Growing Various Herbs in Small Spaces

Growing herbs is simple to do, indoors or outdoors. Many gardeners only grow herbs in small pots and planter boxes. Small pots are easy to keep up and they look great sitting on porches, patios, and anywhere else you have a small space for an herb garden. Herbs take on a very deep green color, and a few of them flower. Overall, they are attractive plants to have around and provide the added benefit of making good food taste even better.

Needed Items

• Small greenhouse with peat pellets
• Water
• Herb seeds
• Deep growing container
• Fresh potting soil
• Organic matter
• Tiller or a round nose shovel
• Garden hose or watering can
• Scissors

Preparation

Prepare a small, plastic greenhouse that uses peat pellets as a growing medium. Add water to the peat pellets so they will begin to absorb the water and swell to their usable size. Pour off any excess water that accumulates in the bottom of the tray. Place three herb seeds in the top of each peat pellet and cover the seeds with the moist peat. Mark the peat pellets so the herb plants can be identified. Place the clear plastic cover over the peat pellet tray and place the tray in a sunny location.

Fill a deep growing container with fresh potting soil. Most herbs like soil that is well drained. If the herbs will be grown outside in the ground, prepare the existing soil by adding a lot of organic matter (mulch, compost, leaves, grass clippings) to the soil and cultivate the soil 12 to 18 inches deep mixing the organic matter into the soil well. Cultivate the soil with a tiller or a round nose shovel so the organic matter is well-incorporated.

Planting

Transplant the seed starts into pots or into the ground outdoors when the seed starts are at least three inches tall. Dig small holes in the soil and place the whole peat pellet into the hole. Fill the remaining space in the hole with soil and firm the soil around the peat pellet. This should be done after the chance of frost has passed in the late spring. The herb starts should be planted or placed in a sunny location for best results. Water them regularly with a garden hose or watering can.

Harvesting

Clip herbs from the plants with a small pair of scissors and either allow them to dry before they are used or use them fresh.

Food for Thought

• The soil used to grow herbs in does not need to be a rich soil. Herbs do not need to be fertilized very often, if at all. When growing herbs in pots, it is a good idea to add small pebbles to the bottom of the pot to encourage good soil drainage. The amount of pebbles to add depends on the size and depth of the pot: larger pots will require more pebbles than smaller pots.
• Propagate herb seeds indoors beginning in late winter (February is a good month to start). To grow seeds indoors requires a sunny window and cool temperatures (around 60 degrees F). Seed starts can also be transplanted into a larger growing pot to grow indoors all year round. A few herbs do not transplant very well and should be started either in the ground or in the pot they will be grown in. These herbs include anise, coriander, dill and fennel.