Herb Garden after Spring cleanup and partial replanting

My sister asked, “Any tips on how to grow your own parsley and basil? It goes bad so fast when I buy it at the grocery store.”

Both are really easy to grow, even in a partly sunny location. Get a few plants from TJ or your local nursery. It’s the beginning of MAY now, so too cool for the basil yet, but you can put it in a sunny window until the middle of May and then plant it outside in a sunny location or transplant into a larger pot and put in a sunny location. You can do either of those with the parsley now.

Growing herbs is a great way to inexpensively add flavor to your meals. Herbs that you can plant now are tarragon, rosemary, sage, savory, chives, thyme, oregano, mint, lavender and marjoram.  Herbs that you should plant after the danger of frost has past for your region are lemon grass, lemon verbena, basil, cilantro, chervil and dill.

If you aren’t sure which herbs to plant, smell them and plant your favorites.  Rub a leaf between your thumb and forefinger and sniff, if you can’t pick up enough fragrance from the plant itself.

A lot of herbs do not need great, fertile soil either. Check the label on your plant for more details. Thyme, rosemary, and other Mediterranean herbs like lavender will do fine.

Start your garden today!