Alternative uses for herbs

As a single person house, sometimes I don’t use up all my herbs.  Here are some alternate uses:

• Make a display – My herbs bolted so to keep them alive, I had to prune them back.  They looked and smelt divine with my lavender
• Dry them – Herbs also look beautiful when hanging up to dry.  So decorate your house with them, and they will come in handy when cooking over the slower-growing months, too!
• Make tea with them – Mint tea, with real mint, is divine.  Try using different types of mint for different strength and flavour
• Swap them! Think of all your friends, neighbours and family who also cook, and you’ll realise there’s no reason to let your herbs go to waste.  Even better, encourage people around you to grow something for you to share.  Contribute to your community, make new friends, improve the air quality in your little space, and enjoy BIG flavours.  Win, win, win, WIN!

From little things BIG things grow

It’s springtime and Melbourne is remembering how to turn on some beautiful sunny days – mixed in with the inevitable wind and rain to create “four seasons in one day”.  It’s the perfect time for planting some herbs!  Here are my babies upon purchase 12 months ago… 

…And as they are today, in a new “Farmers Market” garden from my local nursery.
Top tips:

• Plants need water.  Keep watering small pots regularly.  Even if it’s rained recently, they will dry out quickly on those sunny days
• But not too much. Your pots need to have drainage – you don’t want wet feet everyday, neither do your herbs!  Let excess water run out (some holes drilled into my Farmers Market fixed this problem for me)
• Sun is your friend. And as long as they are well watered, these little babies have thrived even on a west-facing balcony
• Little plants still need space. After a year in tiny pots, my herbs were almost all roots and no soil.  Gently and with lots of love pull out your plants, take off some of the excess roots, and you can repot back into the same pot with some new soil.
  
• Feed your plants!  Good old fashioned Blood and Bone is my choice.  Remember when it comes to edible plants, whatever you plant them in is feeding your food, so organic is best.
• Enjoy. The smell that comes from your little herb garden each time you water is amazing.  You can feel extra proud of the BIG taste when you use your herbs, food tastes better when the ingredients were grown with love!