How To Start Your Own Herb Gardening
By Michael
Haydon
Herb gardening Is one of the most rewarding
pastimes you
will begin. I say will begin because by the time you finish reading
this you WILL begin! You will need some basic information and knowledge
about the herbs you choose to use and grow, but after that the actual
process is easy and fast. The best thing is that after you work out
what you need to do, it becomes a passion that lasts forever and, even
better, it’s a real money saving hobby.
What you Need to Know About Herb Gardening
Basically you need to work out your seasonal
needs.
Choose the herbs you like or use most often in your cooking. The
easiest way is to go to your kitchen shelf and look at what you have
accumulated over the past and decide which ones you really use. Then,
look up the growing requirements. You can do this on the Internet or go
to your local nursery for free tips. Most plants are easy to grow, but
will need a little attention and need replanting in spring.
Next you need to learn how to dry your herbs for
storage
and use during those times when fresh plants are unavailable. Here are
my tips for drying herbs successfully:
• Cut off tops of the leafy varieties in
midsummer.
• Hang them up just long enough so that
the drops of water can evaporate.
• Wash them off with cold water.
• Tie them with string, binding them
quite tightly at the end of the stalk.
• Place them in a paper bag with the stem
ends at the opening, and then close the bag with a rubber band.
• Then you need to use a paper clip as a
sort of
hook through the band and then place the other hooked end over your
line where you are going to hang the herbs to actually dry.
• Wait for a couple of weeks, to ensure
they have dried out completely.
• Remove them from the paper bags, and
then crumble
the leaves and place them on a shallow pan and dry them out in the oven
– just make sure that the oven is not set to be too hot,
because
you can burn them, and you certainly do not want to do this.
A lot of herb gardening enthusiasts prefer to use
the
open air as their preferred way to dry herbs. This method however can
be messy as insects can interfere with the drying plans and get caught
up and become part of your larder! If you are careful and pick them out
it may be OK. My view is that open air drying is unnecessary and does
not yield better results at all.
Michael is the owner of Herb Magic,
the BEST site for all herb lovers. You will also find great herb
gardening tips and healthy herb recipes and information at http://www.HerbWorldBlog.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Haydon
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Start-Your-Own-Herb-Gardening&id=446846
I
want to thank you for reading this article.
I am really happy I found this article and
enjoy sharing. I always
welcome any comments or suggestions from you.
Love, Light &
Laughter,
Carol Lynn
Browning
PS.
I have put together a few electronic books or ebooks
that I have found very useful in my Magickal Life.
You can look at them here:
Wicca Ebook Collection
PPS.
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