Believe it or not, growing your own herbs is not only a great way to bring a little green into your kitchen but also a great way to add wonderful flavors to your food year round. Most of us will agree that herbs add great value and flavor to our food. Many of us have favorite herbs that we use often and in everyday cooking. Some of us rely more heavily on herbs than others. If you use herbs frequently while cooking, a small herb garden is a great investment for your home. Unfortunately, they generally come at great expense. Herbs are expensive to purchase in stores so growing your own is not only a fantastic way to lower your grocery expenses over time. In fact, taking a look through your kitchen cabinets and spice racks are a great way of deciding which herbs will be best for you to grow. Choose herbs for your garden that you use most frequently if this is something that has any uncertainty about at all. If you are still at a loss or just beginning to add herbs to your kitchen inventory some great herbs to start your garden with include: rosemary, basil, sage, mint, parsley, and dill. There are others of course and you really should choose herbs that you are interested in cooking with. Don’t waste your time and effort on herbs that you will not use instead focus your care on herbs that will be great additions to your home or office. You have the world (or at least your home, yard, or garden) from which to choose a location for your herb garden. I find that kitchen windowsills or window boxes are great places for growing herbs. Others grow them outside their homes in fertile soil that has excellent drainage. The water cannot remain saturated if you want your herb garden to grow properly. A great way to achieve proper drainage is to layer the bottom of your growing area with a layer of gravel. Keep in mind that growing herbs outside you will want to get the most full sun exposure to them as possible. You should also note that herbs grow best from seeds rather than transported plants. In addition to this, you should learn a little about the herb and their individual growth tendencies before planting. Some tend to overtake gardens due to their aggressive nature and should be potted rather than planted in open soil. You should also provide individual pots for some of these plants rather than planting them all together or in a window box. It will be tempting to want to pluck the leaves from your plant as soon as they make their appearance. This is not the wisest course of action. You should really allow your plant plenty of time (several months in fact) to establish before enjoying its bounty. You will be glad in time that you waited and doing so will allow you to deplete the supply of herbs you have on hand. Growing your own herbs is not only delicious and valuable it is also a great way to get your hands into the good earth and can also be quite therapeutic.
Question: Jimmie, I planted some Tulip bulbs I had the end of summer and they never came up? I am doing something wrong? Wendy L. in Prosper
Answer: Hi Wendy, Wow! Okay, let me try to answer that without writing a book here. When you say “I planted bulbs” I assume you just did not dig a hole in the ground and plant them correct? All new plantings whether it be bulbs, trees, shrubs, ground covers, vines need to have proper soil preparation by adding organic soil conditioners to your planting area before even considering planting anything. Then depending on how depleted that area was before doing your soil prep you might even consider adding extra food for those new plantings to thrive. Now that we have addressed the prep for your planting area we need to discuss your timing on your Tulip bulb planting. Tulips are generally planted in Very late November through mid-December depending on our temperatures. Most Tulip bulbs are purchased in September and October and are refrigerated until it’s time to plant them. You determine the exact planting time when the ground temperature is the same as your refrigerator. When the ground temperature starts warming late winter that is when you see the bulbs sprouting out of the ground. Wendy, I hate to tell you that your bulbs more than likely rotted and fell apart underground but hopefully my answer will help you be more successful in the future. Until next time…Happy Gardening!!