Hi ..
Well I know there is at least one other person on this site who enjoys gardening as I read so in a thread somewhere. So I thought I'd start one to advocate on behalf of home growns.
I want to share my experience of growing herbs as I think some of you might find it useful.
I always loved gardening but never had a garden. Sad isnt it. That is until I came to live with my partner 6 yrs ago. He had a huge garden but hates gardening. Sad isnt it... There was a herb patch totally overgrown by mint. Over the last 6 yrs Ive been trying to grow herbs often with limited success but each year i get a bit better.
I've found a method that seems to work. I used to just sow a few herb seed in a little three inch pot. It works but the yield is little. Last year I got some huge cheap plastic pots with a 2 1/2 ft diameter and grew corriander in them. What a success! I lived off homemade hummous last year and couldnt wait for my corriander to grow again this year. And i planted up the same two large pots with corriander. I literally take handfuls to put in my cooking regularly. It (corriander) takes no looking after other than regular water and sunlight. The amazing thing is it grows back after cutting --very quickly so I can use as much as I want and never be without.
This year I grew my other herbs .. basil, parsley, savoury, in little pots but Im coming to the conclusion that the way to do it -is to do like with the corriander and sprinkle a whole pack of seeds in one huge pot. (And keep the outdoor pots as near to the kitchen as possible.) Of cause some herbs like dill and fennel and lovage grow huge and are probably best grown straight in the soil.
When i look at the little pots of corriander in the supermarket at a pound or over I cant help feeling people are being robbed.
When I never had a garden (most of my life) I never experimented other than to grow a little pot on a window sill. If I were to be there again I would have hanging baskets and pots by the door and troughs on the windowsil. Fresh food is so important and there is nothing to growing herbs. There are so many herbs and they are so flavoursome and our forebearer will have used them regularly. But we get just a few in the supermarkets I want to keep learning about herbs and growing and using them and I dont have the money to keep buying those little tiny pots at big price just to improve the flavour of my meal. IIm getting a good collection now.. its taken me six years. I buy a few new packs of herb (seeds) I haven't tried each year. Some are annual like the corriander and have to be replanted each year anyway. I'm the type of gardener who often gets it wrong an I sometimes wonder why I bother. But I do learn,- slowly. And the goodness is in the fact that you know the food you produce has no harmful additives. Doing low carb this week (my first week) has really made me appreciate the flavour and variety of vegetables and Herbs and I'm increasing my resolve to keep on growing my own....
I would love to hear from any other would be gardiners out there.
SPARKLES.
Well I know there is at least one other person on this site who enjoys gardening as I read so in a thread somewhere. So I thought I'd start one to advocate on behalf of home growns.
I want to share my experience of growing herbs as I think some of you might find it useful.
I always loved gardening but never had a garden. Sad isnt it. That is until I came to live with my partner 6 yrs ago. He had a huge garden but hates gardening. Sad isnt it... There was a herb patch totally overgrown by mint. Over the last 6 yrs Ive been trying to grow herbs often with limited success but each year i get a bit better.
I've found a method that seems to work. I used to just sow a few herb seed in a little three inch pot. It works but the yield is little. Last year I got some huge cheap plastic pots with a 2 1/2 ft diameter and grew corriander in them. What a success! I lived off homemade hummous last year and couldnt wait for my corriander to grow again this year. And i planted up the same two large pots with corriander. I literally take handfuls to put in my cooking regularly. It (corriander) takes no looking after other than regular water and sunlight. The amazing thing is it grows back after cutting --very quickly so I can use as much as I want and never be without.
This year I grew my other herbs .. basil, parsley, savoury, in little pots but Im coming to the conclusion that the way to do it -is to do like with the corriander and sprinkle a whole pack of seeds in one huge pot. (And keep the outdoor pots as near to the kitchen as possible.) Of cause some herbs like dill and fennel and lovage grow huge and are probably best grown straight in the soil.
When i look at the little pots of corriander in the supermarket at a pound or over I cant help feeling people are being robbed.
When I never had a garden (most of my life) I never experimented other than to grow a little pot on a window sill. If I were to be there again I would have hanging baskets and pots by the door and troughs on the windowsil. Fresh food is so important and there is nothing to growing herbs. There are so many herbs and they are so flavoursome and our forebearer will have used them regularly. But we get just a few in the supermarkets I want to keep learning about herbs and growing and using them and I dont have the money to keep buying those little tiny pots at big price just to improve the flavour of my meal. IIm getting a good collection now.. its taken me six years. I buy a few new packs of herb (seeds) I haven't tried each year. Some are annual like the corriander and have to be replanted each year anyway. I'm the type of gardener who often gets it wrong an I sometimes wonder why I bother. But I do learn,- slowly. And the goodness is in the fact that you know the food you produce has no harmful additives. Doing low carb this week (my first week) has really made me appreciate the flavour and variety of vegetables and Herbs and I'm increasing my resolve to keep on growing my own....
I would love to hear from any other would be gardiners out there.
SPARKLES.
