How To Grow And Handle Fresh Herbs From Your Garden Beds Or Your Container Garden
In any recipe calling for herbs, use fresh herbs. Preparing the herbs for your dish is easy. The more tender herbs like mint, parsley, basil and cilantro can be gathered in a bowl and snipped with scissors. This is the fastest and safest way to chop the herbs. If your recipe calls for the more hardy herbs like oregano, rosemary, or thyme you should use the stripping method. Hold a branch of the herb upright in your fingers and run the fingers of your other hand down the stalk stripping the tiny leaves free. The flavor will be more intense if you have gathered the herbs from your herb gardens or container gardens because they will be absolutely the freshest herbs available.
The best way to have fresh herbs is to plant and grow them yourself. No longer is there a designated "herb garden". They can be found in your flower beds, along walkways or in pots on your porch. Many ambitious gardeners are finding new ways to incorporate herbs into their garden beds and their container gardens.
Many gardeners are unaware of the beauty of flowering herbs and never consider planting them within their flower beds. Some herbs that have beautiful flowers are purple coneflower, catmint, bee balm, yarrow, pinks, lavender, pot marigold, borage, feverfew, and nasturtium which is particularly lovely in fresh salads.. Many other herbs, such as parsley are excellent next to flowers of all sorts because of their spectacular foliage. When planting red or blue flowers, place purple basil around them for an artful arrangement.
Another area to consider is to use herbs as ground cover. The herbs that are suitable to this are the low growing oregano, chamomile, woolly and other creeping thyme, mint, and rosemary. Not only will it look pretty but it will be absolutely fragrant. Just be careful of the mint family, they tend to take over everything.
One of the best ways I have grown herbs is in containers. In fact, I like container gardening so much I wrote my eBook "Container Gardening Secrets" (available at ContainerGardeningSecrets.com), so everyone could enjoy this type of gardening. The beauty of a container garden is that it is portable and can be changed at a moment's whim. When there is no more room in your garden, start a container garden which you can place on your door step or patio. Use them to fill in bare spots that come up during the gardening season or put them on a sunny window sill in your home for easy harvesting. Best of all you can bring your herb containers inside over the winter months and continue to harvest for months to add to your tasty meals or to be used for medicinal purposes.
Another way to employ pots in your garden is to plant invasive herbs such as mint into a pot and then plant pot and all into the ground. This is an easy trick to keep those "creepers" from taking over your garden beds.
Plant a container garden near your door with the cherry pie scented blue flower heliotrope and other fragrant herbs such as rosemary, thyme and basil. Every time you walk by you will be greeted with there delicious scent.
Some herbs that have grown on rocky hillsides over the centuries such as thyme, oregano and lavender are perfect for cracks in flag stone paths or walls and rock gardens. They thrive in hot dry areas with good drainage. Some believe that those herbs grown in these conditions produce much better flavor.
Now is the time to plant your herbs, whether it is in a garden bed, a cracked wall or a container garden. Use your imagination. Consider color height and texture when planting your gardens. Not only will it be visually pleasing but your cooking will improve too!
Happy Gardening!
Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.
This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.
About the Author
Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com http://www.GardeningHerb.com and http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com
Getting The Best Results Out Of Your Annuals
This article explains a few things about Planting annuals, and if you're interested, then this is worth reading, because you can never tell what you don't know.
Annuals are among the most popular varieties of flowers for both beginning and experienced gardeners. Annuals are known for their hardiness, their ease of growing and of course their bright and vibrant colors.
In addition, annuals are easy to start directly from seed, keeping planting costs to a minimum. Most types of annuals can be started right from seed by using seed boxes. The seeds should be started inside, and it is important to provide them with plenty of light and well drained soil as the seedlings are establishing themselves. After the seedlings have gotten a good start indoors, they are then replanted outside in the garden.
For those who do not want to grow their annuals from seed, seedlings can be bought directly and transplanted immediately. This approach is generally more expensive, but it provides a quicker time between planting your flowers and enjoying them.
Whether you start your annuals from seed or buy read made transplants, annuals should be planted to a depth at which the tops of the roots are just below the surface of the soil. If buying seedlings, it is important to be sure that all fiber, paper, plastic pots and other packing material are removed before the seedlings are planted.
If peat pots are used for transplantation, the top edge of the pots should be removed before they are planted. This wail help prevent the pot from pulling precious water away from the roots.
The more authentic information about Planting annuals you know, the more likely people are to consider you a Planting annuals expert. Read on for even more Planting annuals facts that you can share.
If the seedlings have any buds or flowers on them, they should be pinched off when the seedlings are planted. This will promote greater branching and help the plant grow stronger. After the seedlings have been transplanted, the plants should be given a good watering. It is particularly important to provide lots of water in the first few weeks, since the plants are still developing their root structure during this time.
