Anyone grow their own Food herbs?

[hyphen]

Started to take cooking more seriously, and so looked at the potted herb plants down the supermarket. Picked up a Basil plant and a Chive plant.Currently just sat in their existing pots on a window sill with a saucer underneath. Basil pot is quite water hungry and watering from below, Chive less.

Great to grab some leaves or cut some chive off so will be doing it long term but now need to fall down the rabbit hole of all the other herbs and long term planting in containers or in the garden once weather is better

Anyone been doing this long term? what's your setup/tips.

Also I have a Bay tree in the garden, is it fine to use the leaves?

[Shaw Tarse]

For basil https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/basi...

[Mercdriver]

We grow all our herbs in large pots at kitchen door, easily accessible.

Buy in supermarket as fresh herbs and get home and immediately pot into large pot. Cheaper than buying herb plants from gardening shop.

Repot every so often to refresh compost and give fertiliser in spring.

Move them into frost free garage during winter

[hairy v]

Yes you can use your bay leaves.

We also have pots by the kitchen door - rosemary, parsley and mint all grow very well.

[spikeyhead]

In the garden we have rosemary, bay, chives, oregano, tarragon, bergamot and assorted others.

[21TonyK]

No tips here, useless gardener. But bay, sage, rosemary and oregano seem to just "grow" whatever. Mint needs to be in a container or it will overun everything.

Fennel seems to just keep going however much you cut it back and even I cannot kill parsley. Thyme is indestructable.

Soft stuff like tarragon, basil, corriander etc I just buy.

[PositronicRay]

Rosemary and bay

Then in the season
Basil (needs to be under glass, watch out for slugs)
Coriander
Chives
Mint
Thyme
Oregano
Parsley

Omelette aux herbs, food of Kings.

[jfrf]

corainder and parsley survives quite well outside over the winter time. If anything i find it harder to grow in summer as it flowers very quickly and is then useless.

[Huntsman]

Sage.

Lots of sage for pork burgers.

[otolith]

Shaw Tarse said:

For basil https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/basi...

Buy basil from the supermarket and follow that ^^^ advice for taking cuttings. Then pot them up once they are rooted. They do need a lot of sun and warmth to really get a good flavour in the UK though. A hot greenhouse in summer will give much better basil than a winter windowsill.

[Hanglow]

There are lots of other types of basil which are well worth using too, but you would need to grow them from seed. Lime and lemon basil are good as are the various thai basils.


If you want to start from seed (you get better variety from seeds and the resulting plants will be more suited to your conditions)
Sow in warmth; parsley, coriander(look for slow bolting or one bred for seeds if you want that), dill from about mid february indoors in modules, then you can plant them out under fleece when they are a bit bigger. Or use pots inside. They are frost tolerant so will grow outdoors with a bit of protection

Mid April for basil is best for an unheated greenhouse/polytunnel. sow in warmth then plant out a month later after frost has passed. You can sow again in June

Post solstice/late summer is best for chervil and coriander. both frost tolerant so you can grow them outside under cloche through autumn and winter if mild. They want to flower with lengthening daylight, so if you sow them later in the summer they keep producing leaf.

You can also sow all the woody herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage etc from seed but most people buy the plants. nursery raised plants can die a bit unexpectedly I've found though,

French taragon you definitely need to buy a plant, it is taken from cuttings or division as it seeds so little


There are of course hundreds of different herbs, well worth exploring if you have the time and inclination
https://www.premierseedsdirect.com/ are cheap for seeds

Edited by Hanglow on Wednesday 26th January 13:15

[fttm]

Yes , in pots throughout the summer , and in an aeropot in the kitchen during winter , currently Basil Mint Thyme and Parsley on the go .

[ambuletz]

I'd love to be able to grow chillies but would have no idea where to start. Got a small green house outside. and conservatory with plenty of lighting..which i guess is the same thing

[spikeyhead]

Chillies are very easy to grow. Buy a packet of mixed seeds and play russian roulette.

Water sparingly, the dryer they are then the hotter the chilli, but too little water and they'll die.

[tomsugden]

We grow chillis, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, bay leaf, mint and chives. I bought some wild garlic on Ebay a few years ago and it's a really nice cooking ingredient that appears in the spring - you just chop off what's above ground and add to soup, sauces etc.

[Evoluzione]

hyphen said:

Started to take cooking more seriously, and so looked at the potted herb plants down the supermarket. Picked up a Basil plant and a Chive plant. Currently just sat in their existing pots on a window sill with a saucer underneath. Basil pot is quite water hungry and watering from below, Chive less.

Great to grab some leaves or cut some chive off so will be doing it long term but now need to fall down the rabbit hole of all the other herbs and long term planting in containers or in the garden once weather is better

Anyone been doing this long term? what's your setup/tips.

Also I have a Bay tree in the garden, is it fine to use the leaves?

Your basil will be pot bound now or very soon and need re-potting to a bigger one.
Parsley does well in Winter behind glass, but not sure about Chives.
If you have a suitable spot then Rosemary is an evergreen.

[campionissimo]

I've got parsley and coriander in the green house, and they done well through the winter. I always grow Confetti Coriander, very pretty little leaves and stems, perfect for garnishing a curry.

[Mobile Chicane]

Home grown basil from seed has much more flavour than supermarket versions. If you grow one herb, make it that.

[Sticks.]

Mobile Chicane said:

Home grown basil from seed has much more flavour than supermarket versions. If you grow one herb, make it that.

Agreed. I sow it in a fairly broad pot. If it stars to get leggy, cut it back and it'll come back.

I have a pot of mint I must've had @ 20 years. Sheltered spot over Winter, tidy it in Spring and don't let it dry out.

[otolith]

I used to grow a lot of basil in the greenhouse from supermarket plant cuttings. It was far more pungent picked fresh from a hot greenhouse than the potted plants the cuttings were taken from.