It was my colleague Matthew Boente who inspired me to start growing things in my garden at home, an avid gardener himself he would often chat to me about the many benefits of becoming green fingered. At first I though that this hobby would be a rather boring one, but very quickly I got the gardening bug big time. I have a very small yard out the back of my home so I am slightly limited, nonetheless I have managed to turn that space into a really exciting natural wonderland. I began the mission with a humble herb garden featuring basil, mint, dill and rosemary, and here is why I would wholeheartedly recommend that you do the same.
Whenever, Wherever
The reason why a herb garden works for everyone is that it doesn’t matter whether you live in an apartment on the 21st floor or you have a 10 acre plot of land behind the home, a herb garden will be very easy to set up and grow. All it needs is some sunlight and water and that’s about it, having the option to plant outside is not necessary.
Grabbing It
There is great pleasure to be had when you are cooking away and you can reach for some basil from your own herb garden, to chop up and put in your food. Not only are you going to be getting some of the freshest herbs available, knowing that you planted it and looked after it makes it taste so much better, at least I believe that it does!
Inspirational
It was only a year ago that I planted my little herb garden and I was so inspired and fell in love with the idea of growing my own food that I now have some cherry tomatoes which are growing and out the back I have a couple of patches with lettuce in them, which I am patiently waiting for. If a herb garden is as much as you can be bothered with then that is fine, but you may find, like I did, that you get a little bit more inspired to do something bigger and grow something a little more exotic.
Maintenance
I have never really had a very good history of plants in the home and in truth I usually kill them off after a couple of weeks because of a lack of maintenance or watering. In the case of these herbs however they really don’t take much work at all and watering them every 5 to 6 will be enough to keep everything growing and keep everything fresh. It makes sense to use the herbs up too, either on your own or give them to someone else, after all there is little point in growing something tasty only to throw it away.
The last tip on this is that if you are going to grow mint in your herb garden, put it in a separate container, if you don’t the mint’s roots will take over and kill every other herb.