An herb garden is the perfect way to develop your green thumbs, being easy to start and quick to flourish. With this guide, you can start incorporating your produce into your kitchen within a few months! This page will teach you how to plant, grow, harvest, and prepare your herbs to use in your cooking.

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1. Picking your Herbs

There are many herbs out there to choose from and that choice can be daunting, especially if you have limited space to grow. To decide on which you’ll grow first, take a look in your kitchen and see what will be most useful.

Two well-rounded choices are rosemary and thyme; both pairing with Beef, Pork and Fish. Joined with oregano, which pairs well with poultry, and you should have enough for any meat you may cook. However, its best to grow the things most enjoy in your gardening, so grow whichever herbs you prefer.

For the sake of this article, I’ll be using thyme and oregano as a guide. You’ll be able to grab herb seed packets from any garden centre, however if these aren’t available I’ve included a link to some online.

2. Planting your Herbs

I would recommend using a small pot for this, no larger than 5 inches diameter when starting out and scaling to adjust once your garden develops. This is also useful for maintaining your herbs, since some more fragile herbs like Thyme may need to be bought indoors during their first winter to fight against frost.

Herbs can easily grow in small spaces and this area will be perfect for growing enough herbs for one kitchen. Pots are also useful as they ensure that the plants have proper filtration, making your time gardening that much easier.

Most herbs will grow fine if first planted in spring and kept inside till the cold has mostly passed.

Soil Conditions

Typically you should pant these in neutral soil, however some herbs like thyme prefer slightly more acidic conditions. To adjust for this, simply use a very diluted mix of lemon water (1:9 parts) and pour that into the soil . In my article for planting strawberries, I discuss other techniques for raising the acidity of soil.

Plant the seeds in shallow soil, simply leave 2 inches form the top of the pot, then sprinkle the seeds and fill the pot with another inch of soil. The soil doesn’t need to be heavily packed as more aerated soil can help slightly with water filtration, although it won’t make too much difference as most herbs like oregano are quite hardy.

3. Growing tips

Herbs will require a decent amount of water to grow. Water them lightly everyday for the best results, as they will be quick to show you what they need. Be sure to look out for signs of under or over watering.

Underwatered plants will turn a light brown and feel crispy to the touch. Overwatered pants will turn a darker brown and feel mushy. A quicker way to spot over watering is through the soil. It should be damp after watering but the soil should not be soaked though and muddy.

You can also use some home techniques to introduce some healthy nutrients to your soil, helping your herbs grow quickly and heartily. Some examples of this are banana water and egg shells. For more information on how to use these techniques, both for your herbs and the rest of your garden, check out my article on natural garden remedies.

4. Harvesting the Herbs

The easiest way to harvest the herbs is using a sharp knife or garden scissors. Each plant will have different timeframes for harvesting but a good measure is once the herb reaches the height and width of your hand. Both Oregano and Thyme are leafy herbs so you will need to harvest and dry the leaves. However, others can derive their flavour from different areas; like the flowers or seeds. Be sure to double check before harvesting.

When harvesting, make sure your cutting equipment is clean and sharp as this reduces the chance of infection. Also, be careful harvesting thyme for the first year as it takes some time to develop and may struggle with the early harvest . Only cut off sprigs around 2/3 down the stems, and be sure to harvest oregano before it starts to flower.

5. Preparing the Herbs

After you’ve gathered your herbs, you can use them fresh or prepare them to be stored in the kitchen. The easiest way to do this is to freeze them. Place the stems into plastic, sealable bags and let the air out as much as possible. Then place the bags into an area of the freezer where they won’t get squished by other objects.

Leafy herbs can be easily crushed and the flavour of herbs is dependent on their oil contents, so keeping them unsquished will preserve the most flavour. It’s that easy! The frozen herbs will last for months and do not need to be thawed before using.

I hope you found this guide useful and begin to grow your own herbs. It’s so rewarding to eat something you put time and care into, even something as small as herbs.