Herb gardening is certainly a pleasant and enjoyable hobby that can be financially rewarding as well.
For example one perhaps could grow and sell starter herb plants or perhaps supply restaurants in your area with fresh harvested herbs or seeds to be used in the flavoring of many choice menu selections.
Now that you have decided to plant an herb garden it is important to take the following steps for best results:
Probably for your first starter garden we suggest that you select a sunny site and plan on tilling an area no larger than five feet wide by up to twenty feet in length.
Have the soil tested by your local university or even better a private lab. Be sure to inform the lab of what you are going to be growing. Please do not list just herbs but rather list them by variety which will enable the technician to list the various corrections if any that you will need to make to your soil.
Till or work the soil to at least a depth of twelve inches.
Add peat moss and compost if possible. I like to use my mower in the fall to shred leaves and then empty them from the mowers bag into the planting bed. Fallen tree leaves serve as an excellent soil builder. Some leaves such as those from the oak family will be acidic by nature and others like those from elms may tend to be alkaline. The good news here is that you can alter your p.h. to some extent by using the proper form of foliage.
Don’t rush the project as the soil building process may take several seasons.
You must provide good drainage for your herb crop and a raised bed provides part of the answer. Consider using a good liquid soil conditioner each year and the best one on the market is Turf2Max. This product will help to improve drainage, reduce the amount of irrigation required by your plants and make soil nutrients readily available.
Having long since decided on what varieties that you will be growing it’s time to purchase your selections in either the form of seeds or plants. Some varieties are quite easy to grow from seed and far less expensive than plants but some herbs are difficult to germinate from seed and therefore you would be better off purchasing plants.
Check the cultural requirements for each of your herbs and follow the instructions as closely as possible for best results.
Most of all enjoy your new herb garden and you will find that success is not at all complicated.
