Herb Essentials

A good collection of herbs is an essential feature of the cupboard for any foody, and if you’re really mad about getting great flavours into your dishes there’s nothing better than growing your own. It adds scent to your garden, and means that you know exactly where your produce has come from, so there’s no nasty additives or dodgy shelf-life involved. If you’re starting out on the idea of growing your own herbs it helps to know a few top tips.

Herbs are really hardy compared to other plants. If they weren’t so delicious they’d actually be regarded as weeds, as most varieties can soon take over a garden for themselves compared to weaker ornamental plants. With this in mind you don’t have that much to worry about when choosing where to plant, but there are a couple of things you can do to give a helping hand.

Some herbs like sun more than others. This doesn’t mean you want them to get completely baked, so a little shade in the day is always good, but varieties such as thyme, sage, rosemary, tarragon and oregano are going to be happier with more sunlight. On the other hand rocket, sorrel, parsley, chervil and mustard like to have a bit more shade, but obviously need their share of light too. If you’ve got space try to think about where you can put the plants to best play to these needs.

Choosing compost is fairly straightforward. As long as the ground isn’t too peaty herbs will do well. Don’t accidentally kill them off with peat-based compost, and go for something with plenty of soil instead. With this done they’ll have all the nutrients they need, but you can give them a boost with feed if you feel like it. Feed the soil in the spring months for the best effect, and a seaweed-based feed is probably best.

Another little tip is to water them in the morning so they don’t whither while you go off to work. As with all these tips, it’s a way of augmenting your herbs chances, but really they’ll do fine as long as you give them light and a bit of water, so don’t stress too much about it.

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