Herbs are a great group of edible plants to grow whether you're an
experienced gardener or have never grown anything yourself. Herbs are generally
low maintenance and a great edible plant for beginners. Not only do they smell
great, but they are useful. Fresh herbs can enhance the foods you cook while
adding a pleasant aroma to the area you choose to grow them. There are several important factors you should take into consideration when planning your first herb garden
Distance From Kitchen or Cooking
area
The
closer your herb garden is to where you cook, the more often you will go to
your plants to harvest bits for your recipes. If your herbs are located too far from the kitchen the odds are much higher that you will grab some dried herbs from the cabinet or skip the herbs
altogether if you are in the middle of cooking. The more you harvest your the aromatic herbs, the more they will grow and the more familiar you will be with how to efficiently harvest them for cooking.
Space and Design
How
much room do you have for your herb garden? Will it just be one window box or
do you have more room? You may also enjoy a unique design. You can plant your
herbs in regular pots and planters or go for something more interesting, such
as a wall mounted vertical herb garden. Another area to be considered is how the plants will be arranged in the bed. Do you
want to plant the herbs in an orderly fashion or mix all of them together in your planter.
These are the first factors to be considered when planning your kitchen herb garden. In part II we will look at how to decide what plants to grow.
Are you planning a kitchen herb garden? What designs are you considering?
