grow a herb garden

I already have a herb garden.
I have mint, spearmint, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, apple geranium, lavender, and lemon verbena (plus a little chives).
And I use most of my herbs, both for cooking and for other uses.

Most of my herbs hold well all year round, with the exception of basil that dies on me every year around Christmas.

What I want to do differently is plant basil seeds all year round and keep them at my window sill, so that I have fresh basil all the time.
It seems impossible to make the perfect tomato sauce without a snip or two of fresh basil…

I also want to install an automatic watering system, so that I don’t have to worry about my herbs in the summer, when days are hot, and we’re away on vacation.

Always finding an excuse, the weather is too hot, I have to work, too tired etc. Well just got off my bum and went to a local organic wholesaler and asked for advice. They were brilliant! I have decided to plant in pots rather than beds. Spent the day in my ‘garden’, singing and smiling.

yesterday, i bought a basil plant. Its not dead yet, so its a beginning ;)

I have always dreamed of growing everything that enters my body. I want to know that I what I put inside my mouth is pure and not harmful. Also, growing a herb garden must be a ton of fun!

It’s quite lovely to wander outside and snip a few herbs to add to a meal. There’s a brightness to fresh herbs you can’t duplicate with dried.

Only the ‘Donna Hay’ pot with coriander and basil is still alive. Everything else has pretty much withered away, and I don’t know why. When I say everything else, I mean the 3 other pots I had coriander, basil and chives. The latter never bothered to come out of its shell and coriander and basil just gave up at some point after a fairly successful start. Oh well.

It’s disappointing and I’m not sure I want to repeat this excercise again.. or maybe I will but with less expectations and high hopes.

Where did it all go wrong? ;-)

...dried herbs will do me for now.

I still buy fresh herbs when needed, but I’m not really cooking that much at the moment.

Last Sunday I bought this package with 3 pots including seeds and compost for coriander, basil and chives. I planted them and this morning I noticed tiny little bits of shrubs or greenery emerging…
It’s a nice thing as the other pot didn’t really work out.

I noticed a few days ago some green shrubs coming through so hopefully it will soon gonna be a fully developed mini herb garden :)
I’m really pleased about this as it will encourage me to plant some more seeds and eventually I wouldn’t have to get all my herbs from the supermarket.

Actually did this 2 years ago, but it now looks more like a jungle!!
I should definitely pay some more attention to it from now on, so it will bring my family and me lots of fresh herbs again!