Gardening

Growing Herbs In Containers

dill & parsley

I love to use fresh herbs in my cooking, and I love growing herbs in containers!!  I can’t believe how much money I can save by growing my own herbs, especially when I start them from seed myself.  This year I started my basil from seed, but now that I am a bit more brave, I will be starting many more from seed next year.

I found this galvanized bucket at a local thrift store for a couple bucks-score! I made sure it had plenty of drainage holes by using a large nail and hammer to punch through at least 7 holes in the bottom.  I have some clay pot shards in the bottom to help with drainage, then filled it with Organic Miracle Grow potting soil.

thyme
lettuce, chives & parley
I bought parsley, thyme, rosemary, dill and chives.  I also managed to fit 3 heads of lettuce in there.  The lettuce did not take off as quickly as the ones in my square foot garden, it is either lack of room or lack of sun.  This pot sits on my front porch, which gets about 4 hours of full sun a day.  My parsley is very happy, I think it is time to dig out a parsley pesto recipe that I happened upon a few weeks ago.  Hope I can find it in my mess of bookmarks!
basil

I am also growing basil in a separate pot, which I started from seed.  It was super easy, I just put some seeds in some potting soil, kept them moist and covered with plastic until they sprouted, then let them get strong (with at least one pair of true leaves) sitting on the window sill in my sunroom.  I planted some in this small pot, and transplanted some into my garden.  I can’t wait to make pesto and pair them with my home grown tomatoes (if I can keep my tomatoes growing…so far so good.)

rosemary

Even if gardening isn’t your thing, growing herbs is easy and rewarding and it may be something you’d like to try.  I’ll be posting on how I use my fresh herbs in the near future.
This post is linked to:
Trash To Treasure @ Reinvented
Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm
Show And Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

You Might Also Like

  • Martha
    June 11, 2010 at 3:39 am

    Growing herbs is so much fun whether it is in the pot or in a garden!

  • Emily {Frilly Details}
    June 3, 2010 at 2:02 pm

    What a cute combination of herbs!

  • Pam
    June 1, 2010 at 9:26 am

    This is my first year at growing herbs; it is so much fun! Love the way you set yours out.

  • Annesphamily
    June 1, 2010 at 12:02 am

    I love coming by and learning something new at Diann’s Thrifty Groove. Today I met you! Please come join me soon! Anne

  • Erika
    May 31, 2010 at 1:50 am

    Hi Amy,
    I’m new here and have really enjoyed looking through your site and reading your posts!!

    This is such a fabulous idea! I’ve been looking for a simple, easy way to grow herbs. The past two years we’ve grown them in the garden with everything else, but it’s not very convenient to run all the way out to the garden when I’m cooking! I love this idea of keeping them right on the front porch…and they look beautiful, too!

    Thanks for sharing!

  • Kelly Morris
    May 30, 2010 at 1:48 am

    I’ve always heard that herbs do best in pots. While I was at the nursery this spring, a heard a woman talking about planting basil and italian parsley together so that when she’s ready to make pesto, she just cuts off hands full of them together. I thought that was interesting!
    Love your little pots, I need to work on that!

    Kelly
    http://www.themorristribe.com

  • *Nikki*
    May 29, 2010 at 5:19 pm

    oh i would love to do this! They smell so awesome too! Great job! Can’t wait to see what you do with them!

  • Jenn
    May 29, 2010 at 5:00 pm

    have you had any issues with pests? I have little white critters hanging on my tomato plants and they are not surviving 🙁

  • Michelle
    May 29, 2010 at 4:08 pm

    I just came across your blog from Susan’s Busy Little Homemaker! I love your blog and that you are sharing how to grow your own herbs!

    Do they need a lot of sun? I tried growing herbs last year but they didn’t actually grow. Could you share what kind of soil you used?

    Thanks so much and have a blessed week!

  • edk.dolce
    May 29, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    mmm i love the smell of fresh dill! So I saw your link to your blog on Kandee Johnson’s blog. I am a new follower and love it already! You can follow mine @ http://www.edkdolce.blogspot.com

  • Amy Bowman
    May 29, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    here is more info on growing your own herbs
    http://www.ramseyadagency.com/herbsbook/herbs.htm

  • Amy Bowman
    May 29, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  • Amy Bowman
    May 29, 2010 at 4:24 pm

    @ meeks-we are doing that with spinach too. so yummy.
    @ great job, i’m getting braver with seed. saves so much money!
    @Jenni-yes, squished them in there. thanks.
    @michelle-welcome! they need 5-6 hours of sun. mine get 4 and are still doing ok. I used Organic miracle grow potting soil.

  • Jenni
    May 29, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    So, you did them all (except the basil) in the same pot? I love that! We have done basil the last few years, but haven’t ventured beyond that. This looks more doable. We have lots of animals in our backyard so I like that I could do it in a pot on my front porch! And they do look AWESOME in the pot!

  • Jodz
    May 29, 2010 at 5:41 am

    Wow! Your herbs look so pretty. I have tried growing veg from seed this season. So far so good 🙂

  • meeks
    May 29, 2010 at 3:14 am

    Love that! I also loved having spinach on hand, and picked off baby spinach leaves as needed to add to my sandwiches…yum! Those were from seeds, and did really well! I found that I should have planted more for times when I wanted baby spinach leaves for salads!

  • Top