Growing herbs without a garden

Wait a minute? Grow herbs without a garden. I thought the whole point of what you do is to grow a garden. A garden has many different meanings for many different people. Your garden can be indoors or outdoors, large or small, food or flowers or both. Either way, the point is to enjoy your garden and "feed" from it.

Hopefully you have been following my blog posts, especially the last one about how to start a garden for $25 or less. What if you don't have the time, money or space for growing/expanding a garden? You can start an herb garden with $10 and it's easy to do but there are few basic rules to follow.

Rule #1

Pick something you want to grow, eat/cook with and is a perennial. Picking an annual item means you only get a little bit of time with the plant which will likely result in a sad plant that looks like this.

Pick of withering plant

There are multiple herbs that you can grow inside your house in small plants that will add flavor to your foods. From basil, bay, chives, rosemary. oregano...the list goes on an on. You can use these herbs in your soups, stews, salads, salad dressings and proteins. You can also dry these herbs easily to save for using later.

Rule #2

Share with a friend or family.

I'm sure your thinking "how can I share a new my plant with my friend?" I want to introduce you to a word "propogate". It means to create from something existing. By snipping parts of your plant and adding to a cup of water you can create a brand new plant as well as prevent your current plant from growing too big inside or growing out of control.

You can also trade with a friend that grows outside in their garden. Often gardeners plant extra seeds or seedlings in order to make sure they can't lose all their hard work. This results in having more produce than you can keep up with. I have given away plenty of lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc to friends and family even when I did not plant much but the harvest exceeded my expectations.

Rule #3

Buy only 2-3 herbs to manage.

If you haven't grow fresh herbs and used regularly in your cooking, stick to the ones that give you the most for your money.

Here are a few suggestions:

Basil - goes in a multitude of dishes and can easily be propogated over and over by just clipping and transferring to a fresh cup of water. Basil can be used in pesto and frozen in ice cubes or to flavor a beverage like lemonade or tea or dry out and crumble for sprinkling on a finished dish.

Basil plant propogating in sunny window

Oregano - which is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, can be soaked in oil which you can cook with or rub on sore muscles. It is also great with tea to help with respiratory health. Be sure to check with your health professional about the use of oregano oil regularly.

Thyme - works great in drinks, flavor cheeses and bouquets for fresh scent as well. Once started thyme grow quickly. Cutting it regularly prevents it from getting too thin and woody.

Mint in a bowl

Mint - another favorite for beverges, it can also be use in potpourri and for a quick breath freshener. Mint grows quickly and loves to be propagated.

If you do forget about clipping these plants and it flowers, you can collect the seeds to save and start a new plant.

Whatever herb you choose start small and enjoy the "fruits" of your labor!