Hi everyone and welcome to my finally blog for Tweeters flower show on Twitter. i would just like to take a moment to thanks @MrsARose1 (Audrey Rose) for asking me to be a part of the show. I am so grateful and thankful for this opportunity.
So we decided we wanted to have a herb section in our garden this year and we have recycled some old fence wood to make our herb garden which I will begin with showing you our herb garden.
This is our Herb Garden
This when we first moved our herbs from the old home to their new home in March 2021.
updated herb garden photos:
How and why we built our Herb garden :
I wanted to have a herb / kitchen garden in our garden this year as we got rabbits last May and if you have a rabbit you will know they can go through alot of vegetables and herbs. With that in mind , we had some old fence wood that had been taken down and some old posts that we had from an old fence. We used the posts and wood to make a herb wall / garden. I decided what I wanted to grow based on what I would use and what the rabbits would eat. I got some post from B and Q , Neil attached them with screws and the. We started to fill up our pots. I am growing some of the herbs from seed and I replanted herbs that survived the winter in their new home. I am a keen recycler ♻️ Eco warrior that at time I know drives my husband mad 😂
As you can see it very much a work in progress, unfortunately I lost some of my herbs i had grown last year at my plot as I was unable to get to my plot for a good couple of week and the sadly died. But sometimes life will get in the way and we cant beat ourselves up for not being able to fit everything in or for not being able to get to your plot. It happens, life is not perfect sometimes I think that in life pictures can be put out that are all singing and dancing and I totally respect when someone will stand up and say I failed and own it.
So you will get my ups and downs throughout my journey I will never lie or make out that i am a prefect gardener because its a big learning curve and sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes so with that in mind. Rather than go through that again i reflected evaluated and i decided i wanted a herb garden at home so hence why we have a herb garden at home now. The herbs i managed to save I know have started off my herb garden and now I am sowing new seeds that my husband bought me for Christmas as a present from the rabbits ( rabbits like to eat herbs) which is why I am growing them for us to cook with and the rabbits to eat. The herbs I am growing from seeds are Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Sage ,Lavender, Dill , Coriander and Thyme.
Now I will tell you how I began to grow herbs and how i started out my first herb pots which I started to grow in 2019.
Where it all began :
I started my herbs journey of learning how to grow or have herbs in the garden around 2019 in work in the garden I started a pallet which we added herbs and strawberries to. I then took the herbs I had growing home as I work in a nursery and I was worried that they may not survive outside in the cold of the garden with no protection. I kept the herbs in the green house and in January there was new growth that began to grow and I trimmed back the old growth and watered them and gave them TLC to it was warm enough to but them outside.
This is what i started with in January 2020
I looked after them in my greenhouse. At the time I had been sent home in March (due to covid )to work from home for the next 12 weeks as I have Asthma ,so I began my journey of looking after these herbs and a started to grow my own.
After three months of looking after and nurturing the herbs, I had over wintered they were now ready to be planted in their new house for the plot. I re-potted them into these great pots and then I took them to the allotment where they blossomed and I cut them when it was at the plot and the took them home to the rabbits so a great tip is that herbs like lettuce or chard , if you cut them they will continue to regrow all throughout the season they are the plant that keep giving more! I looked after them in my greenhouse.
Looking after my herbs , gave me the gardening bug to want to have a go at growing my own herbs from seed. so I ordered a variety of herbs seeds and began to grown them in our greenhouse at home. These are the ones i started to grow last year :
Basil, Parsley, Oregano,Dill and Rocket thyme.
Sadly I have no idea why but I could not keep the Basil alive I manage to get it to a plug plant and then it would die I bright it indoors to be warmer and it did not survive. if you have any tips for Basil then please let me know.
Now I will move on to video with my tips about how to sow herb seed.
This is my step by step guide of how i sow my herb seeds and i will keep you updated with how they grow and when i add them to my herb garden.
https://youtu.be/_b9fyRGYzXM Click on this link to see my video of me sowing seeds in the Greenhouse!
Other ways you can grow herbs:
If you think you don't want to take the plunge for your first year growing and you want to get plug herb plants you can get a variety of herbs for £1 from any supermarket.
This is the way that i first began to grow and look after my herbs, if you are a beginner to growing herbs and don't want to take the plunge of growing your own , you can look after these plug plants which will cost you £1 at most supermarket's. They sell the basis herbs that you can use to cook at home or like me if you have a pet that likes to eat them it saves you money by growing your own and as they grow back every time they are cut it means you are getting a lot of herb for your £1!
Mint
Thyme
Basil
Parsley
Chives
When you buy your herbs from the supermarket, you can then take them home and put them in new compost and a new larger post or container which will help boost them and give them more space to grow. I kept mines inside my greenhouse until the weather has improved until mid may and then I put them outdoors at the plot. They will continue to give you more herbs if you keep taking cutting throughout the season , which you need to keep doing to keep the plants producing more , if you leave the herb and do no cut it then I can start to set seed and wont produce anymore herbs for you.
Growing herbs from Cut Herbs:
A third way you can grow you own herbs is to regrow them from cut herbs which you can buy for around 30p or 70p depending on the supermarkets prices. If you are feeling adventurous and you think you want to try and regrow herbs from cut herbs, i should say you can also regrow herbs from a cutting in your garden.
Here is my hints of how to regrow from cut herbs:
Herbs that can be regrown:
Here is a video guide of how to regrow herbs in a jar :
https://youtu.be/W5oCcgGixR0
What you need :
A glass jar
Water
Your cut herb.
Re-growing herbs guide:
1. Fill up your jar with water , place your herb in the water with the stem in the water and leave in a warm place , window sill or greenhouse.
2. When the herb starts to grow little roots at the bottom of the stem , add it into a new pot with fresh compost. (Takes about 5 to 7 days )
3. Once the plant has become stablished then you can take off the top growth leaves and it encourages it to grow outwards and produce more shoots.
Nurture it and watch it grow!
I will be growing be herbs from seed which I have just started to grow and I will also be showing you how to look after a plug plant from the supermarket, seeds and how to grow herbs by re-growing them from cut herbs as the next follow up blog will be my step by step guide!
Just as a wee extra to end my blog this week I wanted to also add on the benefits for your health to eating herbs as part of your diet. Here are some of the herbs and the how they can benefit your health:
I just find that plants are just so amazing! They have the power to truly heal your mind body and soul!
Until next week , you will find me in my garden 🪴🌸👩🏻🌾
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