It’s time to plan your herbal garden!
It’s that time of year when we start thinking about…summer! Here in the northern midwest, I plan my life around the warmer summer months. My head gets filled with all the landscaping updates I want to make, how I will finally successfully haul my laundry outside to dry all season, and how I will NOT let those patio weeds beat me this year. (I also scheme and contemplate how I can work on a computer from a hammock all day, every day, without getting fired… Just me? Ok.)
But with summer comes gardening. Depending on how you feel about gardening, it's either a welcome distraction from the last dregs of winter or yet another thing you feel like you should do, but getting started is overwhelming. I hope it’s the former, but if it’s the latter, I've got you!
P.S. If you’re a seasoned gardener, you’ve probably been planning your garden since February, and don’t need to hear from the likes of me. But if you’re a newer gardener panicking over the decisions to be made, I may be able to offer some help!
Imposter syndrome is a real drag
There is so much fear of doing gardening “wrong”. Almost as tough as calling yourself a “runner” or a “writer,” it seems like calling yourself a “gardener” also requires some serious credentials for some reason, and I am NOT here for it. My friends all consider me a gardener, and for the past 10 years, I’ve mostly just put things in the ground and watched what happened. Not kidding or exaggerating. And, boom! I’m a gardener. So, if a hack like myself can consider myself a gardener, so can you.
Now that we've got the imposter syndrome out of the way…
The easy way to try gardening
If you’re new to gardening and herbalism but want to dip your toe into both, consider putting some herbs you can cook with into some pots. Cilantro, rosemary, thyme, dill, and basil are easy to find and easy to grow. You don’t have to start the herbs from seed to be a “real” gardener either. Pick up a plant at a greenhouse and stick it in a pot. Voila! You are officially a gardener and an herbalist. (If you prefer to try to start plants from seed, go for it! Seeds tend to be cheaper, so you might be saving yourself some money in the long run.)
Then, for the rest of the summer:
Keep the plants well watered. Water them when their top inch of soil is dry, and since they’re in pots, you’ll need to water them almost daily since the pots can’t hold the water as much as a garden plot can.
Put them in the light they want. Lighting details are usually on the tag in the pot you bought the plant in or on the back of the seed packet, but you can always google it if you tend to throw things away before you’re done using them…like me.
That’s it! If the plant dies, you’re out a few bucks, but you’ve learned something. And if it succeeds, well, you have fresh herbs! Way to go! Plus, you can feel like a culinary know-it-all guru when you walk outside with your scissors in hand to “just get some fresh chives for your ranch dressing.” Oh, so you fancy…
And remember that herbs are nutritional powerhouses! Adding fresh herbs to a dish is not only one of the best ways to make sure you’re boosting your health from all the goodness they offer, but the flavor is so fantastic that you’ll wonder how you ever got any flavor from dried herbs.
“Pro” tip: The best thing I have learned about growing herbs in pots instead of open ground is that you can discover at the end of the season which herbs are likely to take over your yard if you don’t keep them contained. The herbs that proliferated in the pot (and all around it), or the ones with roots that are bound up tight are the ones that should be kept contained and not free to roam your garden plot. That way, you don’t have a yard full of mint, for example. Not that I’m speaking from experience. <cough>
That’s about all I have to say. Is this post about all the nitty gritty details about growing herbs in pots? No, but it’s enough to get you started and successful with it. Don’t let decision fatigue wreck this for you! Pick your favorite herb and grow it. Leave the responsibility of planning a whole garden plot for another year if you’re not ready for it. Don’t let that imposter syndrome make you feel like you can’t even start gardening. You can! And if you try this little baby step into gardening, maybe you’ll discover that you want more of it next year, and then you’re on your way!
Photo by Kasia Gajek on Unsplash
