Fresh Herbs are as Easy as 1,2,3…

When my parent’s came to visit, little did they know, I had a mental list of things I wanted to get accomplished while they were here.  Have you ever done that?

Don’t worry, it wasn’t all work.  We spent one afternoon relaxing around the house, one afternoon shopping all of the antique stores in town, and a couple days in Santa, Fe (you can read more of that post here).  That left a just enough time to fit in a couple of projects around the house.

The first project on my list was for mom to help me plant two container gardens full of fresh herbs in our backyard.

When Alfred and I first moved to Clovis we ate out all of the time. I really didn’t know how to cook, but over the past three years I have learned how to cook and find myself cooking more and more.  Now, I really prefer a good home cooked meal to eating out.

Recently, I have even started making my own chicken stock.  I was so proud one morning when I woke up to the smell of it cooking in the crockpot, it had cooked all night.  I couldn’t believe that I was on my third batch of homemade stock in three weeks, our freezer is full of it.   For a really easy whole chicken crockpot recipe and crockpot chicken stock, visit here.  (I promise this is not turning into a food blog.)

When I cook, I love to use fresh herbs, but find they are really expensive when you buy them from the grocery store.  I was hoping my mom would help me plant some fresh herbs while she was here.  I seriously have a black thumb.

It was a simple process…here are 10 Easy Steps to starting an Herb Container Garden.

1. Choose your herbs.

We decided to plant basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, chives and dill.

2. Pick a nice large container, or two. 

Mom and I decided to use two containers.  We divided the herbs, placing four in each pot.

3.  Fill the pot with potting soil.

We used a combination of potting soil, and mulch, filling the containers almost to the top.  We left enough room at the top so the water would not spill over when watered.

4. Choose the number and combination of herbs for your pots and arrange them.

In the first pot on the left we combined rosemary, chives, dill and thyme.  In the second pot, we paired the remaining herbs basil, parsley, oregano and cilantro.

5. Break up the Roots a little bit with your hands

6./7. Plant

Mom planted the first container, I planted the second.

In the first container, we did not remove the cardboard casing around the herbs, it is optional, we did remove it with the second container.  I have noticed the herbs in the second container are growing a lot faster than the one’s in the first. Coincidence, maybe?

8/9. We topped the container off with a thin layer of mulch to keep in moisture in our hot, dry climate.

10.  Water and Enjoy!

I really enjoy walking out to my little container garden in the evening to pick herbs for dinner.  The night before last, I was able to garnish our pasta with fresh basil and last night I added fresh cilantro to our Chicken curry dish.  There is nothing better than a meal prepared with fresh herbs.

Now I just hope I can remember to water everday…

While mom and I were hard at work planting the herb gardens, dad was working hard too…

He planted a new boxwood in the backyard and helped mom and me re-plant a rosemary bush.

It was a beautiful day outside.  I really enjoyed having my parent’s here to play around in the backyard with me.

Have you been working outside recently?