Easy-grow herbs
Pots of leafy, flavoursome and generous annual herbs sitting at your back door where you can reach out and pick them for your cooking are one of the delights of your East Lothian kitchen garden. When you grow your own, you can have as big a bunch of parsley as you want: and even better, you can try more unusual herbs like caraway, summer savoury, dill and chervil.
Some general tips
Here's some general tips that'll help you have pots and pots of flavour from one end of the year to the next:
- Sow little and often so you've always got a new tray of seedlings ready in the wings to take over once the previous crop finishes. Plant half a row, or a new container once a month from March to September for year-round flavour.
- Pick leaves frequently as this encourages fresh growth.
- Make a late sowing to bring indoors in around September, and you'll have fresh herbs to pick from the kitchen windowsill all through winter.
Parsley, Sage, Basil & Coriander
Here's some tips specific to these varieties:
- Parsley is best kept in semi-shade in the shade - if it gets too hot and dry it'll quickly flower and run to seed. The pretty aniseed-flavoured chervil, which looks a little like cowparsley, is another plant that likes cool, shady conditions.
- Basil, Parsley and Coriander will flower when left to grow unchecked and that turns the leaves bitter. By nipping out the tips every few days you'll keep the sweet, fragrant young foliage coming.
- Coriander doesn't like being transplanted so you'll get best results from cell or pot-grown seedlings that can be transplanted without disturbing the roots or directly sown seed. If you haven't got a spot in the garden, just sow the large, round seeds directly into a trough or generous container to grow into a fountain of lush, spicily scented greenery for flavouring Asian cookery and salads.
- Parsley and Basil are perfect for a late sowing to bring indoors in around September, and you'll have fresh herbs to pick from the kitchen windowsill all through winter. for this: pick them sparingly and they should keep going till spring.
Follow these simple tips and you'll be sure to enjoy the fragrances and tastes of there fantastic culinary herbs.
As ever, if you have any questions or need advice that we’ve not covered here, our plant team are always more than happy to help.
