Fresh Herbs



I wrote about my supply of dried herbs and spices last week.  This weekend, we planted a few pots of fresh herbs for our backyard.   We always go to a local, reputable plant nursery for our plants.  It's cheaper to go to the big box stores, but I have found plants in the past at this type of store which cannot survive our weather.  The plants have usually had more TLC at the local nurseries also. 

We usually have a vegetable garden and a good size herb garden, but we are in transition between homes at this time.  We decided we could not do without some herbs, so we pulled some large pots out of the garage and planted a few herbs.  We also snuck one grape tomato plant into a large pot. 


I usually have about 12-15 types of herbs each year.  I have room in these pots for six herbs, so decisions had to be made.  I knew for certain that I really do need to make some pesto, so I planted three basil plants.  If they do really well, that should be enough to make some pesto for the freezer.  I would like to have more, but I won't be greedy. 

My next choice was two parsley plants.  That may seem like an unusual choice, since parsley is widely available and inexpensive in the grocery stores.  I use parsley several times a week, and it is so nice to have fresh parsley right outside the door.  I also like to add some parsley in my pesto recipe. 

The last herb was a thyme plant.  It is also one of my most used herbs.  If it does really well, it is also easy to dry and keep for the winter. 

I am not very experienced in growing vegetables or herbs in pots.  We grew lots of potted landscape plants, but never vegetables or herbs.   I was surprised that potting soil is what is used to grow vegetables and herbs in pots.  I thought about the rich, composted soil we used in our ground planting, but evidently that doesn't work well in pots, because of decreased aeration and decreased drainage. 



We used some rocks in the bottoms of the pots, to help with drainage.  This made the pots extremely heavy, but hopefully we won't be moving them around.  The day we planted them, the wind became quite strong, so we put laundry baskets over them to protect
them from the wind and also shade them from the full sun for a day or two.  That is an old trick I have used for years, to keep the plants from developing transplant shock.

I put some compost on top of the potting soil and also watered the plants with a solution including fish emulsion fertilizer.  Herbs do not like a lot of fertilizer, so hopefully these two very slow release fertilizers will make them happy. 

I hope our endeavors will pay off.  This girl needs some summertime pesto!




Lightly water once a day for the first few days.

I later staked this to protect it from the wind.