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Patio herb garden


How to plant an herb container garden for patio or kitchen — Greenhouse Studio

Well it’s blazing hot here in Napa. It hit 100F today so it feels more like mid July or August. One thing about hot weather though - it puts me in the mood for growing herbs because they generally like a lot of sun and heat.

More importantly, it also makes me think of herb container gardens because hot weather is outdoor grilling, BBQ, and cocktail weather, and what can be better than planting pots that support our culinary and cocktail habits? After all, any self-respecting back yard chef and mixologist would recommend using fresh herbs as key ingredients, right?

Besides being fun and beautiful, growing your own herbs makes economic sense. Even if they don’t grow as well inside for example, small herbs in a 3” pot usually cost roughly the same as buying the herb from the grocery store, but the cut herbs will last a week tops and need to be tossed.

So let’s get to it. I thought it would be fun to go through some planter ideas as well as a step by step process for putting together a winning herb pot combo that’s both delicious and ornamental.

If you’re new to container gardening, rest assured with a little effort (not much!) you’ll get great results. Container gardening is fun! You’ll enjoy watching your plants grow, and it’s so satisfying having fresh picked herbs any time to add to your favorite dishes and drinks.

Sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary and garlic with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. All can be easily grown in pots on your patio or in the kitchen. Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

Planters

First on the list is to select a suitable container. Whether you plan on planting a single herb in a pot or several, proportion is important both visually and for water retention purposes.

One thing to keep in mind about containers when choosing is that they dry out quickly, especially when exposed to a lot of direct sun, and sun makes herbs happy. Most prefer at least 4 hours direct sun per day. So understand that a tall narrow container will dry out faster than a short wide one of the same volume. (Read here for more on container sizes and water retention.) Your pots will likely need to be watered close to every day in a hot dry climate, less if you have summer rain.

Image by makunin from Pixabay

Soil

Choose a general all-purpose, bagged planting medium. It’s unlikely you’ll need to add extra perlite, sand, or other amendment to it to lighten it up. If it’s a good container planting mix, it should be light enough already. Pots dry out quickly as it is, and most herbs need a regular supply of available water, especially when grown in a planter rather than in the ground.

Keep a few curved pieces of broken pots for covering drain holes to help prevent roots from blocking them. Do not add gravel or rocks to the bottom for drainage, just use the same potting soil throughout.

Light - outside and in

Most herbs like at least 4 hours of sun per day; 5 to 6 hours is ideal. They will be happiest outside for this reason, but don’t let that deter you from trying herbs indoors as well. I grow them in my kitchen next to a bright window. Rotate the container periodically to promote even growth on all sides.

Experiment with different kinds of herbs and see which ones do well inside for you.

Even if you don’t have a sunny window for them, I say go for it anyway and just understand they will get kind of leggy eventually and need to be replaced more frequently. It’s still less expensive than buying cut herbs from the grocery store and much more convenient to have them at your fingertips rather than needing to pick them up at the market.

Water

My method for judging when to water potted plants is almost always by lifting the container (or at least one side of it) and assessing its weight. To me, this is much more accurate than touching the soil. Maybe it’s just my digits, but I can’t tell very well how dry the soil is by feeling it. If you can’t lift your container easily though, then this is probably the next best way.

Herbs can be grown indoors as well next to a bright window. They may get leggy and need to be replaced more often, but it’s still more economical than buying cut herbs at the store plus they add greenery to your decor. Photo by Al Kawasa on Unsplash

Fertilizer

I don’t give non-woody herbs fertilizer. If your soil comes with fertilizer in it, then great. If not, I wouldn’t sweat it.

General herb plant care

Chances are your herbs won’t get too leggy because you’ll be consistently pinching or snipping them to harvest for your cocktail or dish du jour. Trim off dead leaves and pinch/prune lightly as needed though.

Designing your potted herb garden

Now that we have our container know-how taken care of, it’s time for the fun part - putting together your herb planter.

