How to Start a Kitchen Herb Garden
The kitchen herb garden is home to five major families of plants. While these families comprise literally thousands of species, a relatively small number are familiar as herb plants. The five families are listed here with small sub lists of some of their more commonly known members.
Note that in the menthe or mint family, you'll find not only all the mints, but the rosemary, lavender, oregano, sage and thyme!
1. The Parsley Family includes chervil, fennel, parsley, dill, anise, cumin, coriander, caraway, fennel and carrot, not to mention that most famous of herb plants, hemlock. This family is made up of plants with umbrella shaped flower heads.
2. The Mint Family includes all the mints, pennyroyal, lavender, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, thyme and basil. Look for the squared stem, opposing leaves and often wrinkly or hairy leaf type.
3. The Aster Family (also known as the Sunflower Family) includes daisy, thistle, calendula, dahlia, dandelion, chrysanthemums and zinnia. This family is recognizable by its daisy shaped flowers.
4 The Lily Family (recently this group has undergone a good deal of change), however, historically, this group included onion, garlic, asparagus, jonquil/daffodil, and amaryllis. The lily family has long then tapered leaves and a bulbous body stalk.
5. The Mustard Family includes cabbages, kale, mustard, broccoli, brussel sprouts, Chinese kale, grape seed, mustard seed, rutabaga, turnip, horseradish, and wasabi.
A Few Important Things to Know About Herb Plants for your Kitchen Herb Garden:
Herb plants have three different types of life cycles. They are evergreen, herbaceous or annual. The specifics of these life cycles and how to care for herb plants in each life cycle are given below.
Herb plants grow in two phases each season: leaf producing phase and flower producing phase. Most culinary herb plants in a kitchen herb garden are grown for their leaves or foliage. Once flower production begins, leaf production ceases. Therefore, in annuals and herbaceous varieties, harvesting the foliage consistently before the herb plant flowers can extend leaf production somewhat if care is taken to cut consistently.
Three types of herb plants: Evergreens, Herbaceous and Annuals
EVERGREEN HERB PLANTS:
The evergreen varieties of herb plants, for example, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, do not die back over the winter, but remain green year round. They will still require pruning to maximize their production of new tender and flavorful growth, and should be pruned at least once a year in your kitchen herb garden.
HERBACEOUS HERB PLANTS:
The herbaceous herb plants include oregano, mints, tarragon, chives, bee and lemon balm, winter savory and many others. These herb plants will die back to the ground at wintertime. There is no need to prune these herb plants with care, as they can be chopped right to the ground and will come back strong and healthy. In fact, for some, an annual mowing is an easy solution for the care and maintenance of a kitchen herb garden.
ANNUAL HERB PLANTS:
Annuals, unlike evergreens and herbaceous herb plants, do not live more than one season. While evergreens and herbaceous herb plants are perennials, and grow for two years or longer, annuals produce flowers and then seeds before dying off at the end of each growing season. Therefore, annuals in your kitchen herb garden will require new plantings each spring.
Examples of annual herb plants are cilantro, basil and chervil.
Planting the Kitchen Herb Garden:
There are three main ingredients to a healthy and successful kitchen herb garden: sunlight, soil and pruning. It simply is not true that most herb plants will grow anywhere in any soil. Most herb plants require healthy well drained soil to grow, and poor soil or poor drainage lead to failed kitchen herb gardens.
Sunlight is a major factor in a successful kitchen herb garden. Full sun is a must if what you want are healthy full lush herb plants. Shade or lack of sun leads to leggy or long stemmed herb plants with poor foliage and little flavor. To get the full lush foliage, fragrance and flavor of exceptional herb plants you need plenty of sunlight.
Soil should be loose, have a good base of composted matter, leaves or mulch to create plenty of air space for the roots and nutrients for the growing herb plants. Herb plants need well drained soil to avoid drowning and root rot.
Pruning is the final ingredient for your healthy kitchen herb garden. Follow the guidelines according to the herb plant type (evergreen, herbaceous or annual) above to ensure your herb plants remain strong and healthy throughout the growing season.
