Tell me about your herb garden
 

I want to grow a few cooking herbs: parsley, dill, basil, chives, sage and maybe a few others. I've grown all these in other areas, singly, with mixed results. This time I'd like to have an indoor herb garden. My problem is all those packaged window sill herb gardens seem #1 - gimmicky and #2 - too small for any sustainable herb garden.

I do have limited indoor window access on the south side of the house. Part of that space is currently taken up with an indoor strawberry garden experiment. I don't yet have a greenhouse. If need be, I could set up more containers on the SW facing back porch. Since this is an area very close to the septic tank, I won't be putting edibles in the ground, though.

Since dill grows large and doesn't like to be transplanted, I'm going to try that outside. I'll do the same with larger, bushy herbs like thyme. I already have horseradish and ginger out there. I figure mint is easy and makes good ground cover so it goes outside, too.

So what do you do for herbs?

I use a five tier shelf with lights. Don't waste your time and money with the little store packaged items unless you are only cooking a couple of nights a week. Depending on how much you use set up a succession planting so you will always have the herbs you use most. With warmer weather the shelf can go outside.

Mint is very aggressive so I wouldn't advise sowing it in the ground. It will be everywhere in no time. Through the years I have had pots on shelves with lights, in windows, window boxes, kitchen gardens, and in main gardens.

Have fun and enjoy the bounty

LOL! That is specifically why I like to sow mint in the ground. Given what we have now, wild mint would be an improvement.

At our last house we had wild violets in our lawn. Someone said, "Oh, you better take care of those otherwise they'll take over your whole lawn." Yeah, I should be so lucky!

I wouldn't mind some chives taking off, too. For now I'm keeping them in a container, though.

Can you post pictures. We're trying to not use electricity so I'm hoping to avoid using grow lights.

I have sage, 4 kinds of thyme, parsley and tarragon in pots on the porch. Oregano in the ground. That's about all for herbs. Well lemon verbena if you count that. I forgot chives in pots and rosemary.

I have a small (6x8) greenhouse and grow my herbs in pots there. I have parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano, lemonbalm and peppermint. They are very happy in the greenhouse.

remember that mint will take over and run wild so be very careful where you plant it or better yet..plant in pots and use that way...or plant in pots in the ground.

Tell me about your herb garden
 

I have an outdoor herb garden but indoors I have a kitty cat herb garden. It consists of 3 pots. I grow grass, catnip, and mint for them. The mint is an easy fix for cat breath. :Ack!: sometimes I steal some for mojitos. ;P

Is anyone familiar with pineapple sage? I used it in making drinks, but that's about it so far. Great with gin and blackberries! What else do people use it for?


Wild Roots Farms Pompey, NY.

I melonball out the middle of a watermelon. Put the balls and pineapple sage back in the melon and chill. If you really want yumminess, drizzle a little Chambord over the top. This recipe is also very good with mint. Very refreshing!

I am confused about the different kinds of thyme. What are the different uses? Do you mix them or use them with different foods?

Cookie2 what zone are you in? I'm in zone 4 WI and I grow sage outdoors. It is blooming now. I pick it during the summer and then before frost I pick a bunch of it and tie it with cord and hang it over the sink for winter use.

I have big clumps of chives, lasted over 15 yrs. And several types of mint. Yes, mints can be a pain in the patootie.

Indoors, although under lights, I grow a bay plant(6 yrs. old), rosemary, and Greek basil. All of these go out in the summertime and come back in after late Sept. The Greek basil will holdup indoors better than sweet basil. I usually have to pitch it in January because of white mold...

I think herbs really add a boost to the flavor of our foods and also add medical improvements to our health. I also buy herbs from our local Penseys and keep on trying new ones with different dishes.

A couple of leaves of sage in with boiling potatoes gives a nice flavor.

For some people too much rosemary may cause seizures.

I am grow all my herbs out side in pots. I have peppermint, spearmint, chocolate mint, sweet basil, globe basil, cinnamon basil, lemon balm, sweet marjoram, parsley, Rosemary , oh and I forgot my apple mint, and garli c chives. Just walking out and pinching a few leaves and smelling them is such a pick me up. When winter comes I let my basils dry out and it Reseeds itself for spring

Brendafawn, a Korean friend of ours takes lots of garlic chives and makes a fresh kimchee with sesame oil that is really good!

