Bringing your herb container out of the cold
Bringing your herbs in out of the cold
Bringing your herbs in out of the cold
I love fresh herbs in my food, but find I don't always make time to go out to the yard to get them. This year I decided I'd try and start an indoor herb garden First decision; organic or not? What are the advantages and disadvantages to growing organic?
Disadvantages:
Organic gardening does seem to take longer
You do need more skills as a gardener and need to take the time to learn about the plants and what they need.
Pests are another problem as no chemicals can be used at all in order for herbs to be called truly organic. Well when you think about it, who wants to eat all those chemicals anyway.
Advantages:
Organic herbs stay fresher for longer and after doing a taste comparison;
Seem to taste a lot better. Because organic foods are grown naturally and removed naturally from the soils in the ground, many of the nutrients that the plant has stays in the plant.
Questions before you begin:
The answers to these will determine where you grow your garden and what plants you will have the most success with.
Where did I live?
Dry cold
Wet cold
Does it snow
What temperature was our house kept during the cold months?
Do I have a thermostat?
What is the temperature in the house?
On the cooler side, or do you keep it pretty warm all winter
What type of heating do we have?
Forced air is apparently harder on plants than electric heat. This was a surprise to me, I thought a little warm air would be good. Well it is as long as it isn't blowing hot in-between the cold...
What is the humidity level in the house?
Our house is very humid, if you boil a pot of water the windows steam up
How big are the window sills?
Will the plants touch the windows, because at night or when the sun isn't shining on that window they will get very cold
Do I have a covered deck?
There are some herbs that do a lot better on a covered deck; they can handle the constant temperature changes, especially the cold ones. For example Parsley will grown easily on a covered deck, placed close to the house
These are some of the factors that make a difference in the house and need to be looked at before you start an indoor herb garden. Sounds complicated, but it really isn't.
The easiest herbs to grow in the house are Mint, Thyme and Basil (Basil is a bit more sensitive to temperature. I have a great table on my covered deck, right by my kitchen window and I'm creating a green center piece with pots of Parsley and Chives which can handle more extreme. In my living room in a sunny corner of the living room, my husband is making a small shelf so I can plant Mint, Thyme and Basil which is a bit more sensitive to temperature but these are the herbs that seem to be the easiest to grow indoors.
If you already have a container garden outside, and plan to bring it indoors for the winter, remember that the indoor environment can be quite a shock for them. They need to be introduced slowly allowing them to become customized to the different light, temperature and humidity levels. Perhaps placement on a covered deck or patio for a few weeks, and then move them indoors to a window that can be left open (before the weather turns cold of course) for a week or two) and then finally to the spot where they will spend the winter. Remember to bring the heat up in the house gradually once your containers are indoors.
To find out more about growing herbs in containers, growing herbs indoors and organic herb gardening, you may want to take a look at https://sites.google.com/site/auganix/gardening-the-green-way for more information
Bringing your herb container out of the cold
By: Dayle Rudman
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