As I mentioned briefly above, you can go about this a couple ways.

Herb container planting - thriller, filler, spiller

When using multiple plants, I often go with the “Thriller, Filler, Spiller” method for designing containers.

Step by step for thriller, filler, spiller container planting:

  1. First group your plants together and decide how you want to arrange them in the pot. You may want to place the Thriller in the middle surrounded by the Fillers. The Spillers go on the outside angled a bit outward.

  2. Fill the bottom of the container with enough soil so you can place your Thriller even with the top of the pot (the soil will settle when watered).

  3. Be sure to rough up the roots when you remove a plant from its store container. This encourages the plant to “branch out” in the pot and not keep growing roots in the same shape as the container it came in.

  4. Add more soil until you have the soil at the level you need to place your Filler plants (assuming they’re in a smaller, shorter container than the Thriller) and finally place the Spiller plants angled outward toward the edge of the pot.

  5. Don’t forget to rough up the roots!

  6. Press the plants firmly into the soil so they’re secure. Don’t worry about squishing them up against each other either. This isn’t a “forever” pot - they will grow just fine.

  7. Add a little more soil to the container so no roots are exposed

  8. Water the pot thoroughly until it’s running out of the bottom. Watering-in will reveal any spots missing soil, so add any needed extra potting mix and re-water.

Roughly plan which plants will go where in the pot.

Put enough soil in the pot until your largest plant is even with the top. Add more soil until the smaller plants are at the same level.

Press the plants firmly into the soil so they’re secure. Don’t mind if they’re right up next to each other.

Herb container all potted up and watered in from left - tricolor sage, lemon balm, jalapeno pepper (tallest plant), purple basil (hidden in back right) and nasturtium. It may look underwhelming at first, but once your plants get over transplant shock, they will fill in quickly, smell and taste great.

Groupings and display

Herb recommendations

Some perennial favorites:

Some that may be new to try:

Traditional French herbs: lavender, rosemary, and two types of thyme on the right. Image by gate74 from Pixabay

Some that aren’t strictly herbs (what exactly is the definition of an herb anyway? :)

Trailing nasturtiums make beautiful “Thriller” plants in containers. Image by Ismet Sahin from Pixabay

Delicious looking grilled bread with burrata cheese, watercress, and edible nasturtium flower. Image by silviarita from Pixabay

Selecting herb varieties for flavor

Rosemary adds great flavor to meat and even to some cocktails, although a little goes a long way. For my recent re-landscaping project, I choose two types:

I’m far from a of rosemary connoisseur though, and especially if I’m just throwing a few sprigs onto the beef or chicken before it’s grilled, I wonder if I could tell the difference?

Rosemary is aromatic, flavorful, and ornamental in pots or the landscape. Image by Couleur from Pixabay

One herb where you do need to pay attention to what you’re buying though is thyme. Certain varieties of thyme have that distinctive thyme-y scent and flavor but most out there have very little, so pinch off an end at the nursery and smell it to make sure.

Three of the most common that are great for culinary flavor are Thymus vulgaris (common thyme), Thymus citriodorus (citrus thyme), and Thymus serpillum (wild thyme).

A handful of thyme varieties are useful for cooking, but most are not. Pinch off an end and smell it to be sure. Image by photosforyou from Pixabay

Mint - The two types you hear most about are peppermint and spearmint, although there are actually many more. So what’s the difference and which should you use?

Peppermint tea. Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Spearmint is the Mojito mint of choice. Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash

So now you’re all ready to make a beautiful, aromatic, and flavorful herb container garden. Have fun with it and don’t be afraid to mix it up and try new combinations. You can hardly go wrong, and it’s not a long term commitment.

Your beautiful planters will have you set for warm weather entertaining with all the herbs you need to make your favorite stand-out recipes for grilling, cooking, and cocktails.

What are your favorite herbs to grow and use in recipes? I’d love to hear about them. And as always, if you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll be sure to get back to you.

