Herb Seeds – Growing Herbs
Anise - An unusual herb
Nearly all herb varieties can be grown, with very little effort, from seed although this obviously takes a little longer to grow than buying a ready grown plant from the supermarket. However you can’t forget that growing your own herbs, from seed, gives you a vast selection of varieties and a fantastic return on your investment of a little time, money, water and space. Sowing seed is definitely the quickest and most cost effective way to grow a particular plant in large quantities and the usual method for raising annual and biannual herbs and certain species that are not native to your country and such easily germinated perennials for example chives, fennel, rue and salad burnet.
If we look at a seed as a potential plant just waiting for its opportunity to grow we have to remember that it is only going to germinate when the conditions are right. For most herb varieties this is a combination of a few different things; the right soil temperature, soil moisture and air conditions is usually enough to start them off. However other varieties have some very special requirements which depend upon the kind of surroundings that they would normally meet in the wild. For example the seeds of the juniper and woodruff are protected by a hard coating. This is designed to resist early germination when the soil and air is too cold. They require frosts to slowly break this shell open and then allow the germination to begin. This process is called stratification.
Other varieties of herbs require not the temperature to start germination but the soil conditions to break the seeds and start the process. Moisture is often the starting point as this
Caraway Seeds
slowly softens the shell of the seed. We can speed up the process, and play at being Mother Nature, by soaking the seed overnight or by gently thinning the shell with fine sandpaper or even pricking the shell with the point of a sharp knife. Alternatively some seeds need light and others darkness to germinate so it is very important that you follow the sowing instructions and maybe even call us at Original Touch to ask advice.
The normal sowing time for the vast majority of herbs is mid-spring onwards, starting as soon as the soil is warm enough to support the growth. Nature gives us plenty of notice that the soil is warming as buds start to show on bushes and trees and unfortunately weeds start to show themselves. If you are looking to grow herbs in large quantities then they should be sown in drills in your garden plot. Wherever you decide to sow always fork, weed and rake the soil into a nice level seedbed first. To warm the soil, at the start of the season, cover it with cloches or just some plastic sheeting. The seeds should be sown at the bottom of the drill and then covered with a thin layer of soil before gently tamping the soil to ensure very good contact between the soil and the seed. If you are sowing in very dry weather then it is a good idea to water the drill before sowing. Allow the water to drain into the soil and then sow the seed. This pre-watering will soften the soil and not only allow good ‘bedding’ for the seed but provide some much needed moisture. Once sown, cover the seed and continue as normal.
The sown area should then be kept moist until the small seedlings start to appear. Once these seedlings are large enough to handle safely then they should be thinned to around 5 – 10 cm between each plant.
Having said all of this we feel that part of the beauty and attraction of growing herbs is that you can grow them in almost anything and almost anywhere. If it is basil growing in a pot in the kitchen, chives in a garden border or mint growing in a basket on your patio. The whole point of growing herbs is to enjoy the colours, the smells and most of all the fantastic tastes. It is definitely an over-used statement when it comes to growing your own, but we do agree that there is something quite special about picking your own herbs and using them in your own cooking.
MOST IMPORTANTLY DON’T FORGET TO ENJOY GROWING YOUR HERBS!
