How to Grow A Healing Herb Kitchen Garden

Growing a kitchen garden is a simple way to keep fresh healing herbs close at hand. Many herbs have healing properties. Chamomile, Basil, Lavender, and Lemon Balm are just a few herbs that are not only healing but delicious as well.

Things You'll Need

• Small pots with sufficient drainage
• Organic potting soil
• Herb seedlings or seeds

Instructions

1. 

   Grow your healing herbs in the right sun light and proper soil. Locate a sunny area just beyond your kitchen door for easy access. Use soil that allows for ample drainage.

2. 

   Plant chamomile in early spring. If you start from seeds, begin in March. Plant outside after the last chance of frost has passed. Harvest right when the flowers open--usually in spring or summer. Chamomile is good for one to three years and is a hardy plant.

3. 

   Freshen your kitchen garden with basil. Plant in warmth and pinch back flowers to maintain leaf production. If allowed to flower, save seeds to plant the following season. Once harvested in the fall, lift plant and roots to plant indoors for the winter. Use the leaves of the basil plant. Basil's shelf life is one to three years.

4. 

   Ease tension with freshly-grown Lavender. Best grown in warmer climates, lavender can be used in teas or in lotion to soothe skin. Once cultivated in early spring or fall, plant lavender in light and limy soil. Soil conditions help lavender thrive in winter and to produce maximum fragrance. Lavender needs complete sunlight. Use lavender flowers and harvest year-round.

5. 

   Ease indigestion, colds and fever with lemon balm, also known as peppermint. Plant in sandy soil or loam in spring. If you live in an arid region, plant lemon balm in partial shade. Use the leaves and the flowering tops. Lemon balm can be harvested as late as November in Zone 7. Harvest flowers and leaves when fully blooming in the summer. Peppermint has a shelf life of one to three years.

Tips & Warnings

• Start seeds in early Spring or plant seedlings mid- to late-Spring

Resources

• Growing Medicinal Herbs
• German Chamomile
• Growing Basil
• Lemon Balm
• Lavender