Three Easy Herbs to Grow in Your GIY Kitchen Garden

Three Easy Herbs to  Grow This Summer

There are several reasons to start growing herbs in your kitchen garden this summer.   Herbs are not too fussy and tend to be really easy to grow.   They can be incorporated into a variety of  culinary dishes so having them on hand is extremely  convenient.   They  are perfect for  gardeners with limited growing space and container gardens. 

While there are numerous herb  to choose for incorporation into your GIY garden, today we are going to look at three easy to grow  plants. 

Parsley is a slow grower and  needs very little sun or care to do very well. If you use a lot of parsley, you may want to have several plants growing so you  will have plenty available for salads,  pestos, soups and more.   This  biannual will overwinter in temperate climates so you will be able to harvest throughout the fall and winter.     Parsley is  a good source of  Parsley is a source of flavonoid, antioxidants,  vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin A.  

Mint & spearmint are both very easy to grow  in the GIY kitchen garden . They are kind of like weeds once they get started which is awesome if you love mint. It is best to grow these plants in a dedicated container or separate bed as  they  will crowd out other herbs if you aren’t careful.  They do need a bit of sun but should mostly be grown in the shade.Both mint and spearmint can be used to make delicious teas.  You can use the leaves straight out of the garden or dry them for  easy storage in the pantry.   Don’t forget to add these herbs to  your homemade ice cream , fruit bowls and even throw couple into your salad for a refreshing  burst of flavor

Oregano  is super easy to grow in a sunny area of the garden.   The GIY  Kitchen gardener will find many great uses for  this  proliferative  herb.  This perinea l garden herb  is perfect for adding to home made  spaghetti sauces, pizza and  many soups or stews.    Try chopping up  a few  leaves and adding it to your biscuit dough  for an amazing breakfast treat!!    Oregano contains vitamins A, C, E, and K, as well as fiber, folate, iron, magnesium, vitamin B6, calcium, and potassium which makes it very healthy as well as delicious.

I have really enjoyed having these three fresh herbs  on hand in the garden.  I never have to run to the store  because I opened the cabinet to find  I have none available.   Also using the fresh herbs is much healthier for my family.   We are getting the full compliment of  nutrients offered by each.  You can too --Get  your GIY Kitchen garden planted to include  these three yummy herbs. 

How to Decide When to Plant Your Veggie Garden

What to Consider Before You Plant

Figuring out when to plant vegetables in your area requires a little detective work. In addition to your geographic location, you’ll need to consider a few other variables, as well. For example, the type of vegetables you plan to grow. Another factor that must be taken into consideration is how you intend to start your garden...will you use seedlings, transplants or seeds? Some seeds must be started weeks before you will actually. plant out your garden, others must be directly planted in the ground.

If you live in an area with distinct seasons, your vegetable growing season will fall loosely between your anticipated frost-free date in the spring and the first hard frost in the fall. Unless you have a crystal ball, it is next to impossible to predict these dates with absolute certainty.

Fortunately, there are some valuable online resources you can check for general guidelines. A quick online search for “frost-free date” + your geographic area should give you a good idea of when it will be safe to plant in your region.

Of course, the published frost-free date for your area doesn’t take into account unexpected late season snow storms or unseasonably cold temperatures. However, if you wait until after the expected frost-free date for your area AND for the daytime soil temperature to reach 65 degrees or warmer, you should be in good shape. If you want to warm up your soil faster, you can cover your planting beds with dark plastic sheets for several weeks prior to planting.

As you develop your garden planting timeline, think of these two important dates as virtual “bookends” around your prime vegetable growing season. However, if you start seeds indoors or protect your plants from cold temperatures with mulch, cold frames, row covers or mini-hoop houses, you can extend your growing season even further.

Don’t Ignore “Days to Maturity” for Your Selected Plants

As you’re deciding when to plant vegetables in your garden, pay close attention the “days to maturity” information noted on the seed packages or plant markers for the vegetables you’ve selected. This number, which is often expressed as a range of days, tells you how long it will take until that plant is ready to harvest.

This is important to know because some vegetables reach maturity much faster than others. For example, radishes, lettuce and baby carrots can be ready for harvest just 30 days after they are sown as seeds. On the other hand, some pumpkin varieties can take a full 120 – 160 days before they reach maturity.

The “days to maturity” for a particular vegetable variety gives you an idea of how early you need to get that plant into the ground if you want it to reach maturity before your first hard frost date.

It also tells you how late in the season you can plant certain crops. For example, you can’t wait until late summer in northern climates to plant pumpkins seeds that require 160 days to mature. On the other hand, you can plant fast-growing lettuce varieties with confidence until 30 days or so before your expected last frost date.  

Learning when to plant vegetables in your area is worth the effort. Knowing when your prime growing season begins and ends – and how you can get the most out of it – will make you a much more successful food gardener. It will help you decide which vegetables to grow and how to help those varieties thrive in your garden. Taking all these factors into consideration will provide  a great start to a prolific growing season which yields many yummy organic vegetables.

What is your projected last frost date this year.   Here in NC we just passed ours which was listed as April 1st -April 10th.  We did have several evenings with very low temperaturs so I was so glad I waited until a few days more to start planting my summer garden.