Culinary Herb Garden

Herbs add much more than just aroma to the food, they have the potential to change the flavor and taste of the meals. The use of herbs to season and garnish foods is an ancient practice. And if one finds a varied, even exotic herb at hand, it can be safely attributed to the explorers, and even the cooks who loved experimenting. A culinary garden, as seen in present times was not a garden grown 'behind the house', or given a place at some hidden corner, special spots were dedicated to them in olden times.

Culinary Herbs

These herbs can be used for the preparation of food, either as a spice, a seasoning or as garnish. Not all herbs are edible, and can be used for culinary purposes, some can only be used for medicinal reasons to cure ailments, which you will find in herbal medicines. If it is a culinary garden you plan to design and build, it is necessary to understand each herb's basic growth habits and requirements. There are many herbs one can choose to grow; basil, dill, summer savory, lavender, mint, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, lavender, lemon verbena, chamomile, oregano, basil, cilantro, chives, parsley, sage, saffron, curry leaves, garlic, fennel, etc.

Garden of Culinary Herbs

This garden is a separate location, specifically dedicated to growing herbs only. Some gardeners even mix herb growing with flower and vegetable patches. You can try that or dedicate a piece of land only for herbs. How to grow the garden, depends upon an individual, a carefully studied design, or an informal garden. What needs to be taken in consideration is the growing habits of the plants, to ensure enough space for them.

Location is important, most herbs need at least 6-8 hours of light, partial included. The soil should be fertile, well drained and endowed with organic composting. Herb gardens need to be purely functional. By functional I mean, they should be grown in patches that are easily accessible for watering, weeding, pruning, fertilizing, mulching and controlling pests. A herb garden is not just about growing herbs in the ground soil, one can use pots and containers to manage space better. A raised garden beds plan is also a good alternative.

Experienced gardeners do not advise planting herbs of the same growth habit together, like mint that are invasive plants. Perennial, biennial, or evergreens should be preferably grouped together. Even seasonal herbs, should be planted together so one can use the free space alternately. Cilantro, chives, etc, should be planted in phases, meaning, keep a fortnight's difference between the sowing time of the same herb, this way by the time you are ready to harvest one batch, another is getting ready. The use of row herb planting is very suitable for growing herbs in different batches.

A culinary garden is quite prone to pests, hence pest control is very important. Crop or herb rotation is a good practice that will benefit the soil as well as the herb, don't forget to rest the soil for brief periods between planting. Before you go on and plant these flavorful herbs, a word about its harvesting method, always hand harvest to retain aroma.