Happy growing, grilling, and mixing!

Garden, DIYTina HuffmanComment

The 7 best herbs for container gardening

There are many benefits to growing herbs in containers. For me, it’s all about access. I love having fresh herbs growing in pots just outside my kitchen door. That way, when I’m in the middle of making dinner and realize I forgot to harvest a handful of basil or parsley, it’s only a few steps away. As well, different herbs have different moisture needs and growing them in pots is an easy way to control soil moisture. Of course, growing herbs in containers will also keep aggressive spreaders, like mint and lemon balm, under control and away from garden beds. Here are seven of the best herbs for container gardening.

The 7 Best Herbs for Container Gardening:

Growing herbs in containers is a great way for beginners to learn how to grow some of their favorite kitchen herbs. If you’ve been dreaming of having your own herb garden on your patio or balcony, get ready to learn how to make that dream a reality! It’s true that many herbs like dill, chives, and cilantro can be grown in pots, but the 7 herbs below make fantastic low-care potted plants. You can buy kits for container herb gardening but I suggest selecting a pot or windowbox and buying healthy herb seedlings from your local garden centre.

1) Basil:

Basil is my go to herb in summer and my gardens are full of different varieties like Genovese, Nufar, Dolce Fresca, or Spicy Globe, but I also love growing basil on my sunny back deck. Basil is a warm weather annual herb and thrives when grown in pots and window-boxes. Many gardeners struggle to grow great basil, but give it well-drained soil and plenty of sunshine and it’s usually smooth sailing. Like most herbs, basil responds well to frequent harvesting, and will continue to push out fresh growth when trimmed back. There’s no doubt it’s one of the best herbs for container gardening. Also be sure to pinch off any flower buds that appear. Once basil begins to flower, the leaf flavor declines. For more advice on growing basil, check out this article.

Many herbs, like basil and thyme, make easy-to-grow container plants.

2) Greek Oregano:

Oregano is an enthusiastic grower in the garden and putting it in a pot is an easy and beautiful way to control its growth. The small leaves are packed with flavor, perfect for topping homemade pizza and bruschetta, as well as adding to vinaigrettes and marinades. Greek oregano offers the best flavor for culinary use, but my family also loves Syrian Oregano, a tender perennial, (zone 7) often called Zaatar, which has pretty silvery leaves.

3) Rosemary:

Rosemary is a woody shrub with aromatic, needle-like foliage that adds a welcome depth of flavor to roasted potatoes and chicken dishes. In my zone 5 garden, rosemary is an annual, but growing it in pots makes it easy to bring indoors to a sunny windowsill once the days start to cool down in mid-autumn. There are many cultivars of rosemary, with most growing upright, but a few do cascade down, making them perfect for the edges of pots and planters. I really like Gorizia, an upright cultivar with large leaves and Arp, which is a slightly more cold tolerant variety. The quickest way to kill container-grown rosemary is by watering it too much; it needs consistent moisture, not wet feet.

Herbs can be grown in a variety of containers, from plastic or clay pots to fun items like old wheelbarrows. Just make sure your containers have adequate drainage.

4) Thyme:

Thyme is one of the best herbs for container gardening; it’s low maintenance, drought-tolerant, and can take a bit of neglect. Plus, it looks fantastic when planted at the front of a container where the tiny leaves can mound over the edge of the pot. Give it full sun and don’t overwater; it’s drought-resistant and prefers its soil on the dry side. For culinary use, try English thyme or Lemon thyme, which has variegated yellow and green leaves and a bold lemon scent and flavor.

5) Mint:

If you’re looking for perennial herbs in pots, consider mint. I was first introduced to mint when I planted a few sprigs in my mothers perennial garden. It quickly took over and we’re still pulling it out – twenty years later! Sorry mom. Now, I grow mint in pots, where its aggressive growth can be contained. There are so many awesome types of mint; peppermint, chocolate mint, mojito mint, strawberry mint, and spearmint, for example, and I like to plant several different varieties of mint in a big pot. We add the leaves to summer drinks, fruit salad, and also dry plenty for winter tea. Mint appreciates ample moisture and rich soil. I use a two-thirds potting mix to one-third compost mixture in my mint containers.

