Growing HerbsThe no dig method is perfect for growing herbs, just plant them straight into your garden. Because of their many uses, your herb garden should be situated in a sunny spot very near your kitchen. Then you can simply step out the door and make an ordinary meal into a culinary delight!
If there isn't an obvious handy spot, grow your herb garden in containers. However, if you do have the space, there is a wonderful project called the 'Herb Spiral' you can build. It's extremely space efficient and caters for the various microclimates that herbs like. It involves building a vertical spiral, usually from rocks, and a typical size is about 2 metres across and 60-100cm high (6ft x 2-3ft). The top is quite dry and hot, the bottom is moist and there is a sunny side and a shady side. A garden of this size will need about 1.5 cubic metres of soil or compost materials. The top is good for Mediterranearn type herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage. The mid sections suit chives, shallots, Italian parsley, tarragon, rocket and coriander. The lower, cooler section suits borage, peppermint, pennywort and lemon balm. These are just suggestions as there are many plants that will grow in your spiral. As you probably know, for gardeners in the Northern hemisphere, the hottest side of your herb spiral will be facing south. For those in the Southern hemisphere, the hottest side of your spiral will be facing north. However you grow your herbs, sometimes you can be confronted with a frighteningly huge crop of some varieties. There's chillies galore, lemon balm bushes everywhere, fennel as high as an elephants thigh and rampant other herbs running amok...
So stop a minute to smell the rosemary, then pop over to this page to find out how to dry your own herbs for year round use.
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