Groxie

Starting a small garden is so easy, and having a little herb garden out back has saved us tons of money. Now, instead of buying a $3 package of fresh herbs from the grocery store when I just need a few sprigs, I can go out back and snip just what I need for free.

Supplies Needed

• Pots/containers
• Seeds
• Spray bottle
• Empty plastic water/soda bottles
• Vermiculite, peat moss, and compost (or soil of your choice)

Getting Started

First off, we decided to follow the Square Foot Garden method for our soil. At first we used store-bought compost, but we eventually got around to making our own. We cook constantly, so it didn’t take us long to make more compost than our garden could hold.

We started each of our plants from seed—it was much cheaper than buying starter plants. At Artistic Gardens you can buy sample seed packets of just a couple dozen seeds. This worked out great for us, since our garden is so small.

To start the seeds, we created a little greenhouse for each one using clear plastic bottles. We saved a few of our plastic bottles instead of recycling them. John (my fiance) cut them in half and drilled a hole in the bottom half. If you don’t have a drill, you could cut them, or just use the bottle tops. We water our little seedlings through the hole, and they get plenty of sun. If it rains hard or gets too windy, the seedlings are protected.

We don’t use any pesticides on our garden, and we’ve been lucky enough not to have any major bug problems. A daddy longlegs has moved in to eat bugs for us, and we can usually find a ladybug or two to munch aphids if they get out of hand. Mother Earth News has a good summary of how to deal with garden bugs.

Notes from Our Garden

We’re still new at this gardening thing, but we learned quite a bit after last year. Our rosemary, thyme, sage, and oregano survived the winter. The oregano is trying to take over the whole garden, so I guess the winter only made it stronger. The mint sent little runners up all over the garden, so we took out a few. We’re letting the others go for a while to see which one works out best. Last summer we had tons of mint, and we used it in iced tea, mint juleps, mojitos, and yummy lime drinks.

John built our garden container, and it sits on bricks to keep it raised off the ground. He also made a top for the garden out of chickenwire to keep out our kitties and any other critters that might want to walk around in the garden. Our outside space is very limited in our apartment, but I think this set—up allows us to make the most of it.

As you can see, we’re still waiting for a couple of the herbs to really take off, but it looks promising. We started lots of basil and thai basil seeds this year, so I’m hoping to have more pesto than I know what to do with!