Easy to grow herbs | Lifestyle - messenger-inquirer

Easy to grow herbs | Lifestyle - messenger-inquirer

Add flavor to dips, fruits, vegetables, and entrees with herbs.

A fresh supply of herbs for cooking is available by growing your own in containers, raised beds, in the ground, or indoors. They can be grown in a separate garden or among other landscape plants.

Herbs are plants used for flavoring foods, fragrance, medicinal purposes, and pigments to be used as dyes. They are easy to grow and resist pests and diseases. Most herbs produce best in full sun. Exposure to bright sunlight increases the essential oil concentration and produces a higher quality product.

Many herbs grow well under a wide range of soil conditions with the exception of wet, poorly drained soils. If the garden soil is poorly drained, making a raised bed will improve drainage. Another solution is to grow them in containers filled with potting soil. Garden soil placed in pots does not drain well and may carry disease and insect pests.

In general, herbs do better in soils of low to medium fertility, so additional fertilizer applications are usually not needed. Soils with high fertility tend to produce lots of foliage low in flavor. Keep this in mind when fertilizing them in containers with potting soil. Follow the label on the fertilizer container and monitor the plants.

Growing herbs on a windowsill in potting soil or through a hydropic system provides easy access to them. If bright sunlight is not available, supplemental lighting may be required. A specific light for growing plants or a combination of cool white and warm white fluorescent tubes will work.

Numerous herbs can be grown. Dill, chives, sage, and sweet basil are described in this article. They can be grown indoors too.

Dill (Anethum graveolens) foliage and seeds are used to flavor pickles, vinegars, dips, sauces, garden salads, and potato salad. Dill is an annual that grows 2 to 4 feet tall. The foliage is feathery and blue-green in color. Dill provides a lacy background for smaller herbs in the garden. When in bloom, a flat flower head is formed by many tiny yellow flowers.

Dill can be grown by directly sowing the seed in a well-drained soil. Full sun is best. Transplanting dill is very difficult. After the seedlings emerge from the soil, thin them to one plant every 8 to 10 inches. Dill can become weedy, because seeds that fall from the plant will emerge the next year.

Dill foliage can be harvested anytime. The seeds are harvested just as they ripen to a light brown color.

Chive (Allium schoenoprasum) is a perennial plant belonging to the onion family. Chive leaves add a mild onion-like flavor to dips, soups, salads, casseroles, and most vegetables. The small bulbous plants grow in clumps and produce 8- to 12-inch long leaves that are narrow, hollow, and somewhat grass-like. In May, the plants produce small, attractive lavender flowers.

Chive plants are started from bulbs, similar to onion sets, or from seed. You can divide clumps in early spring, keeping five to six bulblets for each new start. Chives grow prolifically and spread rapidly.

Cut the fresh leaves of chives as needed during the growing season. A few clumps from outside can be potted in late fall and kept indoors on a sunny windowsill, so the fresh leaves are available through the winter.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is an aromatic and slightly bitter herb noted for its use in flavoring poultry stuffing, pork, and fish. Sage is a shrubby perennial with one-inch oblong, wooly, wrinkled, gray-green leaves. The plant grows to a height of 2 feet and has a tendency to sprawl, unless it is kept trimmed. Lilac blue flower spikes appear in June.

Sage should be planted in full sun and a moderately rich, well-drained soil when growing in the garden. Plants can be started from seeds, stem cuttings, or from crown divisions. Transplants should be spaced 18 to 24 inches apart. Harvest the leaves before the plants bloom. Leaves of sage can be used dry or fresh.

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) is an easy annual herb to grow from seed. It is used to flavor soups, vegetables, and tomato dishes. The leaves should be harvested before the plant blooms. Leaves are glossy green in color. They can be used fresh, frozen, or dried.

Depending on the cultivar, the plant height ranges from 24 to 36 inches tall. Sweet basil planted in containers outside your door makes it easily accessible. It also makes a nice addition to the flower border or flower garden. The flower color is white or lavender, depending on the cultivar. However, the flower is not important when using the leaves for seasoning. The flower stalks should be removed as they form to encourage the growth of more leaves.

Herbs are fun to grow. For more information about growing herbs, contact the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service at 270-685-8480. A publication on “Culinary Herbs” is available at http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/ho/ho74/ho74.pdf or at an Extension office.

Annette’s Tip

To get ready for fruit tree maintenance, remember that February is a good time to fertilize, if needed. It is also a good time to fertilize small fruits, except for strawberries, based on soil test results.

Upcoming Event

“Getting the Most from Your Vegetable Garden: Including Raised Beds” is scheduled for Jan. 23 at 1:30 p.m., and repeated at 5:30 p.m., at the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Service Office. Planting schedules, season extension tools, and disease and insect management will be discussed.

Annette Meyer Heisdorffer is the Daviess County extension agent for horticulture. Her column runs weekly on the Home & Garden page in Lifestyle. Email her at annette.heisdorffer@uky.edu.

2020-01-19 06:00:00Z
https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/features/lifestyle/easy-to-grow-herbs/article_58a3dc57-dfc0-5398-b935-d93e2645ac53.html

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