Start Your Own Herb Garden

Starting an herb garden has been on my mind for years.. But I was going to school, then we had children... so it wasn't until 2 years ago when I finally found couple spots and started planning. By now, I am glad I did and I am here to share with you some pictures as well as small advice about starting your own!

My first herb plant came from my husband's grandma and it was peppermint. I started with a tinny bunch that you see above and look what 2 years did to it ;-) This brings me to the first important point for starting your herb garden - Plan out your space carefully! Read the labels on your plants or ask the person who is giving it to you - how large does the plant get? Plants in the mint family can spread really wide. I suggest you maintain them in the Fall and Spring. I love to share mine with friends or dry them for the winter months.

I love fresh oregano in my potato dishes! Here is a small bunch in my garden - Oregano doesn't spread fast but it becomes very bushy. I found that one plant was enough for our family to use as a fresh ingredient during the summer and also have plenty to dry for the winter!

Who doesn't love thyme in a chicken dish? Thyme has tiny leaves and doesn't become very large. I like it right on the front edge of my herb garden! I will be adding few more plants this year. Did you know that thyme is great herb to use when you have cough? We love making tea or just simply dipping fresh stem into our water bottle!

Don't just assume that you need ground space for your herbs! I am sure you heard about potted herb garden... If you live in a palace that only has a porch, a patio, or a balcony, this would be a perfect fit for you! Even though I have a backyard, I still like to break up the space using potted herbs. Like in this picture, I use bright red color pot for all green background. The herb that needs to be in the pot if you want to enjoy it yearly is rosemary. It doesn't like tough midwestern winters so I take it inside for the cold months. But right now it plays a great role in my herb garden bed by the pond. 

Originally I also placed a mint plant into the pot because I knew it was going to spread widely and I had no space for it. I will be replanting it this year into my side garden herb bed.

Take a look at my side house herb garden... As you might notice, my intention here is not only to have useful plants in my yard but also to have a pleasant and unexpected eye catcher ;-) Which brings me to the next advice - Choose your plants carefully. You want to plant herbs that you enjoy using in your dishes or your drinks and you want to combine them so they all compliment each other esthetically. Look out for height, width, and color of your plant. I also like to combine different sizes and shapes of leaves. And why not add a regular plant into your mix, such as decorative grass or a rock to break up the space. One year after you plant your herbs, you might realize that you positioned them wrong and the taller one is in front of the shorter one - no worries, just replant... this is all a case of trial and error and by the second year, all will be good.

And finally choose the right location based on how much sun light your plants require. Most herbs love sun, so make sure they receive at least 5-6 hours of sun light per day. Those that love full sun exposure are: lavender, oregano, thyme, basil, and rosemary (also known as the Mediterranean Herbs) Parsley, lemon balm, and mint plants will be happy in shade.

 Benefits of growing an herb garden in your home

1. Touching soil is good for the soul - that is my number one benefit of having any kind of garden. So dig as much as you can...

2. Fresh herbs are always at hand - and they are priceless for any dish you are creating.

3. It looks beautiful - people love herbs! And people love look at nicely grown bunch of plants!

4. It smells beautiful - When you pass by it truly smells wonderful!

5. You save money - Have you seen the prices of fresh herbs in the grocery store? How about dry spices? That is my point exactly!

6. You get to share it with friends - Last but not least, you get to share your green treasures with your friends!

Apricot Coconut Lemon Balm Popsicles

Even though we have had only few days of intense heat this summer, kids asked for this refreshing  yummy and healthy treat almost everyday! I also love having these on hand almost daily because our house is usually full of neighborhood kids and this is an unexpected and inexpensive treat to share with everyone!

 One of the ingredients is an herb called Lemon Balm... Have you ever heard of the benefits of this plant? According to a Natural News article, lemon balm is a great antioxidant, as well as calming herb, that helps reduce anxiety, promotes sleep, and improves indigestion. (I love the calming part - great for kids when they come home all hyped up from playing outside ;-)

You will need:

3 Apricots (or any kind of tropical fruit such as pineapple, mango, or peach)

1 Banana peeled

1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes

5 tablespoons of Vanilla Yogurt

2 cups of coconut milk

1 teaspoon of honey (or 100% maple syrup)

Leaves from 1 long lemon balm stem

Combine all ingredients in a blender.

When all is nicely blended, pour the mixture into popsicle molds.

Place your tops on and place them carefully into the freezers. 

These will be ready in about 2-3 hours and will last for few weeks... but that is not a really important information because as soon as the kids realize they are in there, they will not last a day! ;-)

Enjoy!

Enjoying peppermint tea

Lately I have been enjoying some peppermint tea in the morning! I go to the backyard to take care of my morning chores and on the way back I stop by my herb garden to pick few fresh leaves from my peppermint plant. I place them into the brewing cattle, pour boiling water over them and let it sit for around 10 minutes. The tea is so flavorful and yet light. I enjoy it so much!

Preserving sage

This is a time for preserving everything precious from our garden. Now I am tackling sage. I planted this small bush last year into my porch garden and replanted it this year into my new herb garden. Naturally, it hasn't spread much yet, but it had a good amount of leaves for me to harvest. 

After I harvested the sage leaves I rinsed them out and placed them on paper towel. 

I covered them with another layer of paper towel and patted them dry. 

