Best 7 Herbs to Have Growing!

December 30, 2022

Having fresh herbs available from your garden, backyard, courtyard or even window sill, allow you to enhance every meal you make as well as providing many health benefits and environmental savings. The best things with herbs you dont need a big backyard or patch to grow, herbs can be easily grown in pots and containers.

Even city dwellers, can benefit from growing their own fresh herbs. Not only does provide you with fresh herbs, it will impress your friends and perhaps encourage them to also grow their own. The more you can grow yourself, the more health benefits you will receive from fresh harvests, so here at YourVegePatch we encourage everyone to grow at least something.

The right herb can also enhance your flower gardens. Parsley makes a great border providing a bright green outline for your flowers to really shine. Chives provide a great contrast with their purple flowers and striking stalks. But the best thing about herbs is eating them.

Chives

Chives are great for salads, meat, chees and potato dishes. They can be used on anything and the purple flowers are edible so can also be added to dishes to colour and make a great addition to salads or garnish any meal.

Chives are easy to grow, they like well drained soil in sunny positions. When planting seeds, cover with 4mm of soil and transplant at 6cm to garden or pot position.

Basil

Basil is the perfect companion with any tomato based dishes, whether pasta, pizza, or seafood, basil works well to enhance their flavours.

Basil is very easy to grow from seed but in the heat of summer will bolt to flower quickly. The best thing is you can harvest the leaves and dry them and keep them for all year round flavour.

While their are young and growing just pick the basil leaves as you need and when close to flowering pick the lot unless you want to collect the seeds as the basil can start to turn a little sour and not provide as sweet taste to your dishes.

Dill

Dill has a unique flavour and goes extremely well with seafood and salads. Dill is also used widely in dips and canapes for its unique fresh taste. Dill is a feathery green plant that grows to approx. 3 to 4 feet tall. The leaves can be harvested as they grow.

Once the plant reaches maturity it produces the flowers which the dill seed forms from. When the flower has died back, you can harvest the seed and collect to grow during the next season. Dill is grown during the cooler months so seed should be propagated during late summer and early autumn to get maximum harvest.

Parsley

Parsley is such a bountiful herb that acts as a companion plant to many others growing in you garden. Parsley can be used as a border for your flower garden, or if you live in a townhouse or unit, parsley can also easily be grown in pots so you can have access to fresh parsley. Parsley can be used in every meal, whether a leafy branch as garnish, or chopped up and added to your salads, meals, breakfasts ... parsley can honestly be added to everything you eat, giving you extra greens and great taste. Curley leaf parsley can stay growing several months providing long lasting supply of fresh tasty leaves. Just harvest as you need or before flowering, let the plant flower to generate the seed and collect the seeds for future sowing.

Oregano

Oregano is a fabulous long lasting herb that will continue for many years in the right conditions. Oregano can even be grown in pots so suitable for those that live in units and rentals as you can grow this plant and if in pot take with you everywhere you go. Oregano is great with meat, pizzas, pastas and vegetarian dishes. Just harvest the leaves as you need and it will continue to grow if you provide it the water and nutrients it needs. Oregano prefers semi shaded areas as the hot sun becomes too harsh during the summer months.

Thyme

Thyme, if only we had more. Thyme like oregano is a long lasting herb that can provide long lasting harvests and uses in meat, roasts, pastas and many other dishes. Thyme is a pretty little plant that can be grown both in the garden and in pots, it likes a sunny position with well drained soil and to keep it thriving regularly mulching and manure helps keep your thyme thriving.

Sage

Native to southern Europe, this herb is grown in many kitchen gardens around the globe. It is found in dry and stony places, often with limey, alkaline soil, though it can thrive in a range of different soils and settings.

If you have heavy clay soil, or soil that is acidic in nature, you will do best to amend the soil, or grow sage in containers where you live. But as long as your soil or growing medium is well-drained, sage will do very well with very little effort on your part. Sage is a great companion with chicken and other poultry dishes.

No matter what herbs you have growing in your garden its important to try and grow as many as you can. As you can see most of these herbs can be grown in pots so even if you don't have the luxury of your own backyard or garden, grown your herbs in pots, provide them semi shade and sun and you will be able to take advantage of these herbs into your cooking and add flavour that no packaged or dried herbs can ever add. Fresh is best!

Herbs can easily be grown from seed, so shop now and buy your organic and heirloom herb seeds today.

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