anyone have an herb garden?

dande2129

I need some advice on starting a herb garden and possibly even a small vegetable garden. Just some generic questions.

MrsAB1316

I do both. What do you want to know?

dande2129

MrsAB1316:

I do both. What do you want to know?

My house only gets direct sunlight in the front. The backyard gets sunlight, but it's patchy and it's not nearly long enough to truly grow anything (I don't think)

So, I'm thinking of doing a small herb garden on the front porch. I want one of those things that hangs over the balcony-thing. Is that feasible? I also really don't know what kind of herbs I can grow and if I can even grow anything together. Any idea on where to start reading? 

pb_bride

dande2129:

MrsAB1316:

I do both. What do you want to know?

My house only gets direct sunlight in the front. The backyard gets sunlight, but it's patchy and it's not nearly long enough to truly grow anything (I don't think)

So, I'm thinking of doing a small herb garden on the front porch. I want one of those things that hangs over the balcony-thing. Is that feasible? I also really don't know what kind of herbs I can grow and if I can even grow anything together. Any idea on where to start reading? 

It'll help to know where (what region) you live as well.

I live in New England.  I grow rosemary, basil, parsley, cilantro, sage, mint and chives; all in pots

Chives are the easiest - they are perennial. They are hardy so they don't die until a hard frost.  And they're the first to come up in Spring (mine is already 6" tall).  During our cold winter, we put the pots next to our house foundation (outdoors).

Mint is the 2nd easiest.  Like chives, it dies down in the winter and comes up automatically in the Spring.  

Rosemary grows all year round, but the New England winter will kill it if left outdoors, so we bring them indoors during winter.  They can tolerate a little frost, so if you live in warmer climates that rarely go below freezing (eg, TX), you can leave it outside all year round.

My sage hibernates in the winter (we leave the pot outside), and new growth comes out in late Spring. 

Cilantro is an annual but it self seeds easily. 

Basil and Parsley are essentially annuals, which means you have to grow them from seeds (or buy seedling plants) yearly.  I usually put 4-6 basil seedlings in one 5-gallon pot.  I grow 4-5 pots of basil.  Even with our short New England summer, the basil yields a lot and I make a huge batch of pesto every 7-10 days.  I freeze the pesto and have enough to last me through winter & spring until the following year.  Towards the end of the growing season, I let our basil flower so I can collect the seeds.  Then we start them from seeds around early April. (not doing it this year as I have a newborn and don't have time for all that).

I also grow cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes in pots.  Last year I had 2 of each and they yielded about 600 tomatoes over the summer. 

SusieBW

pb_bride:

dande2129:

MrsAB1316:

I do both. What do you want to know?

My house only gets direct sunlight in the front. The backyard gets sunlight, but it's patchy and it's not nearly long enough to truly grow anything (I don't think)

So, I'm thinking of doing a small herb garden on the front porch. I want one of those things that hangs over the balcony-thing. Is that feasible? I also really don't know what kind of herbs I can grow and if I can even grow anything together. Any idea on where to start reading? 

It'll help to know where (what region) you live as well.

I live in New England.  I grow rosemary, basil, parsley, cilantro, sage, mint and chives; all in pots

Chives are the easiest - they are perennial. They are hardy so they don't die until a hard frost.  And they're the first to come up in Spring (mine is already 6" tall).  During our cold winter, we put the pots next to our house foundation (outdoors).

Mint is the 2nd easiest.  Like chives, it dies down in the winter and comes up automatically in the Spring.  

Rosemary grows all year round, but the New England winter will kill it if left outdoors, so we bring them indoors during winter.  They can tolerate a little frost, so if you live in warmer climates that rarely go below freezing (eg, TX), you can leave it outside all year round.

My sage hibernates in the winter (we leave the pot outside), and new growth comes out in late Spring. 

Cilantro is an annual but it self seeds easily. 

Basil and Parsley are essentially annuals, which means you have to grow them from seeds (or buy seedling plants) yearly.  I usually put 4-6 basil seedlings in one 5-gallon pot.  I grow 4-5 pots of basil.  Even with our short New England summer, the basil yields a lot and I make a huge batch of pesto every 7-10 days.  I freeze the pesto and have enough to last me through winter & spring until the following year.  Towards the end of the growing season, I let our basil flower so I can collect the seeds.  Then we start them from seeds around early April. (not doing it this year as I have a newborn and don't have time for all that).

I also grow cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes in pots.  Last year I had 2 of each and they yielded about 600 tomatoes over the summer. 

This is all great advice!

One more word about mint - be careful where you plant it if you put it in the ground - it spreads and spreads!

MrsAB1316

Sorry I'm just now getting back to you!! Everyone gave great advice. Herbs are pretty easy to grow. Since you didn't start from seed weeks ago, I suggest seedlings. Also in terms of sun coverage here is a rule of thumb: Things that we grow for roots or leaves like herbs, lettuce, carrots, onions, etc. can tolerate semi shady areas even if they call for full sun. Fruiting plants, like peppers or tomatoes require full sun.

artistgal

All great suggestions!

My backyard is all shade so our herb garden is in an enclosed circle bed in the middle of a walkway area in our front yard.  

We have sage, two kinds of mint, oregano, chives, and dill that somehow managed to come back from seed--these are all in the ground and they've done well year to year.  (I'm in Ohio) We do several types of basil in pots each year. I don't think anyone mentioned oregano yet, but if you do basil in pots, oregano is a great counterpart to that and grows really easily.   

I personally find rosemary difficult (love it, but am terrible with it)  It's difficult to get the right amount of water.  Too little and it dries out, too much and it dies. 

 It's true that things like mint can take over, so I particularly like the fact the herb garden has some boundaries.

I've found that partial sun is fine for most herbs (despite what some books say, ours have done fine).  If you're doing them all in pots, be sure to put a layer of rocks or pebbles on the bottom to give them proper drainage.  Keep in mind, growing pots in plants requires a little more attention to the amount of water the plants are getting versus those in the yard. 

 

 https://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/herbs/

 

Bonus, a lot of herbs are great insect repellents so they're excellent to put around your veggies.  

artistgal

pb_bride:

I also grow cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes in pots.  Last year I had 2 of each and they yielded about 600 tomatoes over the summer. 

 

Wow...awesome yield!   I think we planted ours too close and they didn't get enough sun.  (They have to go up on a second floor porch away from the deer!) We didn't get close to that. 

Yum!  I bet you enjoyed a summer of plucking them right off the vine.  Nothing tastes better than a fresh cherry tomato!