Mint can be invasive in garden beds, but is easy-to-grow in pots, making it one of the best herbs for container gardening.

6) Parsley

Basil may be my number one culinary herb, but parsley is a close second. I grow the two main types; curly and flat-leaved parsley, in both garden beds and containers, both of which are definitely on the list of the best herbs for container gardening. In fact, the unique leaf texture of curly parsley makes it a nice planting partner for ornamental plants like million bells, geraniums, petunias, and other summer bloomers. Parsley is very easy to grow and should be started from seeds sown indoors under a grow light. You can also buy seedlings from a local garden centre. It grows best with regular moisture and feeding. I incorporate a slow-release organic fertilizer at planting time to keep the plants happy from spring through late autumn. Parsley also appreciates full sun, but can take some light shading.

7) Lemon Balm

A mint cousin, lemon balm also shares the aggressive growth habit of mint, which can quickly take over small garden spaces. Because of this, I plant lemon balm in containers. It’s a hardy perennial in zone 5, even overwintering in pots. Give it the same soil mixture (potting soil-compost) as mint, and water often. It needs ample moisture for the best flavor. And what flavor!  The glossy green leaves both smell and taste like lemons. It’s great in fruit salads, tea, lemonade, and marinades.

6 Tips for Growing Herbs in Containers:

1) Pick the right containers. Whether you’re growing vegetables, flowers, or herbs in pots, you’ll find the greatest success when you use containers with adequate drainage. Most pots come with drainage holes, but they can easily be added to wooden or plastic pots. I also love Smart Pots, fabric planters that come in a wide range of sizes. Small pots can hold individual herb plants, while the larger sizes are perfect for an instant herb garden on decks and patios.

2) Fill pots with a good quality potting mix. It may be tempting to fill your containers with garden soil, but garden soil quickly compacts in pots, reducing soil drainage and porosity. Herbs need good drainage. Fill your pots with potting soil or a combination of potting soil and aged compost. Worm castings are also an easy way to boost soil nutrients and moisture retention and you only need to add a handful to containers as a little goes a long way.

3) Look for the light. Make sure your container herb garden receives enough light by placing the pots in a space that receives at least 6 to 8 hours of sun each day.

4) Harvest regularly. Frequent harvesting with pruners or herb snips encourages fresh growth, so don’t be shy about pinching and clipping your homegrown herbs.

5) Water consistently. If you’re new to herb gardening do a little research. Certain herbs prefer very well-drained soil (thyme, oregano, rosemary), while others like more moisture (mint, coriander, lemon balm)

6) Feed occasionally. To promote healthy growth, feed your herbs with a fertilizer suitable for edibles. A liquid organic fertilizer can be used every 3 to 4 weeks while a slow release organic product can be added to the potting mix at planting time.

More posts on growing great vegetables and herbs in containers:

What herbs do you like to grow in containers?

Garden patio

A rare garden plot happens without a special place intended for relaxation or friendly gatherings. Someone in this role is a simple bench under the window of a garden house, much more often it is a gazebo or pavilion, braided with climbing plants or lined with flowers and ornamental shrubs. Recently, the patio has become an increasingly popular place for relaxation in the garden.

