Culinary Garden
Growing Herbs In a Culinary Garden
If you really love herbs or have ambitions as a seller of herbs (Check out my products page for more information on my become a professional herb seller ebook) then turning a large area of your garden into a culinary garden can be a good idea. Another idea is to have many herbs gardens, each with a different role. This gives you plenty of herbs, but also requires some special care, so it is worth getting as much information as possible.
Weather and Herbs
The first consideration is that the survival of your herbs becomes more important. Many gardeners grow a potted herb garden so they can move the herbs between locations if there is unusual weathers! The two weathers to watch out for are exceptionally hot or cold weather. In sunny weather some herbs have a habit of bolting. Bolting plants can be a real nuisance as the plants can be left completely inedible. Worse still many popular herbs such as herb garden cilantro are prone to bolting. If you want to plant this kind of herb in your garden you will often need to manufacture a hood that allows sunshine to reach the plant early on, but shields it during peak times. Similarly most herbs are also prone to frost, so be careful not to plant them too early before the frosts have fully finished.
Using the Right Fertilizer
Fertilizers are not as vital for herbs as they are for other kinds of plant, however it is worth considering using one during the early growing stage. Make sure that you check your fertilizer before use. The fertilizer should be marked as ’suitable for edibles.’ If not you will want to buy a different brand as some fertilizers are more suited to helping non-edible plants grow and can cause your herbs to give stomach upsets.
Aphid and Mite Problems
There is nothing worse than going out to check on your herbs and finding aphids or mites (The red spider mite in particular is a nuisance in hot areas of the world and can cause a lot of damage). Luckily herbs are very resilient, but it is still worth treating them as, for the professional, the tiniest loss of yield can be devastating. Generally there are a few ways of treating them. You can use chemical treatments such as mitocides or you can use a biological treatment such as controlled release of insects that prey on your problem animal.
The Location For a Culinary Garden
The most important thing is, of course, the location. You will want to make sure that your herbs receive a lot of sunlight, have a good well-drained soil and make sure that they receive enough water.
As a general rule herbs in a southern facing garden will get more sunlight, so if your garden is on different sides of your house and you want to grow a large formal English garden this is a consideration. Likewise find out information on your herbs, as some actually prefer the shade, whereas others really need a lot of light.
The drainage and condition of your soil is also important. Whilst a particularly poor soil can be improved using composts, perlite and fertilizers, you should try and find the best kind of soil for your herbs. Be wary of areas of your garden that are very dry, as you will end up spending most of your time trying to keep it moist enough to grow anything! If your garden has poor drainage, it can be improved somewhat by digging an extra inch or two when you plant your herbs. This extra couple of inches should be filled with crushed stones to increase the drainage.
Luckily watering is not such a big consideration for culinary garden herbs as most survive well without it. You will need to make watering a habit. Most gardeners choose the same day of the week and only delay watering if the soil is still moist from the previous time. Another technique is to give the occasional ‘misting’ to your herbs by spraying a thin layer of water onto their leaves. This will give it a little extra water, without risking drowning it!
Then comes the best part, pruning and harvesting your herbs. The great news is that as you cut little bits off for eating, it actually stimulates your herb to grow more! Therefore a regular pruning or cutting schedule where you preserve your harvest using salt or freezing them (See the harvesting your herbs article for more information) can increase your harvest. Isn’t that great news. Soon you will have enough for you and it is time to start thinking about your own mini business. Have fun!
