If this is your first year gardening, I recommend planting seeds to grow your own herbs! It’s a lot easier than most vegetables. Here’s why.
The most popular culinary herbs like basil, parsley, and cilantro, are actually just leaves. Maybe you knew that but maybe this is mind-blowing information lol. Leaves are a lot easier for a plant to grow, than a full on vegetable like a tomato, for example.
In order for a vegetable to grow, the plant has to reach a certain level of maturity/age. But leaves are always popping up, even in very young plants! Herbs are sometimes ready to harvest in as little as 3 weeks after planting. That’s fast!
When it comes to growing herbs, you can pick and eat them any time in the growing process, even if the plant is still small/immature. There’s no waiting around for a vegetable to grow, so you can harvest the leaves as soon as they appear. In fact, the sooner the better, as young leaves taste much better than mature ones (especially if the plant has begun to make a flower [called “bolting”], the leaves will start to taste bitter).
Many vegetables like tomatoes also require a lot of sun and water in order to grow. But herbs, on the other hand, can do very well in part shade and without heavy water or fertilizer. That’s why you’ll see people growing herbs on the kitchen windowsill. Herbs are just less finicky overall.
If you’re looking for some great organic herb seeds this year, I hope you’ll consider purchasing from Waystation Plants! Your support helps us grow.
