Growing Your Own Herbs | What You Need To Know

Growing Your Own Herbs - A Worthwhile Alternative

With each passing day, more people are getting involved in practices that encourage them to pursue a healthier lifestyle. These range from having an exercise regimen to cooking your own nutritious meals. By being more conscious of what’s happening to your body, you’re more likely to do what’s right for it. That’s why you’ll even come across activities like growing your own herbs. You may think you need a lot of space to grow garden herbs, and you’d be wrong and we at Health & Herbs think it’s well worth it!

Growing herbs is something that can even be done in a few herb pots. Do you live in a big house with a garden or a small townhouse? This is no longer a question you need to ask yourself if you’d like to grow herbs. There are plenty of innovative ways to enable you to make use of the space you have, including tools that can comfortably help you create an indoor or outdoor herb garden.

Nothing is more satisfying than adding your own homegrown herbs to your meals. Of course, herbs have been used for centuries in natural therapies and are a positive contribution to a healthier you.

How To Start Growing Your Own Herbs

As you contemplate growing your own herbs, here are some things to consider.

• The types of herbs you can grow

• How much space you’ll need to get started

• Which tools are necessary

Where To Grow Your Herbs

So you’ve decided you like the idea of having a herb garden, but where will you situate it? In the past, you needed to have a small outdoor space to grow whatever you need. Nowadays, though, even those living in townhouses can easily purchase indoor herb gardens that can be set up anywhere around the house. That just leaves you with the question of where you’re most comfortable with having your herbs growing, be it hanging in the kitchen or in pots on the windowsill.

Where To Find The Seeds

Access to online resources has made it incredibly easy to find whatever you need. As a result, finding seeds for your herbs can either happen online or at your favourite neighbourhood health store. The good thing about herbs is that in most cases if you can’t find seeds, you have the option to create starter plants from herbs you can purchase at a store. It is also popular to have fresh herbs in store in their soil, so, you can not only use them for your casserole but plant them for future use.

Tips For Growing Herbs

Staring your herb garden is something you should consider carefully. Although it ensures you know what you’re eating, the entire process requires a lot of commitment. If you’re prepared for the rigours that come with this activity, then below are tips on how to prepare.

What You’ll Need

Growing herbs doesn’t need to be as strenuous as managing a vegetable farm. However, you will need the right equipment to help you get started properly. Whether you’ll have an indoor or outdoor herb garden, pots are a must. These function as your garden. You can have big or small ones depending, on your space. You’ll then need garden soil or potting compost for growing your herbs. Tools like herb snips, a watering can and trowel will help you with pruning, digging and watering requirements. For smaller pots, a spray bottle can work.

How To Grow Herbs Indoors

Having an indoor herb garden is quite common nowadays. The best part about these is you can have small pots placed strategically all around the house. Depending on what you’re growing, herbs like mint and rosemary can even lend a bit of an aroma to your living space. Most people either have hanging pots along the walls or small pots placed on the kitchen countertop. Depending on the herb you’d like to grow, some herbs would do better in shaded, cool areas while others would need a dose of sunshine to help them along. So situate them accordingly for the best results. Only water your herbs when they’re dry and be sure to harvest them often so that you encourage the continuous growth of new herbs.

Herbs To Grow Outdoors

In case you have the space to start growing your own herbs outdoors, then your plant options are numerous. Also, depending on the season, you may not need to constantly check on your herbs since they can get rained on, keeping them well watered. Herbs that do well for the better part of the year while outdoors include rosemary, parsley and dill. Don’t worry when the colder months come around. Plants like sage, chives, mint, oregano and thyme, known as hardy herbs, will still do well in cold outdoor conditions.

Pros And Cons Of Growing Your Own Herbs

PROS

You always have fresh herbs available.

• Visits to the grocery store are significantly less.
• You’re aware of what you’re eating.
• You can grow your own common medicinal herbs.

CONS

• Growing your own herbs requires dedication.
• You’ll need to purchase good quality soil for growing your own herbs.
• Finding reliable suppliers with good seeds or seedlings for growing your own herbs may take time.
• If you’re not careful, growing your own herbs indoors may also attract bugs!

Start Simple When Growing Your Own Herbs

Although you may have the desire to own a herb garden, you’ll only know for sure if you’re ready for it by having all the facts on hand. Apart from those, you need to be prepared to set aside time to check, water and prune your herbs as they grow.

Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed in the beginning by planting an assortment of herbs. Build up the experience by getting a pot or two to start with. You’ll be able to grasp whether you can manage and even add more, or whether the fewer herbs you have to look after, the better for you. Basil can be quite temperamental to grow, probably better to get some experience before trying with this popular herb. Check out our blog posts to know more about individual herbs and how to grow them.