Creating Your Own Successful Herb Garden

Published by Fortress Publishing

Create your own productive Herb Garden with this comprehensive downloadable guide.

Taking you through the entire process of creating a flourishing herb garden, this book covers all aspects of setting up, which herbs to grow for culinary use or herbal remedies. It tells you how to design your garden for best effect, and covers both indoor and outdoor gardens and much more...

This ebook is supplied in a .ZIP file which can be un-zipped by most computers by double clicking on the ZIP file after download. Otherwise visit WinZip to download this utility.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Why Herbs?

Chapter 2: Which Herbs?

Chapter 3: Design A Garden

Chapter 4: Outdoor Gardening

Chapter 5: Indoor Gardening

Chapter 6: Caring for Herbs

Conclusion

Appendix I - What your Herbs Need

Appendix II - Preparing Herbal Remedies

References

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Chapter 1: Why Herbs? (Extract)

Answering the question why you want to grow herbs inevitably leads to which herbs you grow.

Stop! Before you take the shovel, before you plant a single herb. Stop to consider why you want an herb garden. What are your intentions for planting these marvelous plants?

Are you planning on using them both fresh and dried for culinary purposes -- to add to your meals to enhance the flavors? Are you planning on making flavored oils or vinegars to present to friends and family members as gifts (while keeping a couple stashed for yourself?)

Or have you discovered the many natural health benefits of herbs and would like to grow your own to brew teas, infusions, pastes to use to help your minor health conditions?

Oh, yes, it does matter! First, you may be planting totally different plants if your aim is to embolden your entrees than to empower your health.

But beyond just the uses of herbs, you must at some point decide on a size of your garden. As you travel through this book, I'll show you some lavish designs of herb gardens that consume entire back yards. Perhaps you don't want to start quite that big (can't say that I blame you!).

I'll also show you smaller container gardens grown both indoors or out. And I'll also show you an alternative where you can grow just a few herbs -- keeping them modestly small and manageable and well within reach -- right on your kitchen windowsill.

Whatever you choose, just be prepared to make choices. And it appears plenty of them. Of course, this sounds overwhelming at first. But you arrive at this place knowing your intentions, perhaps well armed with the names of a few herbs hoping to include some of your favorites.

And hopefully, as we travel together -- you and I -- you'll discover a few more herbs you hadn't initially considered. After all that's the true joy of herb gardening -- watching something unexpected spring up.

Culinary herbs.

For many people, this class of herb is the most recognizable and the most useful. Even those who have never used an herbal supplement in their life, know what some fresh basil can do to a meal . . . the difference some oregano can make in spaghetti sauce . . . or how some fresh chives can make a baked potato come to life.

But, then when asked to define a culinary herb, many of us are quite loss. "Why of course, you know what an herb is," you say, trying to back out of reciting a strict definition. Here let me help you out.

Culinary herbs -- sometimes referred to as sweet herbs - are those plants, whether they be annual, biennial or perennial, that have tender roots or ripe seeds. They also possess an aromatic flavor (yes, they smell darned good!) and they have a great flavor.

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If you think that you're among the first generation to discover some of these herbs -- I hate to disappoint you. As long as mankind has been eating, womankind (not to be sexist now though) has been literally spicing up cooking with herbs. Paleontologists have discovered the ancient Egyptians used herbs even before the pharaohs ordered the building of the pyramids.

Similarly, the ancient Chinese naturally turned to the plants in their gardens in order to enhance the flavor and appearance of the meals.

And of course, you need look no further than the Bible to see how herbs were not only used, but actually prized by many. Read through the gospels of Matthew and Luke. You'll find references to tithes paid in herbs like mint, cumin, and other herbs deemed valuable.

Now take a quick look at the Old Testament. More than 700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah talks about sowing and threshing cumin. And since its used in the same reference -- and grown in the same fields as -- barley and wheat, you just take for granted that its used for culinary purposes.

Unfortunately, the use of these specialty herbs have lost the general appeal that have kept the wheat, barley and even rye staples of cooking. And that's a shame.

Perhaps only one herb has really kept its status among cooks as a must-have -- and that's parsley. Today few of us use, or are even aware that such herbs as hyssop, rue or horehound exist, let alone use them daily in our cooking.

And this is a shame. If mankind in general had kept pace seriously cultivating some of these herbs, then the flavors of them could have been remarkably improved throughout history. And would make cooking today even more exciting.

But mankind's loss is your gain. Since some herbs are so difficult to find, growing them yourself is really your only option. And now, you have the wonderfully thrilling chance of growing these in your own back yard -- or even right on your windowsill.

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