Save money - grow your own herbs

Good morning everyone. I haven't quite returned to my previous posting time and I'm not sure I will. At the moment, late morning posting seems to be working for me.  Today I'm writing this on Hanno's computer because mine is being repaired. It will take at least two to three days so we'll have to see how it goes. I hope I'm back tomorrow but if I'm not, I'll be here soon after.

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If you're like me you've discovered the pleasure of eating food flavoured with herbs. Even when our garden isn't fully productive I generally have parsley, oregano, mint, thyme and lemon thyme and a small bay tree in pots to keep me supplied with fresh herbs.  When the garden is in full production I have sage, lemon balm, rosemary, borage and comfrey as well.  But it's the herbs in pots I want to write about today because no matter where you live, they will keep the fresh herbs coming for your meals and save you money in the process.

Above and below: these are some of our in-ground herbs - sage, two kinds of parsley and rosemary.

Most fresh herbs at Woolworths cost $2.98 a bunch. If you buy a bunch of parsley, chives, basil, oregano and bay leaves each week, you'll be adding about $14.75 to your weekly shop for those basic herbs. It will be more if you're adding a greater variety of herbs.  Of course you could use dried herbs, but fresh herbs give a special taste to the meals we cook and they add nutrition, which dried herbs don't. Herbs are really easy to grow in pots.  The added benefit is that if you're renting, you can still grow them, even if your landlord says you can't have a garden. They're also portable, you can take them with you when you move and you can place them exactly where they need to be - anywhere from full sun to full shade, depending on the herb. Most herbs need good drainage. That just means that when you water your herbs, or if it rains on them, the soil needs to drain off the water so the roots don't get water-logged and die. If you have clay soil, herbs will not grow well. So the solution is to grow the herbs in pots - and to vary the size of the pot according to the amount of that herb you usually use.

Above: ordinary thyme.

Below:    lemon thyme.

For instance, most herbs will do very well in a normal pot of about 12-20cm. Remember you need to give the plants enough space for good root growth because the size of the root ball will determine the size of the plant. If you restrict the roots, the plants will usually remain small. So use a bigger pot rather than a smaller one.  Don't go the opposite direction and go too big because most herbs need to be able to fill the pot within a few months and some like to be root bound. Herbs such as mint will easily fill a large pot and grow well if you give it good potting soil and enough water.

Above - our oregano pot which sits in the entrance of the bush house, with morning sun and shade the rest of the day.
Below - our mint needs repotting. I hope to do it today because when I took these photos this morning, it looked very sad. I'm going to put it into a larger container - I have an ancient enamel baby bath - cut the plant back to ground level, moisten the soil and fertilise, and it will grow like the clappers.

I've grown herbs here in plastic troughs and polystyrene troughs but the polystyrene does disintegrate quickly when it's left to sit in the sun. Plastic pots are better for herbs because they retain the moisture a bit better than terracotta ones. So use your common sense. Don't go overboard buying containers if you have something suitable on hand. Recycle old containers, buckets, olive oil tins (minimum size 4 litres/quarts), polystyrene boxes but if you've only got terracotta, use it, you'll just have to water it a tiny bit more. If I were to buy something new to use, I'd go for two 4-5 litre plastic/rubber, two-handled tubs. You could make up two very good mixed herb gardens in two of them. Make sure you plant the herbs together that need the same conditions. For instance, most Mediterranean herbs (parsley, rosemary etc.) like drier conditions, herbs such as mint and oregano like moist, not wet, soil.

Some herbs can be difficult to propagate from seeds so I generally buy seedling herbs or I start them from root cuttings.  Mint and oregano easily grow from root cuttings.  Just get a piece of the plant with a bit of root attached, place in on the top of your filled pot - use good quality potting mix - tap down the soil over the top of the root, water well and leave it in a shady place to establish. After a couple of weeks, when you've seen some leaf growth, place the pot in a suitable place. Most herbs need full or partial sun but oregano and mint both like shade with only a small burst of sunshine in the early morning.

Even though they're classified as a vegetable, if you have a little more room, and you can find them, grow some Welsh onions too. They are perennial onions, which means, if you cut them correctly, you'll have them forever.  As you can see by the photo of our Welsh onions above, we cut them off about one inch above soil level and the onions quickly grow another top. Over the course of a year, they'll flower and multiply to keep you in fresh green onions all through the year. Yet another money saver.  And yes, they too can be grown in a container. I think a 4 litre tub full of Welsh onions would be a great asset to any cook's kitchen.If you have a friend who is growing these onions, they will grow well if you plant up the bottoms. Seeds are available here:

• Organic Catalogue UK
• Heritage Harvest Seeds USA
• Green Harvest Australia

 POTTING MIX 
Buy a good quality potting mix but not the one with all the additives. You'll be doing your own fertilising so you don't need additional time-release fertiliser or water retainer. Potting mix here has a red Australian Standard stamp on it, that is the one we use. If you're overseas, buy your basic standard potting soil. Please note: you can't use garden soil, it will kill the herbs because it won't drain effectively in a pot. Remember to re-pot your herbs every two years.

 WATERING 
The sunnier the position, the more water the herb will probably need. Pots need more water than your in-ground plants. I water my pots every two days in summer but watch yours and see how long they can go without wilting. When you know that, water just before you know the plant will wilt.

 FERTILISING 
The slower a herb grows, the more flavour it will have, so don't go crazy with the fertiliser.  A monthly, very weak watering with comfrey fertiliser, or an organic liquid fertiliser as a weaker than recommended solution, will keep your herbs in tip-top shape.

 PRUNING 
You'll be using the herbs frequently so that will count as pruning for most of the year. Plants such as mint and oregano love to be cut back about once or twice a year.  Wait till the end of the season when the plant is naturally weaker, and cut it off to soil level. Then fertilise with a weak solution of whatever fertiliser you use and watch it spring back into growth.

It doesn't take much to get a small group of your favourite herbs growing in pots in the backyard or on the window sill. If you put in the time to do that, and to water them, you'll save a lot of money over the course of the year.  When you get into it, work out ways to dry or freeze your leftover herbs so you never have to buy herbs again. That is entirely possible, it just requires the desire and the commitment to do it. I think it's a very worthwhile frugal, self-reliance project.