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Gardening Advice

How To Grow And Handle Fresh Herbs From Your Garden Beds Or Your Container Garden

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In any recipe calling for herbs, use fresh herbs. Preparing the herbs for your dish is easy. The more tender herbs like mint, parsley, basil and cilantro can be gathered in a bowl and snipped with scissors. This is the fastest and safest way to chop the herbs. If your recipe calls for the more hardy herbs like oregano, rosemary, or thyme you should use the stripping method. Hold a branch of the herb upright in your fingers and run the fingers of your other hand down the stalk stripping the tiny leaves free. The flavor will be more intense if you have gathered the herbs from your herb gardens or container gardens because they will be absolutely the freshest herbs available.

The best way to have fresh herbs is to plant and grow them yourself. No longer is there a designated “herb garden”. They can be found in your flower beds, along walkways or in pots on your porch. Many ambitious gardeners are finding new ways to incorporate herbs into their garden beds and their container gardens.

Many gardeners are unaware of the beauty of flowering herbs and never consider planting them within their flower beds. Some herbs that have beautiful flowers are purple coneflower, catmint, bee balm, yarrow, pinks, lavender, pot marigold, borage, feverfew, and nasturtium which is particularly lovely in fresh salads.. Many other herbs, such as parsley are excellent next to flowers of all sorts because of their spectacular foliage. When planting red or blue flowers, place purple basil around them for an artful arrangement.

Another area to consider is to use herbs as ground cover. The herbs that are suitable to this are the low growing oregano, chamomile, woolly and other creeping thyme, mint, and rosemary. Not only will it look pretty but it will be absolutely fragrant. Just be careful of the mint family, they tend to take over everything.

One of the best ways I have grown herbs is in containers. In fact, I like container gardening so much I wrote my eBook “Container Gardening Secrets” (available at ContainerGardeningSecrets.com), so everyone could enjoy this type of gardening. The beauty of a container garden is that it is portable and can be changed at a moment’s whim. When there is no more room in your garden, start a container garden which you can place on your door step or patio. Use them to fill in bare spots that come up during the gardening season or put them on a sunny window sill in your home for easy harvesting. Best of all you can bring your herb containers inside over the winter months and continue to harvest for months to add to your tasty meals or to be used for medicinal purposes.

Another way to employ pots in your garden is to plant invasive herbs such as mint into a pot and then plant pot and all into the ground. This is an easy trick to keep those “creepers” from taking over your garden beds.

Plant a container garden near your door with the cherry pie scented blue flower heliotrope and other fragrant herbs such as rosemary, thyme and basil. Every time you walk by you will be greeted with there delicious scent.

Some herbs that have grown on rocky hillsides over the centuries such as thyme, oregano and lavender are perfect for cracks in flag stone paths or walls and rock gardens. They thrive in hot dry areas with good drainage. Some believe that those herbs grown in these conditions produce much better flavor.

Now is the time to plant your herbs, whether it is in a garden bed, a cracked wall or a container garden. Use your imagination. Consider color height and texture when planting your gardens. Not only will it be visually pleasing but your cooking will improve too!

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

About the Author
Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com, http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com, and http://www.GardeningHerb.com

Gardening Advice

How to Grow a Successful Organic Garden

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On the face of it learning how to grow an organic garden is actually quite easy. The basic rule is to make sure you use 100% organic products. These are products that are chemical and pesticide free.


Most of us have tried growing a garden at one point or another and you’ve probably had mixed success. If it’s not working out you many want to first test the soil to determine how healthy it is and what it’s balance is. You should take a sample of the soil where you intend planting your organic garden. You’ll want to find the best soil possible to plant your organic garden.


Everyone has different reasons for growing a garden, especially an organic garden. Perhaps you want to supplement your family with food that you grow yourself because organic food from the store is quite expensive. Or, perhaps you live in a place that is remote and difficult to get access to good produce so it is easier for you to grow an organic garden. Or perhaps it’s just for fun of it! It can be really satisfying to grow and eat your own organic vegetables.


Whatever your reason might be, an organic garden is the best way for you to go. But, you might be wondering, how do you grow an organic garden and get the best out of it? Of course the type of garden you choose to plant is entirely up to you, but you should plan for your garden just the same.


Making Your Organic Garden a Success


There are actually many ways to grow an organic garden. The only thing that makes it an organic garden is that absolutely no chemicals can be used when it comes to growing the food. You have to use only natural products and this includes fertilizers and bug repellent as well. With the growing popularity of organic produce, it’s easy to find organic fertilizers and bug repellent at your local nursery or plant store.


One of the best things that you can before growing an organic garden is to make sure that you have done your research. First, you should determine the kind of environment that you live in and what things you are going to have to protect your garden against. Then, you will need to know what products you can use to grow an organic garden and the difference in the variety and availability of all-natural products. Finally you should find out what products grow best for your climate and especially in your soil. If you have poor soil, you can still grow good produce in planter boxes, where you have more control over the growing environment.


Time to Plant your Organic Garden


Once you have determined the things you need to be aware of and you’ve figured out what you can do to prevent your garden from having any problems, you are ready to begin. Simply choose the foods that you want to grow and be sure that you are planting them correctly. Follow all of the directions that came with the plant, including it’s sunlight exposure, how deep it should be planted and how much space it needs to grow.


You should choose a place to plant where you have never used chemicals, as chemicals stay in the soil for a long time. It might be necessary for you to bring in top soil to use, especially in poor soil or clay soil areas.


Caring For Your Organic Garden


Regular maintenance is necessary for the best results. Following the directions for your plants and finding out how to look after them are good things to do. Learning how to care for an organic garden is very important. There are many resources available on the internet as well as your local store to help you.


You should weed your garden whenever weeds appear. This will keep the weed down, reduce, (or eliminate), the need for weed killer and help the plants to grow at their best. Regular watering is also needed and regular organic fertilization will help your plants grow big and strong.


Also you should protect the organic garden from run offs and from other chemicals that might be used nearby. Once you have done this, you can feel secure in the fact that you are doing your part to help not only the environment, but your health as well.


Learning how to grow an organic garden is easy, with a few tips your garden will blossom in no time!

Steve Dolan loves to garden and is blessed with green fingers. Take a look at Organic Garden | Organic Vegetables to make the most of your garden. Also visit Home Improvement | Home DIY for home improvement ideas