Herb Garden Seeds
As many as there are herb garden plants, there are herb garden seeds. These tiny ovules are packed with the building blocks for a new plant, and are really amazing parts of nature. You can buy your herb garden seeds at gardening stores or you can order them through the internet. One of the perks of purchasing through the internet is that you will have access to seeds from all around the world, while your local store may have a limited selection. If you're looking for pretty common herbs though, your local store should be able to provide you with all the seeds you need.
Growing Your Seeds
Like all plants, herb garden seeds need good soil, water, and sunlight to grow. Be sure not to flood the herb plants though, especially when they're starting out. The germination process is extremely important for beginner plants, and often eager gardeners over water their plants in hopes that it will grow faster. Herb garden seeds take anywhere from four to six weeks to grow, and so a good amount of patience and care for your seeds are both needed to ensure you will have a thriving herb garden.
Remember that some seeds may need to be tended to indoors during the first few weeks of its life before letting it weather the elements of your backyard herb garden. Replant seedlings when they are about four inches tall, keeping in mind that some plants do not do well when replanted.
Harvesting
One of the perks of growing your own herb garden is that your plants will produce herb garden seeds once a year. Every plant's goal is to flower in order to mature a plant ovule or seed. If you have a particularly wonderful herb plant or you simply want to save money by using seeds from your old plants, learn how to harvest seeds!
When your herb plants begin flowering, you know that seeds are being created. Allow the cycle of flowering to continue. If you want to be able to still use this herb plant for recipes, though, you'll have to nip the flower buds. Herb leaves tend to lose their flavor once the flowering begins because all the plant's energy grows into making flowers and producing seeds.
Harvest your herb seeds once the flower petals have fallen off your plant. You have to pay attention to this because some plants drop their seeds soon after petals fall in order to replant naturally, and unless you want a messy looking herb garden, you'll want to control the replanting yourself. The flower petals fall off and reveal the seeds or seed pods. Break off the stem and shake this over a piece of paper and watch the seeds fall off.
Care and Storage
Once you've harvested your seeds, you're halfway into being prepared for next year's batch of herbs. You have to care for your seeds, spreading them apart on a piece of paper and drying them in the sun. You will need about a week of drying to prepare your herb garden seeds, and sometimes it will take longer. You will be able to tell when your seeds are dry.
Store these dried herb garden seeds in specialized seed packets that absorb any extra moisture that hasn't dried out yet. Put these packets in a dry place and allow the cold months to pass by. Once the weather is warm and the soil is ready in the spring, you can begin your replanting process.
