herbs
- Thread starter peter pepper
- Start date
cheezydemon said:Fresh herbs rock. From Ky or south, seed is OK.
Any farther north, and the season is not long enough.
ALL savory herbs need full sun, or as much as you can get.
Fresh Basil on everything.
Cheezy,
I'm north of that river that divides us. I had no trouble growing basil from seeds last year. But this year, since I want to sell some of it, I'll be sticking plants in the ground. Don't want to wait until the end of July for leaves.
Mike
I am a hugh fan of fresh herbs.....
I grow normal mint (always grow mint in a pot unless you want it all over the garden), and I also grow baby basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, BBQ rosemary, Normal rosemary, lemon thyme, BBQ thyme, sweet marjoram, golden marjoram, Italian parley and lemon balm.
I don't think anyone else mentioned marjoram......I can't understand that...
....It's such a beautiful herb. I use the sweet marjoram in any meal that i want a sweeter hint to and I use the golden marjoram in almost everything.....
I can't recommend sweet marjoram enough....
I grow normal mint (always grow mint in a pot unless you want it all over the garden
), and I also grow baby basil, lemon basil, cinnamon basil, BBQ rosemary, Normal rosemary, lemon thyme, BBQ thyme, sweet marjoram, golden marjoram, Italian parley and lemon balm.I don't think anyone else mentioned marjoram......I can't understand that...
....It's such a beautiful herb. I use the sweet marjoram in any meal that i want a sweeter hint to and I use the golden marjoram in almost everything.....I can't recommend sweet marjoram enough....
moyboy said:I am a hugh fan of fresh herbs.....
I grow normal mint (always grow mint in a pot unless you want it all over the garden
Baby basil? What's that? Is it just a small leaved basil?
I don't think anyone else mentioned marjoram......I can't understand that...
I can't recommend sweet marjoram enough....
I use Italian oregano a lot, which is apparently a cross between marjoram and oregano. It has a much more delicate flavor than the Greek oregano, and I use a lot of it. For some reason, the straight up marjoram doesn't do well in this yard. I can only grow it in containers.
fineexampl said:
That's why you plant fennel, so you can move them from the dill and parsley and still have butterfly magic!
I've had a couple of years where I didn't have enough fennel, and the last few caterpillars on the plant had nothing but nubs to chew. I have to go to the grocery store and buy bunches of organic parsley every other day for the little fellows.
Oh, here's something that will give you a chill. You know how all the big box stores have potted herbs to sell? I have got some before for the caterpillars, and it killed the caterpillars. Even after I washed it, it killed the caterpillars.
Yeah, that stuff they're selling you to eat has poison that doesn't easily wash off on it.
Lol, let me rephrase: It is a toss up for me - seeds take way long, but they work OK here.
If you are north of me and want seed, so be it.
The basil I grew 2 years ago from 3" plants grew to be 4 ft tall.
From seed last year got to be 1.5 ft. You be the judge.
If you are north of me and want seed, so be it.
The basil I grew 2 years ago from 3" plants grew to be 4 ft tall.
From seed last year got to be 1.5 ft. You be the judge.
Txclosetgrower said:I used to mow vacant soldiers housing on Ft. Hood when I worked at this lawn care place, and a few of the yards had mint that had naturalized itself. I love the smell of freshly mowed mint
Yeah, I hit little patches of mint and lemon basil in the summer. It does make mowing smell good.
I like the wild onions for my mowing potpouri.
Pam,
My bad - I thought you were envious that Cheezy's basil got as tall as you!
I can't even imagine a 4' basil "tree." Then again, maybe it's because I top the plants once they get about a foot tall and then top the suckers as they grow.
Do you all do this or just let them grow as a single stalk with only natural suckers growing?
Mike
My bad - I thought you were envious that Cheezy's basil got as tall as you!
I can't even imagine a 4' basil "tree." Then again, maybe it's because I top the plants once they get about a foot tall and then top the suckers as they grow.
Do you all do this or just let them grow as a single stalk with only natural suckers growing?
Mike
Mike, when I say feral basil, I'm not kidding. Pinching it back would be a full time job. There is about a 5 or 6 foot gap between the back of the garden and the fence. Every year I vow to keep it mowed, but then the lemon basil starts sprouting, and I get all dewy-eyed at its boldness, and then suddenly there's a frigging thicket that you can't walk through.
The Italian basil I pinch back and trim, mostly because I'm eating it, so it gets more bushy and less tall. Every now and then I find a feral Italian basil in the middle of the lemon basil, though, and it's generally as tall as the rest.
One year? Cinnamon basil took over a whole corner of the pepper bed. It wasn't as tall as the other basils, prolly 3 to 31/2 feet, and the Corno Di Toro peppers towered about it, so I left it alone.
Basil just loves this yard.
The Italian basil I pinch back and trim, mostly because I'm eating it, so it gets more bushy and less tall. Every now and then I find a feral Italian basil in the middle of the lemon basil, though, and it's generally as tall as the rest.
One year? Cinnamon basil took over a whole corner of the pepper bed. It wasn't as tall as the other basils, prolly 3 to 31/2 feet, and the Corno Di Toro peppers towered about it, so I left it alone.
Basil just loves this yard.
peter pepper said:
you could also try you local farmers market, theres plenty of people selling herb's. I'd just buy them already grown or have ones growing in the garden that live through our winters.
since your location some herbs might not survive your winters being outside in the garden.
- thyme survives our winters & spreads!!! though its tasty but a hassel to deal with IMO.
- rosemary, great taste when fresh!! slow growers buy them already grown IMO. wont handle cold.
- chives, you're best to buy them as plants & then wait a couple years before you'll get any good harvests off them. handles winter well & will spread slowly, though once you have a clump growing you'll have alot of chives! since they regrow quickly!(or you can find them growing wild in your location so no need to buy them)
- sage good if you like it, wont handle cold temps.
- basil, great taste, wont handle cold temps.
- lemongrass, great flavor, buy already grown & wont handle cold temps.
- mint is good too, some can survive our winters & it spreads.
thanks for the info CH - i think you probably get a little colder in Minn than I do here by chicago.
I know my location gets colder than yours, I was just giving some input as to what herbs you can leave outside all year round & not worry about them, or which ones you might want to plant in containers & bring in if you'd like to keep them.
The year the basil got 4 foot, I also had like 15 plants.
So while we were cramming the stuff down our throats at damn near the speed of light,(damn that most delicious of fresh herbs!!) there were 3-4 plants that got by un-topped.
They topped 4 feet, no joke.
They were started indoors, maybe mid march, and planted out early may.
So while we were cramming the stuff down our throats at damn near the speed of light,(damn that most delicious of fresh herbs!!) there were 3-4 plants that got by un-topped.
They topped 4 feet, no joke.
They were started indoors, maybe mid march, and planted out early may.