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You do not have to begin your herb garden from seeds, but if you want to get a head start on the season and lengthen the time you’ll have for harvesting your herbs, start from seeds. You can get seeds in a package or use seeds left over from last year.

Not all herbs do well from seeds, so read up on your herbs before you invest in seeds, containers, sod and the like.

Before you plant your seeds, you’ll need to soak your seeds in water for a few hours. This can give them the momentum they need to get going. You can also pre-sprout your herbs by soaking them, folding them up in a moist paper towel and then sealing your seeds in a freezer bag. If you go this route, be sure to keep the sealed bag away from heat and check back often to see if the seeds have started germinating yet. Once your seeds have started to sprout, you’re ready to plant them in some rich, moist dirt.

Do your homework before you plant your seeds or begin the sprouting process, because some seeds must be scarred before planting (as in the citronella plant) or need to be heated before they can sprout (as in the chili pepper plant).

It is important to control your seeds’ growing environment once the germinating process starts. The sprouting process can be as little as five days, such as some kinds of basil, catnip, chives and parsley, or as long as 36 days or more, as in hyssop.

Go get one of the soil mixes designed for growing seeds—the best ones usually contain vermiculite and sphagnum moss.

Although there are a number of many fantastic herb plants that you can grow from seeds, here are a couple of my favorites:

• Caraway: If you’ve got some caraway in your kitchen spice rack, simply sprinkle some of them into a container, cover with earth and water—how simple could that be? All you have to do is add a few seeds to a pot and cover with a thin layer of dirt and a small bit of water. Caraway only takes a few days to develop. Then you can transfer your herb to a larger container or garden bed. Use caraway to bring something extra to your Oktoberfest dishes and also your curries.

• Lavender: For the quickest and best outcomes, use the Lady kind of Lavender or it will take forever to raise your lavender plant—and why waste time waiting for seeds to grow when you could already be enjoying this most sublime plant.

• Nasturtium: These little blossoms of happiness are severely under-rated. Not only are they brilliant, they’re edible too. Even better, you can easily grow nasturtiums from seeds! Soak the seeds overnight before planting for the best outcomes when you plant them in your well-drained earth. You can even grow the mature herb indoors, and for extra color you can try as a bonus in your salad greens.

• Shepherd’s Purse: Although a lot of folks believe shepherd’s purse is a weed, this tasty herb has a delicate peppery smell and the flavor is a fantastic addition to any salad. Because the leaves are rich in vitamins C and A you will get health benefits while you eat this mouth-watering herb. It is a cinch to cultivate. Fill your seeding pot almost to the top with sod and then add a few seeds, cover with more sod and add water. Before you know it, you’ve got your own shepherd’s purse plant.

And those herb plants are just a handful. Some other nice herbs include anise, hyssop, basil, German chamomile, fennel, lemon balm and sorrel.

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Mini Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.

Tags: container herbs, grow herbs, growing herbs, growing herbs indoors from seeds, herb garden, herb gardening, herb growing, herbs, herbs in pots, indoor garden, mini herb garden

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 10:41 pm and is filed under Gardening for Beginners, Herb Gardening, Home & Garden Improvements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.