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Vegetable Gardening

3 Best Herbs to Grow in Home Garden

Introduction

Growing herbs is my hobby. There is always dedicated space available in my home garden for growing herbs. In addition to this, there are several herbs that I grow in Mason jar indoors. This is the beauty of growing herbs that they can be cultivated anywhere in open garden, patio, balcony garden in small or large container and pots. So today, I am going to answer two of the biggest question I received frequently from my readers that are; ‘how to grow herbs’ and ‘what are the best herbs to grow’.

Believe me, these two questions seems easy, however when you are faced in practical with these two questions, factor like confusion and confidence occupies the mind that increases the chances of failure. So in this article, I will try to discuss how to grow herbs and the best herbs to grow at home simultaneously to save my reader’s time resource.

Before listing best herbs to grow, I like to highlight the importance of growing herbs, especially for the beginners. Growing herbs at home not only saves few bucks, but also it fulfills your hobby and add flavors to the food cooked. Freshly picked herbs, grown in backyard or pots, add more flavor than the dried ones. Plus, growing herbs at home provides you with the option to add them immediately in daily food items such as soups, salads and stews.

List of Best Herbs to Grow at Home

Before discussing how to grow herbs, let me introduce you with top 3 best herbs to grow at home. These are;

  1. Rosemary
  2. Parsley
  3. Basil

There are several other herbs that can take space in my list of best herbs to grow. However, the above 3 herbs are easy to grow in home garden and for beginners; these herbs provide the learning experience. In addition to this, these 3 herbs can be grown in small places and indoors too. Regarding these herbs, let us now discuss the procedure of how to grow herbs.

Rosemary

Rosemary takes top place in my list of best herbs to be grown in home garden. This is because of its dual property of being used as a food item as well as a pest repellent at homes.  It has powerful property of curing indigestion, bad breath and pain. It is equally beneficial for hairs when use as oil.

Rosemary can also be grown in indoors from seeds. However, I suggest to grow Rosemary from clippings instead of seeds, as germination rate of seeds is low in case of this herb. Below table will help understanding the pre-requisites of growing rosemary at home.

Germination 15-22 days
Light requirements Abundant sunlight or full sun
Soil requirements Well drained soil and light in texture
pH of Soil 6-7
Fertilizer requirement Compost is preferred at the time sowing seed or transplanting. Then again add at the time of next season spring when new signs of growth are visible.
Plant Height Around 60 inch
Spacing between the Plants 22-36 inches
Ready for First Harvest 10-14 weeks.

 

Parsley

In list of best herbs to grow in home garden, Parsley gets the second place. Again it is a great indoor herb that can be grown in pots and containers. From medical perspective, Parsley has great power to act as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Thus this makes it a good herb for digestion and detoxification purposes at home. Pregnant women should avoid using Parsley due to its property of inducing uterine contractions that may lead to miscarriage.

It should be grown using the seeds. Once it reaches at the transplantation stage, pick it and transplant in wider spaces. Use mulch to keep optimum moisture. To get healthy foliage, cut the plant down to stem during early fall.

It should be noted during second year of planting; Parsley bear flower and thus become unfit for consumption. You have the option to let it bloom and use the seeds at the end of the season to replant in next season.

Parsley is a good herb to be used in food items like tabbouleh, pesto and salad dressing. Below table will answer further regarding how to grow herbs of Parsley.

Germination 15-28 days
Light requirements Partly Shaded and Sun
Soil requirements Moist and Rich Soil
pH of Soil 5.5 to 6.7
Fertilizer requirement Compost is preferred at the time of planting. Then add high- nitrogen every few weeks.
Plant Height Around 18 inches
Spacing between the Plants 10-15 inches
Ready for First Harvest Within 10 weeks.

 

Basil

Basil herb is famous all around the globe. Thus it is also included in my list of best herbs to grow in home garden. Basil is known for its intense clove-like aroma and anise-like flavor. It is used both as fresh and dried herb in cooking.

From medical perspective, it is used as anti-arthritic, deodorizer, anti-inflammatory, topical antioxidant and also insect repellent. It is rich in Vitamins like A, K and C. In addition to this, it also provides body with Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Potassium.

Basil can be grown from seeds indoors. The seed should be planted in early spring to get optimum seed germination rate. After 2 weeks, transplants are ready to be transplanted outdoors. To get best production of leaves, it should be ensured that flowers to be removed from the stalks.

Germination 4-8 days
Light requirements Good performance in hot climate with full sun during morning while shade in afternoon
Soil requirements Moist, Rich and well-drained soil
pH of Soil 6-7
Fertilizer requirement Add compost during transplantation stage. Then
high-nitrogen with the ratio of 2:1:1 every two weeks thereafter
Plant Height 20-30 inches
Spacing between the Plants 10-20 inches
Ready for First Harvest

Within 10 weeks.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2017, October 26). 3 Best Herbs to Grow in Home Garden [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2017/10/26/best-herbs-to-grow/[/box]

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