect amount of a well balanced mix of herbs.

Most often a small garden can provide for a family very well so the amount of space needed depending on the variety you may wish to grow. Since herbs are used in small quantity, 1 or 2 plants can will be sufficient for a normal household. Among the most popular herbs grown are thyme, basil, sage, chives, oregano, mint, rosemary and savory.

Aromatic Usage
Aromatic herbs are in a class of their own. They offer great pleasure to the senses if not by their beauty then by the wonderful scent of the foliage and flowers.

If you choose to grow herbs with that intention, aromatic herbs can be a very interesting garden project. The enchanting fragrances come from their oils produced while growing and are used to produces various perfumes, eau de toilette and lotions.

Once harvested and dried, you can enjoy the smell of the plants for many months. They can be used to freshen the air in rooms or spaces and even used to give a pleasant smell to clothes and linen.

Aromatic herbs that are popular:  basil, marjoram, mint and rosemary.

Medicinal Usage

Before modern medicine, medicinal herbs has long been used to treat injuries and many levels of sickness. Many herbs are known and used even nowadays for their healing qualities. They play an important role in many products we by in a pharmacy, prescriptions and is used extensively with alternative natural medicine.

If you plan to grow herbs for medicinal usage, please research these herbs and capacities, They can be excellent when used in the right conditions but can be unpredictable if used randomly.

Medicinal herbs commonly used: Ginseng, Ephedra, Catnip, Dandelion and St. John’s Wort.

Ornamental Usage
Thought not always the first group of plants to be proposed when discussing landscaping, an wisely designed arrangement of ornamental herbs can be quite breathtaking by their brightly colored flowers and foliage.

They can be combined with other plants or even other herbs to create an overall exotic layout. Among the ornamental herbs that are often

Italian food is all about the spices.  You start out with your base of pasta and then add flavorful sauces full of tomatoes, cheese, and fragrant Italian herbs.  Whether you are replicating the cooking your grandmother did or just love the hearty aroma of Italian cooking, you know that you need the proper flavors from an Italian herb garden in order to make the right dishes.  There are many herbs that make up the Italian canon.  These include: basil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, fennel, chives, and oregano. You can spend a lot of money and buy these herbs fresh or dried from the store, or you can grow your own Italian herb garden in a planter right in your kitchen no matter where you live, be it in the country or in a small city apartment, but there are some secrets to a bountiful Italian herb garden that one should know.

Italian herbs aren’t all that different from any other type of plant you want to grow in your container garden.  They need the right amount of sunlight, the best type of soil, adequate water and drainage in order to flourish.  The requirements for an Italian herb garden may vary from species to species, but these are the basic components of any happy plant. Drainage is especially important -and unfortunately often neglected- so ensure that your planter has holes at the bottom for excess water to drip out.

As you set up your Italian herb garden planter box, you should pair herbs that have similar growing requirements.  Did you know that rosemary likes a hot climate whereas parsley enjoys a colder environment?  As a result, rosemary and parsley would not do well in the same container.  However, if you want to know the secret of abundance of basil and garlic here it is: the two herbs have very similar soil and sunlight needs, therefore you should grow them in the same pot.

Some herbs love to spread wildly, for example thyme, a favorite of any Italian herb garden, will continue to grow until there is no soil left and it will choke out all the other herbs, therefore thyme should definitely be given its own container.

Once you have set up your Italian herb garden planter box and the herbs are growing nicely, the secret to keeping them abundant is to regularly harvest them.  By harvesting the ends of your herbs it stimulates new growth and also you have the added bonus of obtaining a large amount of fresh oregano available for adding to the pasta sauce or for freezing.

You can also keep your supply of Italian herbs steady by taking cuttings from mature plants about once every two months and repotting them as this ensures that your Italian herb garden is growing and also that you will have replacement herbs when some die off.  For instance, basil takes about three months to reach its best harvesting growth and when cut off it then takes about three months to grow back, therefore one should always keep three pots of basil growing in rotation so that there is plenty for your pizza.

Once you gain some real life experience with growing an Italian herb garden in planters you will see that producing  bountiful  herbs is not really so secret after all, they are just commonsense tips that allow you to create and maintain the best growing environment for your Italian herb garden.

When growing a potted herb garden outdoors, many believe the plants should be in a pot to get best results. Such plants as rosemary, chives and mint are said to be best planted in pots in order to keep them from taking over the rest of the garden. If you decide you need to plant any herbs in a pot, there are some things you should keep in mind to get the best possible results. Growing herbs is only as hard as you allow it to be. In this article you will find information that should make it easier for you.

Choose the herbs you are going to plant in pots rather than in the regular garden. The choice can be dues to either the kind of herb it is, or because of ornamental purposes. As stated above, the most popular plants to put into pots are the ones that have a tendency to take over a garden. This does not mean they are the only ones, which can be planted in a pot. Other good herbs to plant in a pot include lavender because of the height at which they grow. The other reason is because the flowers tend to be attractive when separated and will end up flavoring the rest of the plants around it.

When planting a potted herb garden, take into consideration the soil you are planting in. Many people have a tendency to try and plant in all potting soil because they are planting in a pot. The problem with this is planting soil, is too high in nutrients. Herbs prefer soil that is low in nutrients and in order to create the right mixture of nutrients, acidity and draining ability, you will need to mix a few things together. Mix together equal parts of potting soil, loose dirt and sand together. The angular quality of the sand will help to create a soil, which does not retain excessive water. Make sure the mixture gets about one tablespoon of lime depending on the size of the pot.

Because the herbs are in a pot, you can move them as needed. This may become necessary in different parts of the season in order to make sure they are still getting all the sunlight they need in order to grow properly. Most herbs require at least 8 hours of sunlight a day in order to grow properly. As the summer gives way to fall, the days get shorter and plants become unhealthy. This is due as much to the temperature as it is due to the amount of sun plants are getting.

Temperature is very important to a potted herb garden. A great way you can protect your potted herbs as the nights get colder is to use netting bags. These bags attach to the rim of the pot and billow over the top of the plant. It will trap in heat from the soil so that the cool night air will not harm it. As the days get colder, you can leave the bag on during the day also. When the first frost comes, you will need to pull in your last harvest and make cuttings for next year.

QUALITY & QUANTITY GUARANTEE Each Packet comes with lots of seed, grow herbs indoors and outdoors! Plenty of seed to experiment with and grow a full herb garden! Our seed is also Guaranteed to grow! Assortment of 12 Culinary Herb Seeds Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro/Coriander, Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Chives, Savory, Garlic Chives, Mustard, Sage.

(more…)

Cool indoor herb gardening kit. Grow your own fresh cooking herbs indoors year round. Add zest and flavor to your cooking, and enjoy the fun and benefits of indoor gardening. Nothing improves your cooking like fresh herbs. Herb Kits make fantastic gifts. Contents: Tray, Dome, 50 Peat Pellets, 12 packages Culinary Herbs: Parsley, Thyme, Cilantro, Basil, Dill, Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Chives, Savory, Garlic Chives, Mustard, Sage, Instructions

(more…)