WHAT IS A PATIO?
A patio is a hard-surfaced area on which country furniture can be installed, often a garden fireplace or a grill oven for outdoor cooking. In the garden literature, you can find many references to the patio, but this term has entered our lexicon relatively recently. According to the architectural vocabulary, a patio is an open courtyard, often surrounded by galleries. It is widely distributed in Mediterranean countries and in Latin America. Apparently, in relation to modern gardens, the term "patio" is gradually gaining more and more extensive content. Let's try to understand this in more detail.
In a broad sense, a patio is a small isolated area in the garden, which most often directly adjoins the house or summer kitchen, but can also be arranged separately from summer cottages. If a patio is arranged near the house, then it becomes a kind of continuation of the internal space of the housing, another additional open-air room, which can be accessed directly from the house through wide sliding or hinged doors, which is especially convenient. When organizing a patio area near the house, it is important to take into account the geographical location and climate of the area: in areas where the summer is cool, the patio, of course, is placed on the sunny side of the house.

PATIO FUNCTION
By definition, a patio is for outdoor living. However, rest is different, and therefore the functions performed by the patio may vary. Within the patio reserved for a relaxing pastime, meetings and feasts, a barbecue oven or at least a simple barbecue, as well as garden furniture: benches, chairs and a table are placed in a narrow circle. On the site, located in a sunny place, there may be sun loungers for sunbathing, you can also hang a hammock. If there are outdoor enthusiasts in the family, then it would be nice to provide for the placement of sports equipment or even a tennis table on the patio. To save from the bright rays of the sun and rain, a canopy or a translucent roof made of polycarbonate plastic is arranged.

BUILDING MATERIALS
The base of the patio is a platform paved with natural stone, clinker bricks, paving slabs on a concrete screed or on a sand and gravel cushion. However, the coating can be more budgetary, for example, filled with gravel, and also lightweight, when instead of paving boards or parquet boards are laid on the logs, constructing a garden deck or deck. On such a warm wooden surface heated by the rays of the sun, it is pleasant to walk barefoot and sit in a wicker chair.
Wood flooring must be protected from decay. One of the most promising methods is thermal. At high temperatures, the polysaccharides in the composition of wood are destroyed, and it becomes unattractive for microorganisms. The thermal board obtained as a result of such processing becomes resistant to fungi in both dry and wet environments. Recently, decking has become more and more widespread, which is a mixture of chopped wood and various polymeric substances (polyethylene, polypropylene, etc.). Such decking has high environmental friendliness and wear resistance. The material is resistant to moisture, does not rot, well resists the action of ultraviolet rays and temperature changes. Composite decking is easy to install and is great for creating light decking in the garden.
When deciding on the use of one or another material in the construction of a patio , of course, one should take into account the stylistic features of all structures on the site, the nature of paving and fencing. The size of the patio is calculated in such a way that it is combined with the scale of the house and garden. The width of the site adjacent to the house is usually made somewhat larger than the height of the first floor, i.e. not less than 3.0–3.5 m. Most often, the patio is designed square or round, but there are no strict rules in this regard, and if necessary, it can be elongated or triangular.

WALLS
Since the patio is mainly intended for rest and relaxation, then its main feature is privacy and security from the outside world. And its space should not be exposed to the public. However, it is not at all necessary to surround the patio with walls, constructing a real patio - there are other ways to hide a private area from prying eyes.
The most common solutions are: the use of clipped hedges - green screens or vines. These techniques are traditionally used to divide the garden into zones and create secluded green rooms. The task is facilitated if the walls of the house serve as the boundaries of the patio on one or even two sides. A dense hedge is good for camouflaging your patio area and protecting it from the wind, but it can limit the amount of light that comes in. Therefore, the fence should not be very high: the smaller the patio area, the lower the height of the green walls.
PATIO LANDSCAPING PLANTS
Deciduous shrubs are often used to form a living patio fence, in which case the result is achieved faster, and the costs are less significant than when planting softwood . Sheared hedges up to 1.5–2.0 m high are grown from common barberry and barberry Thunberg, brilliant cotoneaster, euonymus European, common privet, as well as white turf, riverine maple and high spirea. Depending on the planted plant species, they are densely planted in 1-2 rows at the rate of 1-3 specimens / rm. m. You can also separate the patio area from the rest of the garden space using vertical structures: trellises, trellises or garden screens.

