Any Herb Gardeners here?

[enchanted_one1975]

I am planning on giving up truck driving next year and spending more time at home with my family. I am not quite sure how this is going to work financially, but I feel that I will be provided for. Normal gardening won't be a problem at all. I figure that will help the finances and my family will eat better too. What I am unsure about is the Herb Garden. I feel the need to mention now that I am talking about legitimate herbs. The kind that can be used for cooking and for my religious rituals. I live in a place with very little iron in the soil (in fact it looks yellow like sand) and the soil is also very firm. I don't think the little plants would do well at all in that. My idea is such:

Get some lumber and build a box above the surface of the ground. Above the box build another box out of chicken wire. I am thinking of starting with one about a foot high and about 64 square feet (less expensive lumber comes in 8 foot sections so 8x8 gives me my 64 feet). I would fill this box with premium soil, probably including some miracle grow soil. The chicken wire box over the top would keep out all the desert wildlife I have by me and also keep my four dogs from making their own contributions.

Does this sound like it will work or do I need to go deeper on the box? Ideas and suggestions?

 

[dragynfly0515]

I am planning on giving up truck driving next year and spending more time at home with my family. I am not quite sure how this is going to work financially, but I feel that I will be provided for. Normal gardening won't be a problem at all. I figure that will help the finances and my family will eat better too. What I am unsure about is the Herb Garden. I feel the need to mention now that I am talking about legitimate herbs. The kind that can be used for cooking and for my religious rituals. I live in a place with very little iron in the soil (in fact it looks yellow like sand) and the soil is also very firm. I don't think the little plants would do well at all in that. My idea is such:

Get some lumber and build a box above the surface of the ground. Above the box build another box out of chicken wire. I am thinking of starting with one about a foot high and about 64 square feet (less expensive lumber comes in 8 foot sections so 8x8 gives me my 64 feet). I would fill this box with premium soil, probably including some miracle grow soil. The chicken wire box over the top would keep out all the desert wildlife I have by me and also keep my four dogs from making their own contributions.

Does this sound like it will work or do I need to go deeper on the box? Ideas and suggestions?

I'm in New England where the soil is mostly clay, so I can't tell you much about desert gardening. I started an herb garden last spring and I basically replaced the soil with premium soil. I did not do a raised garden like you're going to do, but my sister did in New York and it worked really well. The only other thing I've heard of is to break up the ground under your box to about a foot deep before adding the soil.

I also became a stay at home dad last year (wife's business is doing well). The gardening helped with the weight gain, as I went from unloading 60,000 pounds of syrup to sitting at a computer and homeschooling.

:candle:
Blessed be,
Crys

 

[Monte]

I have a few herbs and if you tell me what kinds you were thinking of growing I would be happy to help. I know you posted this last year so I don't know if you did this or not, if you did, some pictures of the garden would be cool!

 

[enchanted_one1975]

I haven't gotten around to doing it yet as I have been at work so much. I will hopefully get this project underway later this year. I still haven't decided on which herbs. Probably a good variety.

 

[Baydwin]

You're going to want to change the shape of the bed, an 8x8 foot bed will mean you'll need to tread on the soil and so compact it. Better to have two or three smaller beds with paths between giving you access to all the plants, without the need to actually stand on the soil.

 

[Monte]

Well what kind do you use? I know some good ones are Rosemarry, Thyme, Sage, Parsley, Catnip, Basil, Mints (all kinds), Lavender, Aloe Vera, Marjorams & Oregano are just some. Also a good book to look up is "The Complete Book Of Herbs" by Lesley Bremness and pbs.org has a program called Victory Garden. Hope this helps!

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Small raised beds are best.

In regards to what kinds of herbs to grow, just plant what you like, see what happens, take notes on windbreaks, sun exposure, soil temp and ph, and water and fertilizer requirements. You'll eventually find what plants that are also native to your area that are medicinal and culinary that will grow well as well as be of great use to you.

In other words, you've done quite a bit already with your preparations. Now go and get your hands dirty!

 

[*Anne*]

An herb garden with four dogs. You're very brave!

 

[Willamena]

You could invest in a mini-greenhouse, like this:
Mini Greenhouse, Lean-to Greenhouse, Greenhouse Kits, Hobby Greenhouses

 

[Buttercup]

An herb garden with four dogs. You're very brave!

I'm sorry that I don't have any particular pointers about herb gardening, but I can chime in with Anne and say that you really need to fence off your garden from the dogs or you're gonna get ****** at some point after planting. :yes: My dog ate the hot chilies first.

