Planning Your Herb Garden

This is the time of year when gardeners start thinking about getting their hands dirty. Many of us are already babying along seedlings in a sunny window. We haunt garden centres and any store that has a seed display. Our seed and plant catalogues are well thumbed, sometimes with food stains and water marks where we have read them at dinner or while soaking a the tub.

This year many will decide to add herbs to their garden for the first time or new herbs or, even dig a whole new herb garden. Firstly, you should decide on the size.

 A large planter can be a lovely mini herb garden for those short of space. One clump chives, one rosemary, two thyme of the hanging/climbing type two small leaf basil and one marjoram or summer savoury will provide quite a lot of culinary clippings throughout the summer, plus the fragrance of a mixed mini garden is fantastic as well as deterring mosquitoes. At the end of the season, pot-up and bring in, chop and infuse in oil, chop and store in small snack size freezer bags for the winter.

 A raised bed about three feet wide by four feet long and eight inches deep will give you salad greens, radishes, carrots, with enough room for about four of your favourite culinary herbs plus some nasturtiums, calendula or marigolds to ward off bugs. For best sun, gardens should be longways east to west with tall plants on northern side, flowers on the ends and shorter plants on southern length. Why a raised bed? Less weeds, easier care, less kneeling and bending, you can make up your own soil mix, lots of reasons. Get ready, I am going to attempt a diagram

3' x 4' Garden Plan

The idea here is to companion plant and consecutively plant. Boxes 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10 & 12 are all planted with plants (as opposed to seeds) the May 24 Th weekend (zone 4). Boxes 6 and 9 are started from seeds the first week of may (you can have as many types of lettuce as you like)  Planting that many carrots and radishes in the same square foot is tricky, but very practical.  Plant box 7 two weeks after box 6.  Plant box 11 June 1st with lettuce that isn't prone to bolting in the heat.  If you use the outer leaves of the lettuce, you should have enough to get you through the summer, after the lettuce in box 9 is done, you should have box 11 ready.  Add some poop/compost to box 9 and restart more lettuce.  The radishes will be pulled (20 - 25 days from seed), by the time the carrots need the space (stick to smaller "fingerling" carrots or ball carrots.0
Plant smaller tomatoes - Early Girl or any of the Cherry tomatoes fit best in this type of garden.

If you have a large garden or like me, have two acres of yard that is yet another new garden waiting to be dug, then pick a spot close to your house, where plants will get at least six hours of sun a day nearest to the door, deck or patio you use the most. The closer to your house, the more you will use and enjoy all the terrific stuff you grow. All those beds around the front and sides of your house? Mix some veggies and herbs in amongst the flowers.

About the dirt: If you have crappy soil strip off the grass loosen up the soil and get rid of remaining roots and weeds, add equal parts peat, poop and compost, plus a little vermiculite, mix it up with what you have, now it should be good. Another reason I like raised beds - you get to make your own dirt, it is an investment, but once you do it, all you have to do is add a little more poop and compost every year and you are good to go.

The only don't I have to add is don't go large the first year. Add a couple of herbs to your veggie garden, or put them in a pot, learn about them, use them, preserve them. Add a couple more the next year, try a tea herb like Bee Balm, lemon balm or verbena or a fancy mint - apple mint is my favourite. Grow a weed like catnip and use it when you can't sleep or have a cold. Above all, I hope you get to that great happy zen place I find when I can spend an afternoon grubbing around in the gardens.