This method is perhaps more elegant, since such a fence takes up less space , its surface turns out to be more openwork, moreover, beautifully blooming vines are used in decorating vertical structures: climbing roses , clematis , princes and climbing honeysuckles. They will turn the patio into a cozy green room with flowering walls. The list of vines, in addition, is easy to replenish with decorative types of perennials and annuals, such as morning glory, dubious tladianta, sweet peas, nasturtium or fiery red beans. Completely enclosing the patio is also not worth it because in a confined space a person may feel uncomfortable. Also, do not deprive yourself of the pleasure of admiring the beauty of the garden from a comfortable platform. Experienced landscapers design the garden in such a way that the patio serves as one of those points of the site from which an attractive garden view opens up.

In fact, patio can be considered a separate small garden, built into the overall structure of the site.
The general complex also includes entrance arches and pergolas braided with plants, completely or partially covering the patio area.
If this zone is isolated and located away from the house, then a path is laid to it, which can also be arranged as a pergola, gallery or arcade. All these structures and structures become one with the patio. Ornamental plantings of shrubs and perennials along the fence, flower borders planted at the base of the trellis or lining the hedge can also be part of a large patio area.

If the patio area is formed on a site with a rugged relief and occupies part of the terrace, then the retaining wall or slope is decorated with shrubs with creeping and low spreading crowns, helping to create a dense or even continuous ground cover. These can be creeping willow and rocky willow, horizontal cotoneaster and Dammer's cotoneaster, ground cover roses, periwinkles or undersized, creeping conifers: junipers, microbiota, mountain pine, etc. Creeping and ampelous perennials also look attractive on slopes and walls: monetized loosestrife, yellow zelenchuk, ivy-shaped budra, subulate phlox, yasnotki and yaskolki.

Patios are often decorated with planters and flowerpots, as well as container crops that are taken out of the house in the summer to the street. A tub of orange blossoms or hibiscus in bloom , standing on paving slabs, will make your patio look like an Italian patio. And if it is also decorated with materials painted in the colors of terracotta and azure, then the resemblance to the Mediterranean prototype is guaranteed.

RECOMMENDATIONS
If the boardwalk is located in a shady and damp place, its surface, and especially the steps, can become wet and slippery. To protect against slipping, decking or shields with a corrugated, grooved surface are used; in the most dangerous places it can be tightened with a fine-mesh metal mesh. Along the edge of a paved area or deck, plants are placed in wooden tubs: tulips, lilies, hostas, compositions of attractive bush and ampelous annuals. They visually limit the private patio area and at the same time provide a gradual transition to the natural part of the garden.
If you are setting up an outdoor patio without a canopy, then make sure that tree branches do not hang over the platform from above. In addition to the fact that the patio will be in the shade all the time, which is not so good in our cool climate, after a rain, drops of water will fall from the branches for a long time.

05/12/2020

Herbal garden in the yard. A small sage plant is more than enough for our needs.

Introduction

This is a collection of pansies covering the last twenty years of slow growth of useful plants in our patio garden for our northeast Houston, Texas. We are in zone 9, which is characterized by long hot and humid summers, where every year there can be one or two nights below zero. Sometimes we cover or protect pots or plants from freezing temperatures. Maybe solar minimum will change everything, I don't know. Like all readers of SurvivalBlog, I will constantly adapt and change my approach to my location. I do not claim to be an expert on any of the topics below and the opinions are my opinions, neither good nor bad, just opinions. We all know that everyone has it.

Some of the plants are old varieties and we keep seeds, cuttings and roots to preserve this variety. Some of them come from large stores and are used mainly for large quantities of goods; Pepper, for example, seems to come in huge quantities from a small, purchased plant, sometimes for several years. I hope to eventually replace all non-hereditary varieties with self-sustaining varieties. It seems to me that older varieties are more susceptible to pests and require more care and less production. Produce less products, I like it!

