Organic Gardener

Perfect Timing...Growing Organic Herbs

Author: Pat Leuchtman

Summertime is the perfect time to set up a windowsill garden of herbs that will carry you and your culinary ambitions and adventures all through the year.

Garden and gift centers often sell kits for an herbal windowsill garden, but I recommend that you ignore the cute little pots and labels and walk to the flowerpot and soil-less mix section.

Your plants don't need cute. They need pots big enough to hold sufficient soil for a good clump of each herb. I suggest a pot that is at least 6 inches across. Plastic pots are not considered elegant, but they will hold moisture longer. Terra cotta pots dry out more quickly.

Think of the herbs used most often in cooking. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme according to the song. Three of those four, sage, rosemary and thyme, are perennial herbs can be bought as small plants and repotted. You might even have a friend with a thyme patch who will give you a rooted piece to pot up.

Rosemary will grow into quite a good sized plant and you will need to put it into a larger pot every year or two. It is important to remember that even though rosemary is a Mediterranean plant, in our warm, dry American houses it will need to be kept watered. Parsley can be started from seed any time of the year. Just remember it takes a long time to germinate, as long as three weeks.

What else? Chives give a nice oniony flavor and as a garnish they add a little color. Chives are another perennial herb you can buy as a small plant, or start from seed. If it blooms, the globular lavender flowers can be used as a garnish in salad.

Think about the particular cuisine that you favor and what it requires. Pesto has become a great favorite with everyone and fresh basil is almost impossible to find in mid-winter. Basil, an annual herb, is easily started from seed. You might need to start two staggered crops to get you through the winter, starting one in late summer and one in January.

When potting plants use a soil-less mix combined with finished compost. Dampen this mix before you start planting. Instead of 'crocking' the pot with broken shards, I've found that three or four layers of newspaper in the bottom are sufficient to keep your mix from washing out.

Fill the pot so that about an inch of space is left at the top to give you room for watering. If using a plant, make sure the plant is settled in, maintaining that watering space. The same is true of planting a seed.

To thrive your plants need a sunny window, regular watering, and occasional fertilizing with fish emulsion or liquid seaweed in the directed solution.

Start your pots outside while the weather is still fine and bring them indoors when September or October brings cool weather. Let the harvest begin!

Help us to spread the word:

Pat Leuchtman

Pat has been gardening for 40 years and writing about gardens and gardeners almost as long. Her weekly column, Between the Rows, has been carried in The Recorder (Greenfield, Mass) since 1981.
Read more about Pat.

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