It is essential to provide adequate moisture to get the plants off to a good start. Even after planting, most annuals require from 1 to 1½ inches of water every week to thrive. Even more water may be needed in very hot climates or during heat waves in cooler climates.
Sufficient watering is a good way to encourage the deep root system that annuals need in order to thrive. By watering deeply and thoroughly the gardener can encourage this deep root growth. The best methods for achieving this deep and thorough watering are soaker hoses and drip irrigation. In addition, these methods of watering avoid water splashes on the foliage, which can serve as pathways to fungal infections.
Proper mulching is important for annuals to grow properly as well. Prior to planting, the flower bed should be mulched with a two to three inch layer of pine straw or pine bark. Mulching serves to conserve the moisture contained in the soil and to reduce the growth of weeds. A good layer of mulch will shade the seeds of weeds and prevent them from sprouting. Mulch provides a natural form of weed control and thereby eliminates the need for hand weeding or harsh chemicals to control the growth of weeds.
Fertilization needs vary between varieties of annuals, so it is important to determine the needs of the varieties you purchase. Some varieties of annuals require more fertilization during their growing season, while others do not.
Of course, it's impossible to put everything about Planting annuals into just one article. But you can't deny that you've just added to your understanding about Planting annuals, and that's time well spent.
B. Keith Johnson is a contributing author for
Flower Gardens. Visit his other sites for
Product Reviews, Free Website Content and
Free Photo Sharing
Knitting : Always A Great and Timeless Hobby That You Can Benefit From It.
Knitting is a great hobby. Many people enjoy knitting because of its many benefits. Knitting is considered as a form of art. A completed piece of knitted item is in fact the creation of a piece of art. The knitter gets to feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment in completing such an item. Living in a fast paced society, many people need to do something to distress and relax. One of the great benefits of knitting is that it is a splendid stress reliever. It helps to free the mind and hence, it is regarded as a wonderful outlet for an overworked brain. It is no wonder that some people use the activity as a retreat in stressful situations. The craft can slow down a hectic life and enable a person to unwind after a hard day's work. In a world filled with mobile phones, computers, televisions and videos, escaping for an hour to knit something soft and warm can be incredibly rejuvenating. There are people who even believe that knitting can actually fuel the creative process in other areas of their lives. They believe that the craft allows the creative part of the brain to work more effectively and find creative solutions to other areas of their lives.
Another benefit of knitting is that it is very portable and can be carried along to any place. Unlike other hobbies like weaving or cooking, the craft can easily be thrown into a bag and pulled out anytime when it is required. As such, the knitter can bring the craft along and do it during bus or train journeys, air flights or even in traffic jams. In this way, hours of waiting and traveling are not wasted away as they are used to accomplish something useful.
One benefit of knitting is that there are various choices of items to knit such as hats, socks, sweaters, jackets, shawls, scarves and pullovers. There are plenty of projects and designs to choose from to suit all levels of knitting expertise, time and budget. Besides, these pieces can be created to beautify homes or serve as special gifts for loved ones. Knitwear garments are beautiful and attractive, and many people like them. Presenting them as gifts is always well loved and appreciated.
Crafts go through phases. Many crafts are built more for speed and fad than for longevity. One benefit of knitting is that it can create long lasting items. Home accessories that are hand-knit with love and care often become heirlooms and family treasures. They are always a source of pride and joy. Besides, these invaluable items are inexpensive to make.
What is knitting? It is simply the process of forming a fabric by making interlocking loops from a continuous strand of yarn using two or more needles. Knitting is an easy craft to learn. Besides, it only requires simple materials, which are two knitting needles, some string or yarn, and a little instruction. For certain items, there are some accessories needed. For example, if you are knitting a sweater, then you will need some buttons. The choice of buttons has a great impact to a sweater. They can make the difference between an attractive garment and a stunning one.
Knitting is a popular craft among the young and old. In fact, the pool of knitting enthusiasts keeps growing. Despite the machine age eliminating the need for hand-stitched items, the popularity of knitting still continues. It is evident that many people have experienced its benefits and recognized its worth to want to continue using this craft to enhance their lives.
If you are interested to start knitting as a beginner, there are many resources available with step-by-step knitting instructions to enable you to learn doing simple projects. When you have learned the simple projects, you can proceed to do the more complicated ones. After some time, you can try to create more pieces using your own ideas. Instead of following closely to the selected knitting pattern, you can add something of your own to make the design unique.
Happy knitting!
More information on knitting techniques can be obtained from : http://knitting-knitting.blogspot.com
or from the Resource Box URL.
