herb garden

[Guest steelergirl]

I bought myself a lovely little boxed herb garden kit, followed the directions to plant, watered and watched it grow, and now I have a lovely little herb garden that is growing like crazy! I need some advice or direction to good sites with  information on managing an herb garden, repotting, cutting, maintaining indoors... etc.

Those with experience, can you help?  A google search brings up so much information, and I will certainly start there, but thought if anyone could offer advice on where to go, that would be most helpful!

[Ridge Rider]

Well most sites/books generally offer the same advice.

 

Good drainage.

Water daily.

 

Drying

If you are drying herbs for winter use, I clip them often, dry them, you can hang them to dry or dry them in the (directions online) oven and then store in a container.

 

Oils

If you want to make oils, the best harvesting time is right before they flower/go to seed.

 

Freezing

Some like to freeze the fresh dry (free from moisture) leaves whole.

To do this, place the leaves on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer.

Once frozen, you can place them in a freezer bag to use later for soups and sauces.

 

Usually if I have a question about a particular method of use, I will enter the name of the herb and go from there.

[lavender]

Most herbs require full sun and a dryish well drained spot. This develops and concentrates the essential oils. That is if you are putting your herb garden in the ground. 

Indoors they are going to need a sunny window and regular watering. Do not let them stand in water. Turn them regularly to keep them growing evenly. Repot when they become pot bound using a loose sterile mixture. Fertilize sparingly in the winter but every couple of weeks in the summer. I always advise using half strenght fertilizer. Snip off a quarter to one third of the plant when you harvest.

 

Here are a couple of simple but good sites:

 

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/indoor-herbs-growing-guide?page=0,1

 

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/herbs/ne208hrb.htm

[Guest steelergirl]

Thanks for the start!

[Petee]

Some herbs will survive outdoors over the winter.  I would start by identifying them if you want to put them in the ground.  Otherwise pots work great.  Don't fertilize unless they really need it and don't cut them by more than a third at a time.