I will have to google it. I put mine in a big pot of red beans, also scramble them with eggs.

Container Herb Garden
 

Last year my husband wanted to get rid of 2 HUGE leaking metal animal water troughs...waste not; I planted them with herbs. The neighbor brought another trough to add to my collection. Just drilled a few more holes in the bottom for drainage, filled with garden soil, and planted chives, garlic chives, onions, two types of lavendar, bunches of kinds of mint, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and a few more. They are overflowing and easy care!

Goatsgalore, I would like to buy some of these old troughs for raised container gardening. Next month I'll try to go to some auctions to see if I can find some. As you know, when you grow in bigger containers you don't have to water as often and the soil doesn't heat up so badly. Now if we could come up with some inexpensive, reliable dome that is thermostatically controlled. Still pondering.... :facepalm:

Light rain, I bet if you put an ad in the paper or Penny Saver for animal troughs, leaks and rust okay, you would collect a few because the bottoms rust out and farmers do not know what to do with them. I also got a huge round plastic trough that split in one place. Flipped it over and cut 2 doors (one on either side cutting the split out) for a dog house. It is big enough for the dogs to dig their sleep holes; put it on a hill so it would not to collect rain water.

i would LOVE to see a pic!

I have a bunch planted in the garden, but with us moving "Princess Daughter" made this 'to-go' version for me. I love it--as you can see, it is now out of control!

I grow my herb indoors under 1000 watt's

These Herb Trough pics were taken this AM. Unfortunately, all of the plants/vines hanging over the sides were cut yesterday and put in the chicken layer boxes. The chickens love herbs.

Those tanks are hard to come by around here. Ranchers like to use them for hay and people like to use them for all kinds of things. Gardening, brooding chicks and such.

Those are really cool, GG! It would be an awesome way to keep some of those mints contained. I think I might steal that idea once we get moved. I have all of our old llama troughs.....

I plant herbs here, there, and everywhere. Dill, basil, parsley are sprinkled in the garden with flowers and vegetables, along with pots of mint. I have some pollinator focused flower beds and perennial herbs including sage, thyme, oregano, chives, and lovage. Catmint is in the front flower garden, it was planted there when I moved here, at some point I need to divide it. I have lemon balm in a patch in the orchard, it can take over like mint but mowing around it keeps it contained.

The person who lived here before me planted lovely flowers in the front yard and...mint. I love mint but it is such a pain in this garden! Most of my gardening time is spent with vegetables not flowers so I tend to just yank mint here and there, because a couple marathon sessions of weeding it a few years ago did nothing.

I'm in zone 6 and I have planted rosemary but it doesn't hold up too well. Oddly, I have one vigorous rosemary plant and it was just an extra that I planted on the west side of my 5 year olds play house (he has a little garden around his house--chives, alpine strawberries, some flowers and this one darn hardy rosemary BUSH).

I have rosemary, thyme, cilantro, chives, hot and spicy oregano, chamomile, sage and fennel planted in a bed. I also have basil in pots along with spearmint and candy cane peppermint. I had a cinnamon basil plant that I was looking forward to sampling this summer but a late unexpected frost did it in.

I do have some cat mint and spearmint planted in the ground but only where I don't mind it spreading. I love the idea using leaky stock tanks for planters. We have a big pvc type tank that the previous owner had drilled holes in for hoses that would work great for that project. It would probably hold my whole garden.

I recently discovered that some insect was eating my candy cane peppermint at an alarming rate. I dusted it last night with Seven/5 and am waiting to see if that cures the problem.

Planter build of free fence and free pallet.Lined the bottom & sides with feed sacks. Went cheap and used old wood(pine) to fill 3/4 the way topped with humus and manure.It has sweet basil,purple basil, italian basil,fennel,oregano,peppermint,rosemary &chives.In this picture this was their planting or before picture.I like to do a before after when i can.