Rewarding herbs for your kitchen garden

If gardening is your passion and cooking is your hobby, then you are the best person to set up a nice and healthy herb garden in your kitchen. We assure you that your hand cooked meals will taste better with the fresh herbs that you use in order to prepare the platter. The best thing about herb garden is that it does not involve any cumbersome process at all in setting up an herb garden and getting rewarding outcome from the same. You can choose any area of your kitchen, be it your kitchen counter or your window sill. The resultant will be breathtaking natural fauna you will love to own. Now, before you start off with your project know that herbs that are best for your petite kitchen garden.

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Basil

Herbal plant 1

This scented, medicinal wonder tops the list of herbs in its easy to grow and maintenance qualities and benefits. It is one of the most loved condiments in some of the lip smacking Italian and Asian cuisines. The annual nature of this herb will expel you from the worry of re-potting and re-plantation. It means, pot it once, water it regularly, give it the climatic factors it needs and you will be rewarded with lush greenery throughout the year. Subject your matured basil plant to full sun. But if you are located in the tropical region, semi shade is the most preferred climatic condition for the same. A south facing window is the best one for basil. However, if your basil is installed inside your kitchen cabinet, compensate for natural light with fluorescent lamp. The soil must be a bit clayey and encourage good drainage. Root rot is a menace for the plant. When kept indoors, basil shows very slow growth. So, there is hardly any need of fertilizers at all. But pinching back will definitely lead to more branching.

Chives

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This herb serves as an excellent topping ingredient for cheese spread bakery, egg based dishes, creamy cookies and baked potatoes. The most amusing thing about chives is that you can replace garlic and onions with the same quite effectively. They are popular choices for the gardens due to their lollipop shaped, bright purple blooms, slender stems and fresh green leaves. The buds and flowers of chive are also edible along with the leaves and stems. They flower perennially and profusely, but the peak seasons are earliest spring to late autumn. Chive is adaptive to a wide range of climatic conditions. Therefore, it can be a great plant for your kitchen garden too.

Lavender

Herbal plant 3

Incorporation this medicinal herb in your kitchen garden will uplift your mood! The typical fragrance imparted by lavender is so effective that a host of ailments, such as insomnia, depression, fatigue, migraine, etc. are cured by the same. This plant cross pollinates very easily. So, if you give it the appropriate climatic conditions, your plant will multiply faster and charm your eyes will a heavenly lavender hue. You can use the fresh branches of lavender or the dried ones for a host of uses. It forms a much loved condiment in some of the mouth watering meat dishes, soups, drinks and baked food. The plant is perennial and the flowers do not remain restricted to lavender only. You can find different arrays of purple, pink and white too.

Mint

Herbal plant 4

Mint is another herbal plant packed with goodness. You can make refreshing summer drinks with mint, add it as condiments in various dishes or use mint paste for healing inflammation and skin eruptions. The bonus profit on this is that you have to hardly do anything in order to grow healthy mint. But, you can feel a bit bewildered due to the plethora of mint varieties available, such as ginger mint, apple mint, chocolate mint, peppermint, orange mint, pineapple mint, spearmint and a lot more. So, you might confuse which one to chose and which one to reject. A local nursery can be your best guide in this regard and you can get hold of the variety that suits your purpose. Mint gives great results in containers and under direct sunlight with intelligent watering and care.

Oregano

Herbal plant 5

Your home cooked German, Italian and Mexican dishes will get the perfect professional punch if you add a handful of oregano in them. But with a beautiful kitchen garden of yours, you will hardly need to invest much legwork for the project. Plant an oregano sapling in your kitchen garden, give it profuse sunlight and water it regularly. You will be paid off by means of thick oregano foliage. It does not demand much take care or fertilization either. Rather, it is easy growing and adaptive to a wide range of climatic and temperature conditions. So, it is needless to say that oregano will grow with rewarding results in any part of the world.

Parsley

Herbal plant 6

The characteristic lemony kick imparted by parsley in the dishes where it is incorporated, makes it a hot favorite among kitchen garden enthusiasts too. So, if you are mesmerized with the tangy fragrance of parsley and love smelling it in your home cooked salads, soups, meat and fish dished and baked potato, then parsley must be a part of your kitchen garden too. Its roundish leaves create immense visual interest too. So, it can be an ornamental element in your well decorated kitchen too. This herb is easy to grow and maintain. However, it loves cool weather and tropical or coastal regions are not ideal for the same.

Cilantro

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This herb reciprocates back in the rewarding manner as it has a self-sowing nature. So, once it gets matured and bears seeds, it will regrow back. Further rewarding news about cilantro is that its seeds, known as coriander, are one of the primary elements of your kitchen’s spice rack. It is well suited to any weather but hates over watering and often dies too. But, beware that the soil does not become boney dry too. Its flowers and seeds are visible when the temperature is the highest.