We have a large 15" x 15" food dryer with 9 trays. It sits above the upright freezer inside the house. I don't turn it on; I just put plants and such on trays and let them dry naturally. It works great on AC during the summer months and on cooler, less humid days during the winter months. The crop is protected and the dried plants retain their color and hopefully the nutritional value of the live plants. We call it a dryer.

After many setbacks and learning about what works and what doesn't and what we actually use in medicine and cooking, we developed the patio garden concept. In addition to the regular garden, which has its own problems (insects, animals, watering, weeds), we maintain a thriving patio. This is for convenience, pleasure, education and aesthetics. Here in zone 9 we have 2 air conditioners for the main house that produce enough water to water the entire patio garden. These units create condensate when hot air blows over cold coils. Water drips into trays and flows through pipes to drain out. I use two 5-gallon buckets under each A/C drain and get water or carry buckets around to water the plants. During the winter, or when the mains is down, these large buckets and containers are placed under the many downspouts throughout the home. In the worst case, water can be brought from the pond on the site.

Unless otherwise noted, these plants are all in a south facing patio with a pillared porch and large flowerpots with 4x4 poles placed in the middle. I attached small shelves, hanging hooks, etc. to these columns and posts to increase the vertical area of ​​the patio. Cherry tomatoes in a pot high on a pillar will fall all summer long, producing cherry tomatoes until even the grandchildren can pick them unaided. After that, we rarely get cherry tomatoes, because the grandchildren eat them all.

I originally planned to list the summary nutritional value of each herb and the various medical benefits, both proven and unproven. The article has become too large, so I leave the search and understanding of this information as an exercise for the reader. There are many, many sources for this information, some here on this blog.

We recently had a frost here in zone 9 that caused a lot of damage to plants, pets, property and people. At the end of each plant section in this article, I have updated this section for rare and extreme cold weather conditions. For two and a half days we were below zero, at one point it was 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15°C). This type of cold weather is/was an anomaly, however we are looking into options if it turns out to be more normal than we would like.

Chives - purchased plants and heirloom

Chives are one of the easiest vegetables to grow, with few pests other than a rabid puppy digging up the whole pot only to go to the bottom or China, I guess. We have several rectangular pots, not very tall, in which we continue to rotate the green onions; endless rotating green onion planter. We started by leaving an inch from the bottom of the plants we bought at the grocery store and just stuck them in the dirt. They grew like weeds. Our 3 year old grandson loves to go out and grab a few pots to bring to the kitchen. We cut off the bottom centimeter and give it back to transplant to another place in the same pot. Sometimes one of the plants forms a real bulb. This completes the cycle of this onion, and we simply consume this onion.

Some plants will produce flowers and seeds. We save some seeds and plant some to make the rotary onion planter work. I also add some green onion seeds. Seed-grown chives are very delicate plants and require regular care until they grow. Having fresh green onions in the kitchen all year round is fun and easy. When the pot gets really thick with plants, we pick them all up and transplant them into one inch cuttings. Then the crop is crushed and placed in a dryer, part of it is crushed. Chopped dried chives add great flavor to our Taco Seasoning and Italian Seasoning Recipe. Put another half cup of chopped onions in sandwich bags in the freezer. The bags are then placed in a liter freezer bag. Just take a bag of onions out of the freezer and pour them into a pan with the oil of your choice, very easy to prepare. I left the pots outside during the frost completely open. A random selection of green onions froze, rotted and died. Others have succeeded and continue to gain strength. I suspect I have several varieties, some of which are more frost tolerant. I'll have to research this once I run out of things on my list.

Coriander - ancestral plants

Some like cilantro, some don't. My mom told me that cilantro smells like a dirty kitchen towel that hasn't been washed in months. I'm going down the love side of this. Few dishes can compete with homemade street tacos with corn tortillas, goat cheese, raw onions and finely chopped freshly picked cilantro. Mmmm delicious! Just squeeze some lime on the lime limes. I plant a whole row of cilantro in the big garden, but I also have a few pots on the deck. I also sprinkle coriander seeds in other jars, like peppers. In zone 9cilantro is a "winter" crop. I start growing them in September and they grow until about March when they start seeding. Seed-harvesting cilantro can become quite bitter, and I don't eat it fresh when the seed stalk is forming. Cut the plant with scissors. The plant usually continues to grow.

