Hey gardeners!
Growing culinary herbs can be a great alternative or compliment to growing vegetables at home. This can allow for easy access to flavors that make the most of meals you are preparing. For some tips on growing both in containers and in-ground and recommendations for both annual and perennial herbs for Zone 6, check out this page from Heirloom Soul. Among other guidance, the author includes an outline of some go-to plants to consider:
- CHIVES. Plant 1-2 onion chive plants and they will keep getting bigger every year with absolutely zero effort.
- GARLIC CHIVES. Same deal as onion chives but garlic chive plants are a bit smaller so I would plant 4-5.
- SORREL. If you really want to jazz up your green routine, you have to plant garden sorrel! This is one of the most fun plants in the garden, in my opinion, despite its plain green appearance. The flavor of these green leaves are unbelievable — sour and tangy, amazing raw to brighten up a salad or cooked down in soup. Sorrel is perennial in Zone 6 and will come back bigger every year with no effort.
- THYME. Regular English Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Orange Balsam Thyme… there are so many fun varieties of thyme available! Plant a few of each of these varieties and watch them grow bigger each year with no effort. You could also try filling in patchy grassy areas in your yard with Creeping Thyme.
- NETTLES. Nettles are the cream of the nutrient-dense crop. Yes, these are the stinging nettles that sting. But if you wear gloves while harvesting them, they lose their sting after cooking and drying. I add nettles to everything possible — soups, stirfrys, sandwiches — and add nettles to my green tea every morning for a nutrient boost. Nettles need space in the garden, so give them their own area in a moist location and they will thrive.
- SAGE. I love growing a combination of Berggarten Sage, Tricolor Sage and Purple Sage. Plant a few individual sage plants and watch them take off and get bigger every year with, again, no effort on your part.
- OREGANO. Did you know that oregano produces the most lovely pink, white or purple flowers in the summer? I actually sell them as cut flowers on my flower farm! Plant a delicious Greek Oregano plant and watch it get bigger every year with zero effort.
- LEMON BALM. Lemon balm is a special plant for me — I love using it especially in the summer to add to sun tea or to make a sun infusion on its own. Lemon balm will grow bigger every year with zero effort.
- MINT. Every person ever will tell you not to plant mint in your garden or it will take over. I encourage you to plant as much mint as you want… in a pot! That way the mint will be contained and won’t take over your entire garden. It will still come back every year in the pot, even in the most frigid of temperatures over winter. Chocolate Mint, Applemint, Ginger Mint or Peppermint… there are so many fun mints to choose from; wish I had room for them all.
- LAVENDER. What is better than a lavender border around your entire herb or veggie garden? This is exactly what I’ve done in my backyard using my favorite French ‘Grosso’ variety. In Zone 6, Spanish lavenders will not come back after the winter, but I’ve had much success growing English and French lavender varieties as long as they are planted in a spot where soil freely drains.
- RHUBARB. Plant rhubarb with a crown (root). Rhubarb is one of my favorite plants to have in the garden because the pink growing tips will begin popping out of the ground in very early Spring… a sign that so much beauty is yet to come! Rhubarb plants get huge (like zucchini), so make sure to give this one a lot of space. Rhubarb will grow best in the ground, not in a planter.
- PARSLEY. Curly or Italian parsley will come back for several years in Zone 6, and will self-seed for new plants in the future. We grow through a ton of parsley in our house and we’ve saved so much money on this one patch of parsley alone! We have about a dozen plants in the ground, and parsley will also do well in a planter.
- LOVAGE. Lovage is an herb with an incredibly unique flavor that I describe as “celery on steroids.” The flavor of lovage is pungent but so interesting that I’ve planted it in multiple planting beds in my backyard. Not only is lovage great for infusing into vinegars, the plant itself grows an umbellifer-type flower which attracts hoverflies and other beneficial predatory insects that will help keep other flying garden pests under control. Lovage gets tall (5+ feet) and will grow best in the ground, not in a planter.
- CATNIP. For your cat babies. Catnip plants will come back bigger every year in Zone 6 with no effort and your cat’s love will grow for you all the more.
- YARROW. I personally don’t eat yarrow, but it is my all-time favorite perennial plant and is considered a medicinal herb in many parts of the world. Interestingly, yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a coagulant and I have used it to stop bleeding on my cut fingers many times in the farm and when I’ve cut my fingers pretty badly while using a knife in the kitchen. Yarrow leaves, when crushed and applied to a bleeding wound, will stop pain and bleeding almost immediately. Therefore, I’ll always have yarrow around. It comes in lovely colors and will bloom for years in the herb garden. Source Native Yarrow plants here.
If you’re more interested in growing a small herb garden indoor at home, check out this guide from Gardenary.
To register for this weekend’s ‘Kitchen Herbs’ workshop, visit https://vinesgardens.org/events/ today.
