Window Herb Garden Nursery Landscaping Guide
Window Herb Garden Supplies Fresh Herbs On Demand
By Jennifer Dullard
Window herb garden can supply your family with fresh herbs on
demand. While you are cooking a family meal, you may suddenly
realise you are missing herbs to add to your meal.
You do not need to run to the food store to buy some old, dried
herbs. If you have a window sill, then you can grow herbs near
your kitchen window and when the need arises, you can grab some
fresh herbs to add to your meal.
Every cook knows, the secret to a delicious meal, is to review
your options and add herbs and spices to improve the natural taste
and help create a delicious meal. Many recipes call for herbs
and spices. Almost any meat, cannot be eaten without adding herbs
and spices. Imagine trying to eat chicken or lamb without herbs
and spices. I know, it is unbearable.
Replace Mayonnaise With Fresh Herbs
Same goes for salads. Rather than adding mayonnaise with its
high calories content, you can add fresh herbs to improve the
flavouring and keep the calories out. Now you can see how eating
more herbs may help in your quest to control your weight and enjoy
meals with salads more often.
This is why, it may be a good idea to grow herbs in a window
herb garden.
Enhancing Your Winter Menus With Fresh Herbs
If you have a summer herb garden, it’s always a disappointment
when cooler weather sets in and your fresh herbs die down. Now
you need to rely on dried herbs as the next best thing to enhance
your menus. Or do you?
With a south-facing window and a little TLC(tender loving care),
you can have a thriving window herb garden throughout the winter.
Sure, you may not have the full complement of fresh annual herbs,
but many herbs, given the right care and a sunny, warm environment
will provide a bounty of delectable additions to your everyday
winter menus.
Five Herbs To Grow In A Window Garden
Here we have five herbs you can sustain in a window herb garden,
without too much effort, enhancing a variety of dishes with that
just-picked taste.
1. Parsley: yes, parsley is readily
available in the supermarket year-round. However, there’s a world
of difference between freshly picked parsley, both in taste and
nutrition, from a bunch that’s traveled hundreds or thousands
of miles before reaching your store.
If your garden parsley has already gone to seed, it’s not too
late! Buy a bunch and snip off the freshest tips, leaving as much
stem as you can. Dip the cutting in a rooting hormone powder (available
at any nursery) and set the cutting in a small pot of sandy soil.
It will root within a week or two and begin sprouting new leaves.
During this rooting period, spray the cutting, in its pot, with
a fine mist to keep it moist. Allow the plant to grow to a sufficient
size before you start snipping. Snipping will then encourage new
branches.
2. Rosemary lends itself well to cold
weather menus. It’s perennial and is easy to propagate using the
rooting hormone method. You might also be able to purchase a small
pot of rooted rosemary at the nursery.
Rosemary is one of the most versatile herbs, a valuable addition
to the window herb garden. Add rosemary to roasted potatoes, beef
and fish dishes to equally good effect.
3. Sage is another easily propagated
herb. Just one fresh leaf will produce an entire plant. Using
a sharp knife, make small cuts along the veins of the leaf. Dust
the cuts with rooting hormone and watch that plant go to town.
Again, it’s important to spray the cutting periodically, to encourage
a healthy root system. Every cook knows the value of sage in any
poultry dish, such as that Thanksgiving turkey!
4. Mint can overtake a garden in short
order during the summer. Before that renegade patch retires in
the fall, you can take a cutting for your window herb garden,
with great success. Dip the stem end of the cutting in rooting
hormone powder and before long, you’ll have a pot full of fresh
mint for a nice leg of lamb or a mint julep.
5. Basil is a traditional summer annual,
you can successfully grow it in your window herb garden, with
just a little TLC. You can propagate it in a couple of ways. Buy
a fresh package of basil leaves at the supermarket and cut the
veins of a single leaf, as you would for sage.
You can also take cuttings from an existing plant and root it
with rooting powder. Basil may be a little trickier than other
herbs, so you may want to start several to ensure success.
Once you’ve got viable plants, you’ve established a window herb
garden that sees you through the winter in elegant menus!
Adding Delicious Natural Flavours To Your Meals
Fresh herbs are always much better than the dried variety you
buy from the food store. When the need arises to add more flavours
to your meals, you can always run to the window to pick some fresh
herbs.
Herbs can be added to many recipes, to improve the taste. Many
recipes call for herbs, but you want to improve the taste of the
ingredients in your meal. For example, turkey tastes rather dull
by itself. You need to add some fresh herbs and spices to improve
the taste. I like to add fresh basil and crushed black pepper,
for a more delicious tasting meat.
Fresh Herbs In Salads
Same goes for your salads. In the wintertime, you may be searching
far and wide to add ingredients to make a delicious salad. Rather
than reverting to a standard mayonnaise, with its high number
of calories, run to the herb garden on your window sill and pick
some fresh herbs, to improve the taste.
You can even experiment with many of your current recipes, for
a better tasting meal with herbs from your window herb garden.
About the Author:
Jennifer Dullard has written a number of articles on gardening
and landscaping including
Metal Window Boxes,
Flower Beds,
Wrought Iron Garden Gates,
Growing Tomatoes,
Ornamental Grasses,
Window Box Garden,
Gardening Container,
Hanging Baskets,
Container Gardening,
Wrought Iron Outdoor Furniture.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.
Little Known Gardening Facts....
My garden is dead, what do I do with the huge box container
in my backyard?
If your container is easily moved, consider
transporting it to a corner of your yard and cover it. The box
can also be used as a compost pile to get a jump on next year’s
garden.
The soil within your garden may have lost some of its nutrients
but there are ways to bring them back. Consider planting something
different in the garden. Winter vegetables and plants can make
that barren box come alive again.
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