Posts tagged “herb garden”

A home herb garden is a beautiful way to add aroma and flavor to your kitchen. It’s easy for any beginner or advanced gardener to get started growing a variety of herbs. Herb gardens are simply a group of live herbs growing in a container of soil. Usually, an herb garden is grown indoors so the freshest seasonings are right at your fingertips. Then you can grab some garnish for a ‘Gram-worthy plating or whip up homemade sauces quickly! 

Herb Gardens

An indoor herb garden is easy to care for because you can keep a close eye on it. It requires just a small amount of maintenance for a big, tasty payoff. Use whatever herbs you want! Common herbs to start your herb garden include basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley, dill, and sage. These are used often to cook dishes in cuisines all over the world.

Herb gardens are a great way to save money and waste less, too. Purchasing packs of herbs in plastic packaging is a thing of the past! You can simply pick them fresh from your herb garden whenever you need a little extra something for your meal. A pretty kitchen and tasty food has never been so simple.

Starting an Herb Garden

Starting an herb garden is one of the easiest ways to add extra pizazz to your meals. It’s as easy as picking a sunny spot (like the kitchen windowsill) and selecting your favorite herbs. Avoid invasive herbs like mint, which grows abundantly like a weed. Pre-made kits make starting an herb garden quick, but it’s easy to put your own together with fresh starts or cuttings of plants. You can use herbs already planted in soil and just transplant them to your container of choice. Tacoma Boys offers a wide range of potting soil for your fresh herbs to grow in a raised bed or container.

If you’d rather take it outside or take things on the go, Tacoma Boys’ various ceramic pots are a beautiful option. Our guide on planting herbs in ceramic pots offers some great tips on choosing just the right pot.

How To Care For Herb Gardens

One reason starting an herb garden is so simple is because of the low maintenance required. It’s quite easy to care for your herb garden and doesn’t require extra materials. Some people may opt for plant food or fertilizer, but it’s not necessary. 

• Water the herbs once or twice a week, depending on what herbs are planted. To see if your herbs are thirsty, touch the first inch or so of the soil of the plant. If it feels dry, go ahead and gently water the roots.
• Harvest the herbs regularly as you cook and eat. Frequent harvesting is good! It encourages further growth of the plant. Go ahead and dry or freeze the fresh herbs if you won’t use them immediately. 
• Sun is important for your herb garden. Some herbs like more or less sunlight, but most will do well with an average of a few hours per day.
• Prune flowers when they pop up. It’s not necessary, but some herbs such as oregano and thyme will sprout flower blooms in the spring and summer. To keep your plant bushy and encourage growth of leaves (the part you harvest), snip the buds.

Cooking with Fresh Herbs

Cooking with fresh herbs is an easy way to elevate many dishes. It’s also super rewarding to reap the benefits of your gardening skills (fork, meet mouth)! Some meals and dishes can be based entirely on an herb, or simply use it as an extra ingredient or garnish. 

Breakfast

Persian Herb Frittata by The Kitchn makes great use of fresh dill and other herbs. Just start with Smith Brothers Farms Premium Eggs.

Lunch

Pesto pasta is made with fresh basil or parsley, lemon, pine nuts, and quality olive oil and grated parmesan cheese. Our favorite ingredients for a pasta pesto include Tacoma Boys Olio Dorato Lemon Garlic Olive Oil and Delallo Organic Farfalle Pasta.

Dinner

Strip Steak with Chimichurri Sauce by Jessica Gavin with Rosemary Roasted Potatoes by Rachel Cooks. Fresh oregano, cilantro, and parsley come into play in the chimichurri while rosemary perfectly seasons Baby Red Potatoes. We like Prime Grade Top Sirloin for this meal. 

Snack

Pull-Apart Sour Cream and Chive Rolls by Bon Appetit. Cooking with fresh herbs makes these buttery tolls tasty enough to enjoy as a snack any time of the day. Bob’s Red Mill Bread Flour makes them soft and flaky.

Cocktail

Basil alongside mint or lime is one of the tastiest ways to use fresh herbs in a drink. This recipe uses fresh basil alongside cocktail basics like simple syrup and club soda. 

Basil Mojito 

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 10 fresh basil leaves
• Juice of two limes (2 ounces)
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 4 ounces white rum
• Club soda to top
• 2 lime wedges and basil leaves to garnish

Directions

1. Lightly muddle the basil and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker.
2. Add the lime juice and white rum and shake with ice for 30 seconds.
3. Strain into two glasses and fill with club soda to preference.
4. Garnish with lime wedges and basil leaves and enjoy!

