Remember that a good potting soil for herbs (or any container-grown plant) should be light in texture and porous enough to insure good drainage and an adequate oxygen supply. It should hold a lot of water and nutrients without becoming compacted around tender roots, but shouldn’t retain moisture so long that root rot can develop. The pH and nutrient content should be balanced and the mix must be disease-free to insure healthy plants. If you’re really getting into this and want to get your plants off to a healthy start, the following recipe will yield an excellent potting soil:
15 parts (shovels, buckets, or any container
measured by volume) topsoil
5 parts horticultural grade vermiculite or peat moss (more…)
In days gone by, more people cultivated their own ingredients for healing teas than shopped at the apothecary. Every family had a kitchen garden for vegetables and an herb garden for medicines and seasonings. Today, many people grow culinary herbs—sweet basil and thyme, for example—on a sunny kitchen windowsill. Plucking a few leaves of freSh basil or scissoring off a frond of pungent thyme to throw into a pot bubbling on the stoveadds incomparable flavor.
In this day and age, only a lucky few have the space needed for vegetables or the time required to tend a family-sized plot. On the other hand, almost everyone has room for an herb garden, even if it’s just a small space on the patio or an old bookcase next to a window. This is for those of you who want to try your hand at growing, harvesting, drying, and storing your own herbs. Cultivating the medicinal plants you need to brew your own healing teas can be very rewarding, and it’s easier than you think. (more…)
