Herbs – the quintessential plants – aromatic, culinary, medicinal and beautiful; the huge range of textures and colours make herbs a delicious asset to gardens and kitchens.
Consider sowing your own herb plants from seed, you will save money and you can really plan your crop. You can sow many of them in spring. Basil, chervil and parsley can go in quite early and will do well when container grown until you decide if you want to transplant the plugs elsewhere. If there is a cold spring, bring your young plants inside to avoid any late frosts.
Picking herbs regularly will really benefit herbs like basil and thinning out of parsley will give room for the others to thrive. This shouldn’t be a task as herbs are a healthy and tasty addition to your food.
There will be times when hardier herbs like mint, marjoram, chives, bay, sage and thyme need cutting back. Once harvested consider preserving them. Annuals including basil or parsley can be chopped and put into an ice cube tray, add a little water and freeze, for handy sized portions of herbs to add to your cooking. You can dry rosemary, bay and thyme to name a few, pick and divide into small bunches before tying upside down in a warm dry place and make small bouquet garni bundles.
It is also possible to take cuttings of the more bushy and woody herbs such as rosemary, lavender, sage and bay. Propagating is a great way to produce new young plants, save money and keep your herb garden topped up.
And if by mistake or choice your herbs flower, it is worth leaving them to go to seed. This will enable to collect and keep the seeds for sowing next year.