HOW TO GROW A KITCHEN HERB GARDEN

 

Summer through fall is the peak times for eating straight from the garden, here at StoneGable. But when it comes to herbs and lettuces I don’t have to go the garden for them. I only have to go right outside my back door. The kitchen herb garden at StoneGable is filled with all the herbs I use the most. I just have to walk out the back door with my clippers and snip away! Fresh herbs gives the food I make so much brightness and garden goodness! Wouldn’t you like a little kitchen herb garden conveniently located to grow and harvest fresh herbs? It’s so easy to make one! I’ll show you how you can make your very own kitchen herb garden!

This is how my kitchen herb garden looked the first year I put it in…

And this is how it looked after a long cold winter this year. I just started cleaning up my kitchen herb garden. Much later than usual. The spring has been so very cold and rainy that I was surprised to see that the parsley and some dill had reseeded and left me some nice volunteers!

And the pot of mint actually survived all winter too! 

I was taking pictures between cold rain showers today!

It’s so easy to start a kitchen herb garden. All you need is a container with drainage and a little patch of sunny outdoor space near your house!

I found this wonderfully rusted and worn double wash tub at one of my favorite local antique haunts. I love to give things a second life!

Container options are almost limitless for a garden. Planters, buckets, wash tubs, baskets, tires, bird baths, crates lined with plastic. Just use your imagination. 

A kitchen herb garden can be big or small. It will only be limited by the size of the container you choose!

If your container does not have drainage, drill several holes in the bottom of it to let excess water out. We drilled 4 holes in each galvanized wash tub.

Next, find a nice sunny spot for your container and fill it with dirt. I use a regular potting soil. Don’t use the kind that retains water. Most herbs like a little dryer soil.

Now the fun begins! Let’s find herbs and maybe a few annuals to plant in the kitchen herb garden. I like plant what I use most often in cooking. Thyme, oregano, parsley, chives, dill, rosemary, sage, basil and lemongrass.

 As you can see below, I laid the plants out before planting them in the dirt to create an attractive arrangement. I kept the shorter plants to the front of the tub and the larger ones to the back.

Arrange the herbs and flowers quite densely together. When you have a pleasing design plant them into the container.

Most herbs and flowers grow together very well. Just make sure they like the same amount of watering and sun.

One plant that should always be planted by itself if mint. Mint, although heavenly tasting, is a bully! It will grow riotously and choke out all the plants around it. But if you give it its own planter it will be sweet and happy all summer!

Here’s my pot of peppermint that survived the winter. It already has some nice snip worthy leaves! It just needs cleaned up a bit.

Here it is with the debris cleaned out and two little spearmint plants planted along with it.

As they outgrow this pot I’ll separate them and plant the spearmint in its own pot.

Remember to keep mint well clipped or it will grow leggy!

Here’s my kitchen herb garden. Still a work in progress. I’ll plant basil and bring in the bird bath and other fun embellishments this week. But, it’s ready to be enjoyed and snipped all summer long and well into the fall! 

Have I convinced you to make your own little kitchen herb garden?  You will love it!

Happy Planting!

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