Our Little Herb Garden

Nick and I are really starting to enjoy trying new recipes each week. We typically get them from Cooking Light and Food & Wine magazines. For most of the recipes, we’re finding that fresh herbs work the best and that we typically need 2-3 different kinds each week (this may be obvious to most of you, I’m still learning though).

One thing I’ve learned from this – fresh herbs are EXPENSIVE.  Not only that, but I’ve also learned that Columbus is quite limited in its selection of good, quality herbs. The issue we run into is that most herbs go bad almost instantaneously after we buy them OR they are in crappy condition when we purchase them.

I don’t have a green thumb — at all. And, I don’t like gardening. So I’m not sure this is going to be a good fit in the long-run, but now is a good time for me to experiment. You never know…

I have always wanted to grow my own herbs and have even considered growing my own vegetables. So we’ll give it a go.

Right now I’m trying three herbs (because that was really all that was available at Lowe’s without having to grow from a seed, which I decided is a bit much for the time-being. We’re starting with Thyme, Oregano and Basil. I’d like to do Rosemary and Cilantro, but will have to work harder to make that happen.

Here’s a look at our starter garden of herbs and how we pulled it together.

Our Supplies – Pots and starter-herbs from Lowe’s.

New pots for our little herb garden... of course no "oregano" pot is available

The herbs - with directions to help them grow!

What We Did - Removed the dirt and baby herbs from its packaging, removed the ID tags and labels (and READ them), planted the herbs and watered, and lined-them up for a  group photo.

The 'frame' for the dirt/herbs - it says you can plant this but we had to improvise to fit the pots

The ID tag for the herb - with directions for planting and care

Putting them in the pots! So easy!

A little Basil

A dash of Thyme

Family photo

What’s Next?

The plan is to put them in direct sunlight and watch them grow. I’m not entirely sure when to pick the herbs or how often I need to do that to keep them growing, so more research needs to be done on that front.

We’ll see how this goes, before expanding to a more permanent herb garden or adding more to the group.

If we do though, I’m definitely getting these. How cute!

Got any tips for taking care of these things? Let me know! I’d love to hear them!