Herbs, The Secret Ingredient

By Jos Van Hage

For thousands of years, herbs have been used for their scent, taste and medicinal properties. They are widely used in the kitchen and over the past few years fresh herbs have become very popular because of their taste.

There are herbs that grow quite well in our area outdoors over the summer months and many gardeners enjoy growing herb gardens. Some of the smaller sized herbs grow very well in containers and can be brought indoors over the winter months and grown successfully if cared for properly.

You need to place herb planters in a well lit area of the home where they will receive at least 6 hours of good light each day so a south facing window is ideal. Always use a high quality all purpose potting soil as this is the foundation for any plants roots. Feeding herb plants with an all balanced fertilizer such as 20-20-20 is very important for healthy growth because in turn it is the growth that you will be harvesting.

 Giving the plant sufficient moisture but not over watering is important for a healthy plant. Only water when the top layer of soil is dry to the hands touch and then water thoroughly with room temperature water discarding any excess water after 15 minutes.

Over the spring and summer months there is a large assortment of herb plants available at the garden centers. This time of year however, there are only seeds available and these can be planted up and grown indoors over the winter months.

Some herbs that grow well are the different varieties of basil as these are grown as houseplants and are not too large.

Chives  grow well if placed in a large pot and these can be placed outdoors over  the summer months and brought indoors over the winter. They can also be  planted outdoors in the summer and left outside over the winter as they are a perennial.

Coriander or Cilantro grow well indoors as they can be  harvested when they are 4 inches tall and only grow up to 18-24 inches tall.

If you want to grow dill use the fern leaf dill as this variety  grows only 18 inches tall which is better than the 5 foot common dill. 

Other herbs that grow well indoors are the sweet and common marjoram’s, oregano, tarragon, and winter savory.

Probably the most popular of all  herbs is parsley and the best two types to grow indoors are the ’Champion Moss Curled’ and the ’Single Hardy Italian’ varieties.

The ’Bay Tree’ and  ’Rosemary’ herbs grow very well in pots and do well sitting on the window 

Growing herbs indoors is a nice way to enjoy year round gardening if you have the right conditions.

-Jos

Jos Van Hage owns two  Art Knapp Garden Centres in Prince George

• Highway 97 North at Aberdeen
• Highway 16 West across from the Bon Voyage Plaza
  
     

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