?Growing Your Own Herbs

Having a fruit and vegetable garden is a productive hobby, however it requires work and dedication it is a bit hard to maintain a healthy fruit and vegetable garden. For those who find it hard but still want to be able to produce something from gardening, then herb gardening might be a good option for you. You need not work as hard, and yet you will have a constant supply of herbs to spice up your home cooking.

When you start, you have to decide and choose which herbs to plant. The choice could be made easy by taking a look at what you have in the kitchen. It might be best to plant the herbs that you actually use. In this way, you need not buy from the store next time you cook. Some of the more common herbs are rosemary, thyme, basil, chives, mint and dill.

The next thing to decide is where to place it. The soil must have very good drainage because if the soil gets oversaturated, you will not be able grow a healthy plant. To be able to solve the problem of over-saturation, one thing you can do is to dig a hole on the soil, place some rocks on it, and then replace the soil back. This will allow the water to pass through the spaces made by the rocks so it will not be saturated.

Once you are ready, you can buy seed packs from stores around you. You do not have to be tempted with the more expensive full-grown plants because herbs are actually quite fast growers. Some actually are very fast that they tend to constrict the growth of other herbs beside it. What you should do for these aggressive herbs is to place them on pots instead.

When it is time for you to do your “harvest”, you have to be careful because taking out the leaves of plants that are not yet stable might actually kill it. It is best to wait for a few months before trying to get anything. This wait will be worth it because your plant will grow and last for years.

When it is really ready to be picked, you have to dry them first before you use them. The easiest way to do this is to bake them at 170 degrees Fahrenheit for about two to three hours. You then have to store them in a plastic or glass container. Do not put them on paper because it can tend to absorb the flavor of the herbs.

You are now ready to use your homegrown herbs to your cooking. Enjoy, and have a delicious meal.