So this year my new project is growing herbs, and edible plants that grow well in pots.
Me and Paul don’t have any land that we can garden in, so potted plants is the way we have to go.
So far, we’ve been successful with growing mint…however mint is relatively easy to grow.
Chives easy peasy, and the parsley after being re-potted is starting to take off again.
I got given a sage bush by my mum at xmas, and after re-potting it, it is thriving well.
However I’ve got two rosemary bushes that aren’t doing so great….one is slowly coming back to a bushy bush, the other I think may have died.
SO on an impulse buy I picked up Palmers Herb Growers Handbook by Gillian Painter, and has been rather handy in where to place them, how much water to give them etc.
The other book I picked up is Success with Containers by Stephanie Donaldson and Peter McHoy. – It has lots of tips on types of containers and preparing plants for potting etc.
This is a big step for me, as I don’t really like gardening, but I love the idea of gardens, and having my own fresh herbs is so much better than buying them or using dried all the time. The idea is for me to get used to gardening, so when me and Paul eventually get our own place then I’ll want to garden.
Next plants on the agenda to try growing is:
Lettuce – one of my friends has the small varieties growing in a planter, so that has inspired me.
Strawberries – cause I love them!
Ever lasting spinach – cause my mum told me it’s really easy to grow, and all you have to do is keep picking the leaves and it keeps growing.
Loose leaf lettuces can be grown all year round and you just pick off them what you want at a time. Be warned though – 6 plants gave us 2 side salads in a week. If you’re going for the heading type, theres one called a Tom Thumb that has a nice small 2 person sized head on it – my mother swears by it.
My rosemary is reasonably happy – it did get cut back rather savagely at one point and seems to have loved it. I’ll have to repot it next spring.
My tomatos are done – I had a dwarf variety that grew well in 10l buckets with holes in the bottom.
I’ve planted onion seeds today and am trying spring onions and carrots this winter. I think the carrots would grow well in some of the trough style planter boxes you get from The Warehouse – they wont be big ones, but they’ll be carrots. Apparently radishes go well with them too, but dont let them get too wet.
You’re doing better on the herbs than I am, I couldnt even get basil to grow this season
Have fun! Its rewarding to eat something that you grew yourself