Grow Your Own

The recipe calls for a teaspoon of minced fresh herbs. It doesn’t matter if its rosemary, tarragon, thyme or parsley. You plunk down up to three bucks for a fresh bunch, use only what you need, and the rest turns into a runny, brown goo in the bottom of your vegetable drawer. If you’re resourceful, you might hang the remainder from the overhead pot rack or key holder on the wall to dry for future use or as a place where house spiders will nest.Now is the time to act to avoid such predicaments in the coming months by building yourself an Herb Pot. Spring is the season when farmers have thousands of young plants growing in their greenhouses to be transplanted in the fields. It’s not a stretch for vendors to pot up plants to bring to market early in the season for customers who want to have a bit of constant greenery in their life or a few tender leaves of basil to top off a simple caprese salad.There are many ways to grow your own herbs - all together in a single container or in separate smaller pots. Containers can be as simple as recycled glass jars or metal cans to designer self-contained gardens that hang on a wall. A container herb garden can be kept indoors in a sunny location or outside until the first frost. Perennial herbs can grow for years in the same container providing they are regularly fed and trimmed. Annual herbs, such as basil, have multiple varieties in assorted shapes and sizes making it the perfect addition to seasonal flower containers.Whatever you choose, here are a few tips to help you succeed.

• Start simple: think about what you use the most, but never seem to have on hand. Mint for mojitos? Cilantro for tacos? Or the fantastic four of the kitchen - parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - all which like well-drained soils so they won’t croak if you forget to water them.
• Drainage holes: regardless of the type of container you choose, be certain the pot has holes so the plants will not be drowning in water. Most herbs prefer damp to wet soils.
• Use potting soil: commercial potting mix soils are designed to support plants grown in containers. Dirt from outdoors may harbor unwanted insects and fungi or not have enough nutrients to support plant growth.
• Harvest correctly: herb plants should be trimmed from the top instead of the bottom. Unless you want edible herb flowers, keep trimming off all the flower buds before they open to keep the plant growing vigorously.

In addition to herbs, vendors offering live plants for sale also have vegetable plants at the markets now that do well in containers. Lettuces grow well in containers as their roots are shallow, needing no more than six inches of soil depth.If you are more adventurous, tomatoes can also be planted in containers. Tomatoes like lots of room (for both foliage and roots), lots of water, lots of support (string, rod or trellis) and lots of sun - at least six hours a day. Like herbs and lettuces, tomatoes come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes, bringing beauty along with taste into your home this summer.