Organic Herb Gardening
The herb garden has a long and colorful history. It has affected numerous lives from all over the world, from all points in time. Before the dawn of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, herb gardens were grown organically. Most of that changed with the coming of the quick and easy chemicals which undoubtedly help a garden along, but is by the far not the healthiest choice for herbs and plants intended for consumption.
If you're going to be growing herbs at home, get in to organic herb gardening. These herbs are naturally grown, without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Everything is natural. This guarantees you healthier and fresher herbs from your garden.
Soil
Organic herb gardening relies heavily on good soil. Soil for herbs need not be extremely fertile. Dig up your garden soil and add some good recommended soil from a gardening store. You can mix some natural fertilizer or mulch into this. Make sure the soil has been mixed well and is evenly laid out in your intended areas of herb gardening.
Seeds
If you have seeds from an old herb garden or plant that was grown naturally and organically, and if the plant was especially aromatic and flavorful, you may use these seeds. Regular seeds bought from a store are usually good too. Remember to follow the instructions on how many seeds or seedlings per dug hole.
Fertilizers
Organic fertilizers have become popular in the market. Many of the store bought fertilizers advertise being made from organic materials. Some of these products are worth investing in, but they do cost money. You can make your own organic fertilizer by starting a compost pit on a far end of your garden. You can also use a compost bin which you can buy at gardening store. Fill your pit with dead leaves, coffee grounds, old newspapers, freshly cut leaves and grass, and other garden scraps you may find.
Put a layer of the dead leaves, coffee grounds and newspapers into the pit then top this with the fresh leaves and grass. Put soil and the other garden scraps in there then cover it all up with more soil. Wet this to make sure it is moist then cover the area with several potato sacks sewn together, pin the sacks down to make sure it's covered but ventilated. After two weeks, remove the sack covering and turn the mixture. If you can smell something funky and even feel some heat from the pit that means that it is decomposing and is turning into natural fertilizer for you. When the entire pit is black and earthy, your compost is read to use.
Pesticides
Much like the fertilizers, organic herb gardening enthusiasts can purchase organic pesticides commercially. They mostly come in liquid form or in granules, and can be pretty reliable. Some herbs however have natural insect and pest control properties, and you may want to just plant these on the perimeter of your garden. Mint, lavender and calendula are some herbs that naturally deter pests. You can plant these around your garden to keep your other herbs safe. Just be sure to keep an eye on your mint, not letting it run wild.
For other organic methods of pest control, you can create salt, garlic, tobacco, or mustard sprays. These are mixed with water and spritzed onto plants and the soil. Not too much though! Also check and see if your plants will be capable of handling the sprays. The safest one to use on herbs is a spray mixture of horseradish roots, hot chilies, and spearmint. This concoction knocks out many bugs and is sure to keep your garden safe!
Organic herb gardening may take a bit more work than just taking all the regular store bought materials, but as always the fruits of labor are sweet. You will not regret going completely organic for your herb garden, and you will definitely rest easy knowing your herbs are 100% natural.
