I was delighted recently to be asked to write a post about herbs for Countrylife.ie which coincided with their herb demonstrations in stores around Ireland.
I’m a huge fan of herbs. My first introduction to growing food was filling pretty containers with multipurpose compost and choosing small herb plants from a local garden centre to plant into them. Once planted up I’d move and arrange the pots until they were perfectly placed outside the kitchen door, instantly brightening up the postage stamp gardens that almost all the rental properties I lived in happened to come with.
If I was ever given birthday garden vouchers (my favourite kind of present!) I’d head straight to the container section and spend hours choosing pottery or earthenware tubs that I could plant thyme, sage, fennel and oregano into, all herbs regularly used in the kitchen. Once planted they pretty much looked after themselves, perfect for a city working girl with not much time for gardening.
As I moved digs I was able to move my containers with me until I finally found a place I could call my home and plant roots into. The herbs were taken out of their containers and placed into a new border, where they’ve since made their permanent home. The tubs are now full of pretty summer bedding plants, interplanted with lemon balm, chamomile and summer salads – old habits die hard.
If you’d like to know more about herbs, which ones grow well in gardens outside in Ireland, as well as read a step by step guide on how to make a herb wheel, you can view the guest blog on the Countrylife website here.
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