Herbs are fantastic container crops that are easy to grow. They are low maintenance and bring flavor to your dishes. Below are five herbs you can easily grow for your daily use in the kitchen.
Rosemary
It is a bush that is very hardy, low maintenance, drought-resistant. It will last for years without having to replant and is easy to harvest anytime.
Basil
Opt to plant a large amount of basil, and you can harvest plenty of leaves throughout the season without harming the plants. If you prune them early enough, you can get them to grow short and bushy rather than long-stemmed (leggy).
Thyme
There is a wide variety of Thyme which can be grown pretty easily and is excellent in many dishes. Well-drained soil enriched with compost perfectly suits Thyme.
Green onions/chives
Green onions are easy to grow from the bottoms taken from bunches you buy from the market. Make sure you get ones with roots, trim off the greens and use them, then sprout the roots in some water. In a week, you will notice new green shoots, and you can then pot them and snip off what you need whenever you need it. A single bunch of green onions can last for over a year. You can cut the onions down to the white part if desired as long as you leave a little in the ground, or snip as much of the greens off as you need.
Cilantro
Cilantro is excellent when fresh, but you have to keep reseeding the pots periodically as you use them, as they don’t regenerate like the other herbs.
Water your potted herbs according to their needs. Leafy herbs like basil require more water than rosemary and Thyme (smaller leaves). You can use any container for potting your herbs as long as it has good drainage.
Keep an eye out for the herbs beginning to flower, especially if the weather gets hot, and pinch off any buds that you see starting to form. Except for rosemary, flowering signals the plant that it’s life cycle is ending, and it will seed and die soon after.
Protect your herb pots during harsh winters, by wrapping them in hessian or burlap. It will prevent the roots from freezing.
By cutting any buds off, you will extend the time you can harvest. For your herbs to produce more shoots, pick and enjoy your herbs daily.
