How to Grow Herbs Organically

You know you're going to eat them, so whether you grow parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme or basil and borage, grow them organically. Find out how easy it is to grow tasty herbs without pesticides.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Balanced Organic Fertilizer
• Compost Makers
• Fish Emulsions
• Herb Plants
• Mulch
• Planting Containers
• Watering Cans
• Measuring Spoons

1. Grow herbs anywhere you get half a day or more of sunlight. Plant in organic soil in pots, in garden beds mixed with flowers or in your kitchen garden for easy snipping (see "How to Build Organic Soil," under Related eHows).

2. Grow your herbs by type: annuals (like parsley) during their season and perennials (like rosemary) in the ground year-round. Try finicky ones for your area in pots - lavender in the deep south, dill in the far north - so you can control their conditions.

3. Mix herbs together in your planting for a diverse design that insects find distracting. Interplant parsley and chives for a border - avoid big patches of one herb that pests can devastate quickly.

4. Fertilize herbs at planting time with compost tea or diluted fish emulsion. Add either to your water often enough to keep the nutrients coming and the plants growing without overfertilizing them - about once a month when they're actively growing.

5. Mulch herbs to prevent weeds, but be sure to pull the mulch back around reseeders and herbs you want to spread.

6. Pinch plants regularly for cooking and rooting.

7. Walk through your garden daily to keep an eye on insects; stomp and squish the first you see. Hang yellow sticky bars in the garden to monitor insect populations.

8. Maintain herbs on the dry side once established for the most flavorful harvest. Pick them at their oil's peak - midmorning on a sunny day.

Tips & Warnings

• Drying herbs reduces their flavor - try freezing to preserve more fresh taste.

• Plant parsley and its cousin cilantro early in the season to prevent heat-triggered flowering.

• Let chives reseed for a carpet of spunky green anywhere.

• Put vigorous herbs like mint in a pot and plant the pot to control spread.