Get Creative In the Kitchen

Swing by your local Tacoma Boys to get prepped for those fresh and flavorful meals made with your herb garden. No matter what you have planned for the menu, fresh herbs are almost always a thoughtful addition. To stay up to date on insider deals and specials, sign up for Tacoma Boys’ text list. Just text (253) 246-1661 to tell Paul you want to be on the list!

We have no doubt that vegetable gardeners are behind the scenes, plotting, planning and even beginning to sow for their summer gardens. February and March are still plenty cold, but our moderate climate allows for some early planting. When you come in and visit us, you’ll see that we, too, have the gardening bug and are filling our lot with everything you need for your summer garden. Some people think about the whole lot! Perhaps a new shed, or maybe removing a couple of trees for a wider space, in fact, some even think about consulting with some Milwaukee hardscape suppliers to see what they might need for a new hardscaping project like a patio or paved path. However, not everyone has quite the same zeal for gardening a large plot. Tilling and sowing and maintenance on a large scale might not be your thing. Enjoy a small scale garden and add beauty that you can savor with a patio herb garden.

Think Savory

A sprinkle of fresh chopped herbs at the end of cooking time elevates a dish from good to spectacular. Why not grow your own herb patch just outside your kitchen window? A patio herb garden grown in containers is just as stunning as a non-edible arrangement. Try some of these combos to add beauty, aroma, and flavor to your patio garden.

Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme

You can use the gardening concept of using a “thriller, filler, and spiller” even in an edible garden, though nothing in this arrangement counts as just a filler, when it is all edible! For this arrangement, place an upright growing rosemary in the center of the pot as a thriller. Sage comes in a variety of leaf colors and acts as a great filler next to the rosemary. Along the outside of the pot, a few thyme plants will fill in the added space and spill over the edges as it grows. This perennial arrangement should provide beauty and flavor for years to come.

Parsley, Marigolds, and Nasturtiums

This is another great, and edible, “thriller, filler, spiller” combination that will wow with its vibrant color. Parsley, at the center of the pot, will provide an upright green spray as a backdrop for sunny marigold plants. Marigold petals add stunning color and a peppery kick to salads.

Plant nasturtiums around the edge of the pot and they will dramatically spill over the edge. Both their leaves and flowers are edible, with a spicy taste akin to arugula. Add the flowers to salads or rice dishes for a pop of color. Don’t be surprised when the hummingbirds constant your patio. They are fond of the nectar from nasturtiums’ vibrant flowers.

For more great edible flowers, check out this list.

Mint, Mint, and More Mint!

Mint gets a bad wrap in the vegetable patch because it is a vigorous grower and becomes invasive, but it lends itself perfectly to container gardening. The plant will be constricted by the pot and will grow lush without taking over.

Spearmint is the most commonly used mint for mixed drinks, especially mojitos. If you only want to grow one mint variety, this is a great standard. The variety of mint flavor profiles and leaf colors is quite diverse. You might find that pineapple mint, chocolate mint, or lemon bergamot mint is more your speed.

If you choose to grow more than one variety of mint, be sure to plant each in separate pots. The flavor profile of each mint tends to get muddled and bland when they are grown together.

Pocket Planters: Not Just for Strawberries

Fill a pocketed, strawberry planter with your most used herbs for a quick one-stop shop, when it’s time to prep dinner. Place an upright herb, such as basil, in the top of the planter and tuck herbs with a trailing habit into the side pockets: oregano, lemon balm, tarragon, rosemary, and thyme are all good options. Just avoid mint in this planting, unless you fancy a pot full of mint.

With a few simple plant pairings in your patio herb garden, your patio can become a sanctuary and a culinary inspiration. Stop in to see which pots and herbs call out to you. Our ceramic pots are always Buy One Get One Free, so you can make a big impact quickly.

For insider tips on how to keep plants and flowers fresh and longer lasting, download Tacoma Boy’s how-to guide here. Then, stay up to date on insider deals and specials when you sign up for Tacoma Boys’ text list. Just text (253) 246-1661 to tell Paul you want to be on the list!

We know that the pots at Tacoma Boys and H & L Produce are beautiful as stand alone decorations, or as homes for thousands of kinds of plants, and even a series of vegetable starts. But an unsung hero for the foodie and young family is easy access to herbs. So here is our quick guide to a do it yourself herb garden. (more…)