At the very least, at the end of each growing season all herbaceous herb plants should be cut back completely, evergreens should be well pruned to remove older non productive woody growth and annual seeds should be collected.
Selecting The Herb Plants to Start Your Kitchen Herb Garden:
For a simple start, consider choosing from the following selection:
1. Basil: 3 to 6 plants, depending on your taste for it. For a constant supply of fresh leaves, plant consecutively over the growing season. For fresh basil and tomato salads you'll need at least two cups of fresh leaves to serve 4 people.
2. Greek Oregano: This hardy easy to grow herbaceous seasoning herb will flavor almost everything. Plan on 2 herb plants to start if you enjoy Italian cooking.
3. Chives: 2 to 3 herb plants can be found in various flavors. Delicious in fresh salads, on potatoes and in a variety of dishes.
4. Parsley: 4 to 6 plants, or try a few herb plants of cilantro as a variation
5. Rosemary: 1 to 2 plants will get your kitchen herb garden started, and as they grow you'll have plenty of this pungent evergreen each year. If you live where Rosemary cannot winter over, consider using a container, or plan to harvest and dry for the winter. Delicious in rosemary garlic roasted potatoes, or place a few springs inside poultry before roasting!
6. Marjoram: 1 to 2 plants will provide plenty of this tasty herbaceous herb plant for your seasoning needs. Use the leaf fresh and harvest the soft seed heads for winter flavoring.
7. Bay: 1 plant which can be taken indoors in winter if needed will provide you with a bay tree. Use bay leaves in soups, savory stews, meat dishes and a host of other ways. Add a bay leaf to stored grains and flours to repel weevils.
8. Mint: 1 plant at least, in a container so as not to take over the kitchen herb garden. Personally, I keep one peppermint and one spearmint herb plant, and use them both prolifically.
9. Dill: 2 to 4 plants. Like basil, dill will need to be planted consecutively during the growing season to keep a fresh supply of leaves.
Some Tips to Success with Your Kitchen Herb Garden:
1. Finding a sunny spot near the kitchen means you'll use the herbs more often! Herb gardens far from the house or kitchen tend to be used much less often. Out of sight is out of mind, so keep your kitchen herb garden as close as you can to the kitchen door.
2. Consider using outdoor containers or raised beds. Many garden supply stores now carry old wine barrels cut in two, as well as extensive lines of prefabricated containers. Raised containers or beds mean you don't have to get down on your hands and knees to work the kitchen herb garden.
3. While the idea of indoor herb gardens is quite popular, the practical truth is that unless you have plenty of indoor sunlight, your herb plants simply won't grow. A patio, porch or even a picnic table placed in the sun will serve perfectly to hold your kitchen herb plant garden containers.
4. Mix it up! While it is recommended that individual containers be used for each type of herb plant, if you're working in an outdoor kitchen herb garden there is no reason not to pretty things up: plant marigolds, zinnias, calendula or other clumping flowering plants around your borders. If you're looking for protection from pests and animals, use wormwood and tansy as an outer border to the garden.
5. Take the time to enjoy your new kitchen herb garden! Nothing perks up a dull moment like a whiff of fresh basil or rosemary crushed between the fingers. Feeling mentally sluggish? Basil is known as the mind clearing herb and it is surprising how just inhaling a few deep breaths of this pungent herb plant can bring your mental faculties back in line!
6. If you're new to cooking with fresh herbs, start slowly. A great chef recommends you begin with one herb at a time: choose the herb and use it in your cooking in different ways until you get familiar with its qualities. Then try another. If you try to use too many different herbs at once you'll end up with a muddle of flavors, and it will be harder to learn the individual tastes and complimentary characteristics of different herbs.
7. Have fun! After all, the heart and soul of great food is its ability to bring pleasure and joy to the table! If you're getting frustrated or overwhelmed by your kitchen herb garden project, take a break, find a spot in the sunshine for yourself and sip a cool drink. There is no point in stressing out over your kitchen herb garden!
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