herbs

Hi everyone, do any of you grow herbs? Inside the house or out? I love cooking and am learning to use different things for flavoring so naturally, the next step is to grow my own. Since you all are so knowledgeable, I thought I should ask you first. Any advice is welcome! Thanks, Cathy4

I currently have parsley outside that I got from work. I wanted more plants for the area I put them in plus there were swallowtail catepillars on there. I need to harvest some of it now and use it in spagetti.

Italian food is one I'd like to try fresh herbs, so I'll put parsley on my list with basil and oregano. Hadn't thought of it. Tks!

Pepper----Harvest what.??!!!!!; and put into spagetti !!!!!;the catapillars are the parsley or both. I suppose those unusual noodles in the spagetti to provide a different sort flavor huh.

Note to people planning on going to meet up in St Louis. Taste this and that carefully. You never know. There might even be a gator are something of that sort in the pot luck.

Hi Everyone, just checking in really quick.. Cathy I grow 2 pots of mixed herbs, the above mentioned plus some chives and one other one I can't remember. They are fun and flavorful and I the pots stay on the deck year round. They area the first to be green in spring and the last to die back in fall. Keep yer eye on Oz' and his lovely wife at the St. Louis RU, just never know what's under the lid of their covered dish! ;)

He might decide to bring eyeballs this time. :~p

I harvest the parsley. I would rather not try catepillars thank you very much. lol. I try alot of things at work cause we have lots of unusual plants which have unusual fruits for us to try. Some are good. Jujube is one of them. Never heard of it til last year. It is part of our Heartland Harvest Garden.

Seeee folks we might be having Strange fruits. I TLOD YOU SO.

LOL. Ever had oriental persimmons? We are growing them at work too. In fact the only thing that Barb cannot get to grow no matter how hard she tries is Almonds. But the Hort director wants to grow those. lol. She has tried and failed 3 times.

I have been trying to wrack my poor little brain about where I got my artemesia and some other stuff a year or two ago and it finally poked it's way out. Well-Sweep Herb Farm is a great resource to both learn about and purchase herbs. Their catalog is fantastic as it has an incredible variety and is very descriptive about what different herbs are used for. Even if you choose never to order from them the catalog is worth having just to plan things out. I am not affiliated with them in any way, just wanted to pass along a resource for you.

My own gardens are kind of a jumble of this and that and next year I want to bring a little order to the chaos and have an actual herb bed. I am going to order their catalog this year to browse through this winter.

thanks tetley, i'll look for them.

Those gardens that are full of chaos are the best ones.

Well you would not like mine pepper. Mine is pretty orderaly.

Orderly is good too.

Hi, Cathy!

I've only been growing herbs for about 3 years now, but have fallen in love with them. Partly because they thrive in the poor clay soil here, they've been easy to grow for me (and I am no expert by any means!) My favorites are my lavenders and creeping thymes. I bought what was supposed to be a Greek oregano but it has trailing pink flowers and spreads, not sure what it is exactly (??) But it is easily controlled, very pretty and the honeybees love it.

I had bought a new rosemary (usually not hardy in this zone) each year, but last year's plant survived the winter and is perking up. Just this year I have started seeds indoors for basil, chives, and parsley in a planter together.

I enjoy the lavender in tea and have cooked with the lemon thyme & rosemary. I have a pot of mojito mint I grew from a cutting given to me from my mother, kept it indoors over the winter, but will eventually plant it outside once I decide where to let it roam. Most of my herbs are planted right under the living room picture window and it always smells so good right after a summer rain!

Does anyone grow German chamomile? I am interested in it also, but know little about it.

Thanks!

Nicole

My husband and I have been growing herbs a number of years. We plant Genovese basil, dill, garlic, German chamomile (self seeds), and parsley every year. Lavender for me has been spotty. Some years the lavender gets killed off in our area. We also have a sage plant but don’t seem to use it much.

Since we live near a green belt we also have to fence some of the items from the deer, rabbits, and woodchucks. The parsley seems to be a favorite for the wild life.

This year we bought a living wall to see if we can grow the parsley in it and have it out of the wildlife eating range. We are hoping this will work and that we will actually get to eat some of the parsley.

Thanks for the responses!

I've noticed that a lot of the herbs have instructions to plant in well-drained soil. If I'm growing them indoors in containers, should I maybe mix a little cactus growing mix into the potting soil? What's the best way to do this indoors without their feet getting too wet?