In addition to eating it fresh, I dry it a little to make the jar full, but dried cilantro leaves turn pale compared to fresh ones. I also process the cilantro with scallions, chop it, measure it, and put it in sandwich bags in the freezer. Very good in soups, okra and so on. Once it has gone to seed, I wait until half of the plant's seeds are ripe and brownish. I cut the entire plant and put it upside down in a paper bag. I can put 20-30 in each bag. I put the bag to dry in a temperature-controlled carpentry shop, usually until the next season. If you take a handful of stalks and run your hands back and forth over the stalks as if starting a fire with a stick, the seeds will easily fall into the bag. On a windy day or just by breathing, I blow the chaff off the seeds. I usually get a half gallon plastic bag of seeds. I label each bag and when it's time to plant, I mix seeds from different years, using most of the seeds from the oldest year. During seed collection, I select a few particularly exquisite plants and dry them separately to grind the seeds into coriander. I haven't seen any pests on these patio plants. Most, if not all, of the large cilantro plants froze and never returned. The small plants seemed to do well, perhaps because the larger ones fell on and protected the smaller ones.

Rosemary - purchased plants

I have found that two permanent rosemary bushes are sufficient for our needs. We use fresh rosemary for chicken and many other dishes. They are in two different pots, tall and tubular in shape. The shrubs love a deep pot with deep soil and grow into a beautiful topiary shape. We regularly harvest rosemary to go to the dryer and Admiral (my lovely wife) takes fresh cuttings as needed. Rosemary has several pests that appear every year. First, they are tiny creatures that live under the leaves and cause the beautiful green leaves of rosemary to turn white and greyish. When this happens, I take a hose sprayer, lay it flat or jet, and spray up through the bush. I go around in circles a few times and just try to water the bush from the ground with a spray bottle. This does not harm the bush and I do this until the new leaves are nice green, usually about three times a week. Another pest is the small yellow wasp that likes to nest inside the bush. I catch them early, douse them with water and take out the nest with my gloved hands. Six to ten years later, in the same pot, I prune the bush, uproot it, and replace the soil with fresh earth. One rosemary bush was covered during frost, and the other was not. The sheltered bush has taken root and feels good. The discovered bush is dead.

Sage - commercial plants

A small sage plant is more than enough for our needs. I add sage to breaded sausage and to our messy rice recipe. This plant never seems to die and has no pests that I have noticed. We harvest it in late spring as soon as it is strong after the winter months. It grows immediately, and the cuttings are sent to the dryer. It takes a long time to dry sage cuttings without heat. After drying, the crushed/crushed leaves become slightly powdery and have a unique texture. I once put "dried" sage in a jar too early, and very strange things grew in that jar. I unpacked everything and started again. Patience waiting for plants to dry is not my forte. I choose a few larger cuttings and try to crush and tear them. If there is moisture on them, I put them back in the dryer. It's really nice when the plants dry out completely and break down into beautiful herbs and spices that really enhance our food. The sage plant was exposed during the frost and did well.

Basil - generic plants

I grow several pots of basil every year. In early spring, I scatter basil seeds over the cleaned soil in a pot and rake a little. We use fresh basil leaves for pesto, caprese salad and green salads. I cut a lot of twigs to put in the dryer, and after drying I rub them through a medium-sized metal sieve, which makes coarse crumbs for a jar in the kitchen. In autumn, seed stalks form and grow. Once three-quarters of the flowers/pods on each stem are brown, I cut them off and place them in a bowl on the fridge. I cover the bowl with a towel to keep dust and mosquitoes out.

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