Then I simply placed them loosely into a saved plastic sour cream container, labeled it with name and date, and placed it into the freezer. It is better to preserve your herb in the freezer than it is to preserve to dry. They keep their rich flavor and they are easy to handle - you can cut them or crumble them up into your favorite dish!

Spearmint oil made easy

I am currently reading soap making books and I can't wait until I will be able to make my own soap. Playing with the ingredients and fragrance is my idea of having fun ;-) One of my favorite aromas is spearmint. I happen to have the spearmint plant growing in my garden so all I need is to turn it into oil to use it in my soap. And here is how I did that.

First I picked fresh, good looking spearmint leaves and rinsed them out. 

Next I stuffed the leaves into a dark glass bottle.

Then I poured a high grade olive oil over it. I filled up the bottle to the top.

Close the bottle with a lid and let it sit by a window for 3 days. 

After the 3 days I took gauze and poured the oil thru it into another glass dish to get rid of the leaves and then returned the finished oil back into the dark glass bottle, which helps it keep fresh and protects the oil from deteriorating in reaction to sunlight. Also you should know that essential oils should not be stored in plastic containers because the chemicals in the oils will react with and partially dissolve the plastic, which will then get into your oil.

Herb garden update

Just a little update on my herb garden that I am establishing this year.

The chamomile is coming out but not as much as I would wish for. This is the only bunch so I will try to seed it one more time. 

The mint is doing great, spreading a bit.

Oregano looks good as well but the heat is starting to burn it. I think I should harvest it before it's too late.

Here is thyme I got last year from my friend. It is spreading nicely, just how I wanted it. 

I have some bee balm plants here as well. Apparently bee balm is a great herb to treat infections and even headaches with. I will definitely try a bee balm tea.

I put the spearmint plant in a pot because I was worried it might spread too much but i think I will replant it directly into the garden as soon as this heat stops harassing us.

I still have much of the garden bed space unused and I have to come up with some good use for it. The unused space so originally for my chamomile and marjoram, but none of them caught on. I am also missing dill :-(

How to make lavender oil

Growing lavender in my garden was always on my bucket list (I bet it has something to do with my love of Tuscany). So now that I have four beautiful bushes in my side garden, I decided to put it to good use. I already showed you how to properly dry your lavender here and now it's time to learn how to make lavender oil. 

First I cut the lavender closer to the flowers.

Then I stuffed the flowers into a medium size mason jar and pour a good quality olive oil over, until all the flowers were covered.

I let it sit for a week by a window that gets hit for few hours in the morning by sunlight. I read that if you want it done faster, you can also boil it over in a safe pot. But this worked great!

After the week, I laid gauze over a larger glass jar (i double layered it), secured it with rubber band, and poured the oil through. 

This actually needed to be done only once because the gauze caught all the flower pieces right away. But if you find some pieces in your oil, repeat the last step.

Then take a dark glass bottle and pour the oil there. Keep refrigerated for up to six weeks or you can freeze part of it to last four to six months. 

How to dry lavender

This is the first year I can make use of my lavender. I was so excited to be able to harvest it and hopefully create some useful things that I can share with my friends and family. First I decided to dry my lavender in order to have it ready for some further use. So how do you dry lavender? Here are the steps to help you get the best out of this fragrant flower. 

Wait till the lavender is almost in full bloom and then get ready to cut it. You will need to cut the stems long in order to ensure the proper air circulation between the drying blooms.

When you are finished cutting them, take a piece of string and wrap the stems around as close to the cut end as possible. This will open up the flower heads and help the air circulate better between the flowers. 

Then tie a knot and hang them with flowers pointing down to the floor in a dark dry place for about a month. I put them in small bunches to ensure enough air will be able to come through them.

Rosemary

This year I was so excited to buy my first rosemary for my herb garden! Here, I placed it towards the back of my herb garden into a beautiful blue pot, which gives it more of a mediterranean look. It is right on the edge of our fish pond and it is framed on one side by yellow ornamental grass called Carex Trifida and on the other side by a hosta.

Rosemary tends to grow taller so you should place it towards the back of the garden, especially if you have it in the pot. Also keep in mind, if you live in a place with cold winters, that you will have to bring it inside. I put it in the pot right away but I know people who just dig it up at the end of the season and transplant it into the pot then. However I know that any plant can only take so much change so I would recommend putting it into the container right away! 

Rosemary is easy to grow, you just need good air circulation, good drainage, and sun.

I love using rosemary in my Italian dishes, such as grilled chicken breast or lamb. 

My herb garden

First let me say that I am very excited about this year in my garden! One of my ongoing projects is my herb garden and I think I am finally bringing it to the finished stage this year!!!

This is, by far, my favorite spot!

 

And this is my work in progress!I have decided to place my garden by the pond in the back of our yard. It gets enough sun and it looks very pretty there!

You can see parsley, some mint, thyme and sage there right now. Inside of my glass house I am starting basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, dill, and chamomile (which I am super happy about growing this year. I want to make some more chamomile oil from it again). Only few more weeks and they are all coming out here! I am planning on putting rosemary into the blue pot, which means it will be probably switching places a lot, depending on how much the rosemary will grow. Right now the blue pot looks great where it is!

I will be going now to browse the web for some new info!

Happy herb gardening!