So, you're always cooking dishes involving plenty of herbs. Roast chicken stuffed with a bacon, celery and parsley stuffing, baked salmon with lemon, potatoes and dill, and pasta with a fresh basil and tomato sauce are some of your favorites.
You pick up your organic herbs at the local farmers' markets every weekend, but all those $3 bunches are starting to add up. The obvious solution? To start your own organic herb garden, of course. Organic produce is healthy for you and good for the environment because it's free of harsh chemicals and pesticides - and as a result, it tastes a whole lot better.
Organic herbs are easy to grow, and need little more than good soil, water and organic garden fertilizers, which are often cheaper than chemical fertilizers. Here are a few simple steps to help you establish your organic herb garden.
- Selecting a site - Keep in mind that herbs require a least six hours of sunlight each day. If you want to grow just a few of your favorite herbs, have a few pots of herbs on a sunny windowsill or on the ground. If you want to grow a larger herb garden, think about what size you'll need and whether you want to combine your herbs with a vegetable patch - but don't be over-ambitious.
- Choosing soil - Choose soil that is a combination of silt, sand and clay, and make sure you include plenty of organic compost material to help enrich your soil. Make sure your pots or your garden bed drain well.
- Planting - It's a good idea to plant starter plants rather than seeds so you can see - and eat - the results sooner. It can be tricky to find a nursery that hasn't treated its starter plants with chemicals, however, so shop around for a good organic nursery.
- Fertilizing - Now and then, add a good dose of organic garden fertilizer or an organic liquid fertilizer to your soil to make it even healthier.
- Watering - Give your plants a little water each day. For outdoor herb gardens, use a watering can, and for indoor herbs, use a mist sprayer to avoid drowning them. A soil moisture tester can be a handy tool to have around if you're not sure if you're under- or over-watering your plants.
- Controlling weeds - Combat weeds as soon as they appear. You can easily pull small weeds out of a pot with your fingers, and to remove weeds from a garden, use a sharp hoe.
- Using your herbs - You can use your herbs fresh or dry. To dry herbs in the oven, put them in a moderate oven - around 150 degrees Fahrenheit - for around three hours. To air dry your herbs, tie them up with some string and hang them in a warm, dry, dark place, like a pantry, for about two weeks. Your herbs are dry when the leaves crumble.
It can be very rewarding to establish and maintain an organic herb garden, and by giving them a bit of love and attention, and plenty of organic garden fertilizer - your herbs will be flourishing in no time.
BanyanOrganics.com is the leading online organic growers' superstore. When it comes to buying organic garden fertilizer, organic liquid fertilizer, organic lawn fertilizer, or tomato fertilizer, look no further than BanyanOrganics.com
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