Growing Your Herbs from Seeds
When I was child, I can remember sitting with my grandmother, flipping through the seed catalog, looking for the best tomatoes, cucumbers and corn. It seemed like her whole garden was from that catalog. Now don’t mind me, but in today’s world you just can’t grow all your herbs from seeds, unless you want to wait forever for them to do anything.
Some herb plants are better than others for germinating from seeds. Take the dill herb, for example, it grows like a weed and matures quickly too. It can grow pretty much anywhere. On the other hand, you will already be in herb gardener retirement when your thyme herb finally matures. You can cultivate most annuals from seeds and some perennials too. Since perennials keep coming back every year, they are real values for your budget.
I would rather not to start my perennial plants in a seed tray or in a regular herb garden bed; instead, I use a pot. They take some time to get going, so it is important that they have room to grow and not face competition from other herbs or even weeds. Most herb plants will begin to sprout within 3 or four weeks.
Depending on the climate where you live, you may be able to plant both your annual herbs and perennial herb plants at the same time, any time of the year. If you live in a colder climate, plant your annuals in the spring, summer or fall—all will work.
If you’re going to raise from seeds, you cannot miss with these:
- Anise: Also known as the hyssop, the anise herb has a nice licorice scent and has almost iridescent purple, green and blue notched leaves and spiked flowers of blue and purple. Most people use anise as a flavoring in many dinners and in teas. You can also add it to your potpourri. Begin these indoors in a small terra cotta pots at least six to 8 weeks before you plan to move this perennial outdoors.
- Caraway: The interesting looking caraway plant, which has a nutty, licorice taste that is just as interesting, is used in liqueurs, but also in sauerkraut, split pea soup and even goulash. The most often used part of the caraway is the seed, but the root is also edible. You can start your biennials inside as early as 6 weeks before the last frost, especially if you want to shorten the time you have to wait before you see the first flower.
- Coneflower: This easy-care perennial can be a great addition to your herb garden. Most folks think of it as a wildflower, but because of its healing qualities, it fits squarely in the herb camp. The healing name for the coneflower is Echinacea, which will hold your allergies in check and keep your immune system strong.
It can take about 6 weeks for your herb plants to sprout, get hardy and be ready to go outdoors in either pots or beds. This is especially helpful if you live in cold-weather climates—it’ll give you a jumpstart on the growing season.
Perennials do really well in warm locations. If you live in a warm climate, you can start them anytime.
Sowing seeds for your annuals is pretty easy. Just break up the ground a little and sprinkle the seeds on that place and cover lightly with earth. Most of your basic annuals can sow their own seeds if the growing season is nice and you’ll be off the hook for that.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Herb Garden Kits. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
