Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Kitchen Garden Herbs

Where would a gardener be without a kitchen herb garden?  I would be lost without mine as I use fresh herbs in my cooking every single day.


Even during the dead of winter, I have herbs on my back patio.  These are usually the hardiest herbs:  thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and maybe a few chives.  But come the spring, it's time to rejuvenate the herbs and plant fresh seasonal ones.  Usually all I do to revive my herbs is add fresh compost to the pot; mix it into the existing dirt and water well.  That's pretty much all it takes to revive the herbs.  That mixed with warm spring sunshine and before you know it, the herbs are growing strong and standing tall.  Here's what I have on my back patio right now:



Lemon thyme

Lemon thyme


Old thyme plant that comes back every year.  I bet this plant is 6 or 7 years old.  It looks kind of trashy now, but it comes back full and lush in just a couple of months.

An old sage plant that I thought was dead till I looked closely and saw this brand new growth. I love it when that happens!

New sage plant


New rosemary plant, although my old one is still alive and producing well.  


An old bay leaf plant that got some frost damage, but a little pruning does wonders in bringing it back to life.


Another old plant~~my chives.  Again, I bet this plant is at least 5 or 6 years old.  And it comes back every year without fail.  


My old peppermint plant.  You just can't kill this baby!


And these are two old parsley plants and they, too, come back every year.  My problem with parsley is that the plant can't keep up with how much I use it.  I use *a lot* of parsley! 

Additionally, I planted a full pot of sweet Genovese basil and a full pot of purple ruffled basil...I mean, where or where would an herb garden be without sweet basil?!  :) This is also one of my favorite times of the season...when I can pick fresh basil again!  It's like going all winter without fresh tomatoes and NO basil.  It's torture, but oh so sweet when the spring and summer finally produce these two quintessential summer staples.

It really doesn't take a lot of effort or time to grow a kitchen herb garden.  And the rules (if you want to call them that) are simple:  grow what you like to eat! 

9 comments:

  1. I posted a comment earlier , I don't know if it posted. I 'm not a master gardener, so my question is about Lemon thyme. Will it come back in my zone 5 garden? I'm in illinois so we still have winter, just curious.

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  2. Hi Roberta! I'm not sure you're last comment posted. I went back to try and find you, but wasn't able to. Anyway, I don't think Lemon thyme will come back in your area. You get some pretty hard freezes in Illinois. But if you protect it with mulch and cover with with a frost blanket, you might just try reviving it in the spring with a little mulch, water and sun. It's worth the try! Let me know when you get this, K? Thank you for visiting me!

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  3. It is great how many have come back! I am going to work in my kitchen garden today and this is great inspiration!

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  4. Hi Kelsey! Yes, I'm very happy with how well my herbs are doing. Thank you for stopping by. I visited your blog...very cool...and your children are beautiful! It's always nice to hook up with another Texas gardener!

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  5. I grow some of my herbs in pots, too, for easy access. One I'd like to add to my collection this year is lemon grass. I need to replace my oregano because my African Blue Basil became a monster and "ate" my oregano last year. Those herbs...got to keep an eye on them. Yes, always best to plant extra parsley -- some for you and some for the swallowtail caterpillars :-)

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  6. I am also a gardener growing herbs in pots. Easy access and I can keep an eye on them too. Plus they smell so good indoors or out on the stoop in summer.

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  7. I live in Massachusetts. I have an indoor herb pot with lemon thyme, basil. My basil has lasted all winter and doing wonderful. However, my lemon thyme dried out in early December. So I cut in back about 1/2 inch from the soil. Will it come back this spring? Last summer was my first time gardening indoors and out.

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  8. It might, depending on how cold your winter was and how long it froze. My take on this is just cut it back, protect it, continue to water it occasionally and what spring brings! :)

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