 

[enchanted_one1975]

An herb garden with four dogs. You're very brave!

You could invest in a mini-greenhouse, like this:
Mini Greenhouse, Lean-to Greenhouse, Greenhouse Kits, Hobby Greenhouses

I'm sorry that I don't have any particular pointers about herb gardening, but I can chime in with Anne and say that you really need to fence off your garden from the dogs or you're gonna get ****** at some point after planting. :yes: My dog ate the hot chilies first.

I do plan on building a frame around the herb garden and lining it (sides and top) with chicken wire. Our dogs are indoor dogs, and when we let them out to potty there are not out there long. They are supervised most of the time too because we don't have a fence yet. Do I have to worry about cats messing with it? I also have four of those and two of them are pregnant. :bkcat:

Oh, and I do hope to build a greenhouse one of these days. I have a good sized yard so I was planning on several units from storage, to vehicle parking, to a workshop and more. I was thinking of using acrylic panels for the walls and roof to one part to make it my official greenhouse so I can have herbs and fresh tomatoes year round.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

You're going to want to change the shape of the bed, an 8x8 foot bed will mean you'll need to tread on the soil and so compact it. Better to have two or three smaller beds with paths between giving you access to all the plants, without the need to actually stand on the soil.

Good point 8x4 would be much better. You dont want to pack down the soil.

 

[Wannabe Yogi]

How about double digging your beds. This helps a lot.

How to Double Dig a Garden - wikiHow

 

[TurkeyOnRye]

Have you considered doing an indoor garden? If you have an area of the house that receives an exceptional amount of sunlight, indoors may be a great place to grow. Indoor growing would help alot with keeping away pests and diseases. Alternatively, you could use grow lamps. Herbs have low light requirements, so running a low-wattage grow lamp would be inexpensive to operate. A nice advantage of gardening with grow lamps is that you have full control over the light period which means you can have fresh herbs in the dead of winter by lengthening their "Summer" indefinitely.

 

[Kathryn]

Have you considered doing an indoor garden? If you have an area of the house that receives an exceptional amount of sunlight, indoors may be a great place to grow. Indoor growing would help alot with keeping away pests and diseases. Alternatively, you could use grow lamps. Herbs have low light requirements, so running a low-wattage grow lamp would be inexpensive to operate. A nice advantage of gardening with grow lamps is that you have full control over the light period which means you can have fresh herbs in the dead of winter by lengthening their "Summer" indefinitely.

I was going to suggest this or a similar alternative - planting your herbs in large pots on rollers outside on a sunny patio.

I mean, a few herbs go a long way. A vegetable garden needs a lot of square footage, but most herbs used by one family don't require a lot of planting and growing space.

I have four very large round pots which stand about 2 feet tall. They are well drained. I filled the bottom of each first with large rocks, then with smaller pebbles, then with good potting soil. Each year I've planted several types of basil (my favorite herb!), cilantro, sage, rosemary, oregano (yay!), thyme, lavender, several mints, parsley, and other herbs on occasion. They've always grown very well. By the way, I have two dogs. They've never bothered the herbs.

Note: Put catnip in a separate planter or you'll get cat hair all in your herbs. Kinda takes the joy out of stepping outside your back door and picking fresh herbs for your pesto!

One other cool thing you could do: If you have an overhanging porch roof that faces any direction other than north, you can run a thin wire from one side to the other overhead. It doesn't have to hang down - you can suspend it just two inches or so from the ceiling of the porch. Anyway, then you can cut herbs and hang them with wooden clothespins to dry. That way you can use them all year long. This works very well and they taste SO much better than the dried herbs you buy in the store!

 

[Valjean]

I just googled raised bed gardening and found a lot of good info and plans.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I just googled raised bed gardening and found a lot of good info and plans.

There's a LOT of good info out there. And just from experience alone, I highly recommend small raised beds. No tilling, practically no weeding, the soil is better drained, less back aches, etc.

Plus, you can rotate your crops better to reduce disease and pests. Your soil will thank you for it by giving you big juicy colorful organic veggies. :yes:

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Hydroponics are the way to go.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

A great shot of hydroponics in action

 

[reloadthis]

I have very firm soil too. It took me a long time to sift out all the little pebbles and rocks. I used a strainer and had my kids help. It was tedious, but enjoyable in that peaceful sort of way. After I dug up about 2 inches and cleaned out the soil, I added some nice organic soil on top of it. btw, I found some big, awesome rocks to decorate and use for borders.

You don't need to use a lot of premium soil if you choose plants that thrive in poor soil. That might make things easier.