How to Select Herbs for Your Herb Kitchen Area Garden
If you have chosen you want to create your own kitchen herb garden, you need to initially choose what herbs to grow in it. As soon as you have done that you can start preparing your herb garden strategy and start looking at things like herb garden packages or herb seed brochures. To make things as simple as possible for you I have composed this article to teach you about the "3 things every herb gardener requires to understand" before heading out to buy herb plants or seeds.
The number of different types of herbs do you wish to plant in your kitchen herb garden? Many people, when they are setting up their herb garden, pick about 5 or 6 kinds of herbs. But a recognized little to medium-size herb garden could have as many as 20 to 30 different types of herbs. However, I advise that you start with simply a few, and develop the varieties of herbs as you get experience.
If you have an interest in a specific type of herb (garlic for example), there are lots of resources readily available to help you investigate your selected herb and understand how to cultivate it successfully. But, if you spend excessive time on research, you'll never ever get your kitchen herb garden established. This article will help you to make your research task easier by teaching you about the different types of herbs that you might select to grow in your herb garden, and give you some concepts on how they could be used around your home.
1. The Main Categories of Herbs
Herbs, like other plants with which you will be familiar can be put into 3 different classifications - annuals, perennials and biennials. Annuals like basil, cilantro, and summer season mouthwatering die when the first frosts show up, and they therefor need to be planted as seeds each year (or as plants if you buy from a nursery). Sage and winter season savory are perennials and can survive colder temperature levels. They will return year after year. Finally there are the biennial herbs. These form their leaves throughout the very first growing season and then flower and seed throughout the second season. After this they pass away.
2. Tips on Growing Herbs in Your Garden
Biennial herbs like angelica and parsley can be planted in the garden in the late spring. Before you plant your seeds you should prepare the soil first by breaking it down up until it has a great texture. Next make it extremely a little damp and plant the seeds in shallow rows. Lastly spray a thin layer of soil on top and company it down.
Some herb seeds are hard to plant since they are very fine. The trick to sowing them equally is to mix them with very great dry sand (like kids's play-sand). Sprinkle the sand and seed mix onto your seed-bed and after that cover with soil as explained above. Another great pointer is to cover your herb seed bed with wet sacking, woven fabric or absorbent paper to keep the soil moist throughout the duration of germination.
3. The Different Uses of Herbs
Herbs are typically put into categories which describe how they are usually used. Culinary herbs are probably the most popular for the herb kitchen garden. They can be used in a wide variety of different ways in cooking. Herbs like garlic, chives, thyme, sage, basil, majoram and mouthwatering have strong flavors. They are used often in different kinds of food, but only in small quantities (but that of course depends upon individual taste preference).
Fragrant herbs are grown for the smell of their flowers or foliage. Aromatic herbs like mint, lovage, and rosemary include essential oils which can be used in fragrances, fragrances and toilet waters. Some fragrant herbs like lavender are used as total plants. They are dried and taken into muslin bags and then used around the home to scent linens and clothes. Another popular use of these herbs is to make potpourri, a mixture of dried, aromatic herbs which is used to offer aromatic fragrances in houses. You may often stumble upon decorative wooden bowls of potpourri containing lavender, lemon verbena, marjoram and mint. There are lots of combination's of herbs which can be used to make potpourri. If this is something you want to try, you'll have great fun making up the herbal mixes.
Some herbs are also used for to promote health and aid healing. These are called medical herbs. There are great deals of stories and examples of how herbs have been used for medicinal purposes, some of them returning to the times of the ancient Egyptians.
Present medical knowledge still recognizes that some herbs are beneficial to health, but many claims made for medicinal herbs are now believed to be over-rated. If you do choose to use herbs from your cooking area herb garden for medicinal functions you need to exercise care. Whilst many herbs are totally harmless, others (such as hemlock) can be unsafe if consumed.
Some herbs are grown purely for their appeal; they are called ornamental herbs. These herbs have brilliantly colored flowers and foliage. Valerian for example, has crimson blooms and borage and chicory have blue flowers.
Nevertheless, even though these categories are useful, many of the herbs you can grow in your herb garden have numerous uses. For example, mint can be used to make mint tea or used in cooking. It can even be used in the garden for bug control!
I hope this short article has actually provided you some ideas which will promote your interest in herbs and enable you to select those kitchen area garden herbs that will be of a lot of use to you.
Discover a lot more about picking your garden herbs [http://www.herb-gardening-help.com/choosing-your-garden-herbs/] by going to Adam Gilpin's website. On his website you'll find extra info and pictures to complement this short article and great deals of concepts and suggestions about all elements of herb growing. You'll also find out about how to use herbs to develop unforgettable meals and promote health and wellness.
To help herb gardening novices Adam has actually assembled a totally free email teaching course on herb growing, and for those who wish to take the next step in learning about the wonderful world of herbs Adam has produced a digital book "The Secrets of Effective Herb Growing". Both of these discovering resources can be accessed on Adam's website.
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