How to Create a Simple Kitchen Herb Garden

Herbs can play a key role in even the smallest of gardens. They can easily be used in those odd corners of a garden that will accommodate little else. Herbs are packed with nutrition, and can bring any meal to life. Once you have experienced home cooking with fresh herbs that you have just snipped from your kitchen garden, the dried, commercial variety will never hold the same appeal again. You will also be pleasantly surprised how economical fresh herbs and vegetables can be.

Apart from the undeniable satisfaction of growing one’s own produce, home herb and vegetable gardening allows you to use cultivation methods that are as organic as possible. So you know what you are eating is free from chemicals, picked as fresh as possible and therefore as healthy as it gets.

Assuming that you already have some garden area you can use for herbs, or you can even use containers successfully, there are only fours ingredients you need to cook up a thriving herb garden of your own. Those ingredients are:

1. A high-quality soil, rich in humus
2. Sunlight
3. Regular watering
4. A little of your time

Now, if you find that your existing soil is unsuitable, you can easily remedy the situation by planting in raised beds, or even more easily, in containers. It depends on how much space you have and how ambitious a herb gardener you wish to become. Simply fill your raised beds or containers with good, organic compost and you are ready to begin planting.

If, on the other hand, you are reclaiming an un-cared for or overgrown garden, try tackling smaller areas at a time. Conquer one area, and once your herbs and vegetables are thriving, move on to another area, and reclaim your land in stages, rather than trying to take on the entire task all at once. The benefits you receive from getting a small area up and growing will encourage you to keep at it and gradually reclaim the rest of the garden area.

The secret is to start small, no matter how you intend to plant your herb garden. Don’t be too over-ambitious, especially if you are a beginner, because you will run the risk of making too many mistakes, and ending up with little to show for it.

First, select herbs that you already know will thrive in your environment. You would be better off choosing the more hardy herbs to start with anyway. Consult a gardening book or visit your local garden center to ascertain which herbs are best for your climate and garden’s conditions. Remember to check whether your garden catches a lot of sunlight or whether it is shaded, because this will affect how your plants grow if they are not suited to their growing spots.

Keep it simple at first, and then build up your garden as you gain more and more experience, and in no time you will be enjoying the wonderful flavors and health benefits herbs can afford you and your family for years to come.

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