Christmas in July or Thanksgiving in September? As vegetable gardeners, we grow food that is useful, not just pretty to look at. And right now, we are looking for culinary herbs to showcase in our upcoming holiday meals.
Botanists describe herbs as “plants that are useful for medicinal, culinary or fragrance purposes.” This month, we will be in search of growers and garden centers offering the useful herbs.
FARMERS MARKET FINDS
Sue Lin of Whole Earth Acres sells over 100 herbs at her farm stand in the Vista Farmers Market. She and her husband, Whitney Robinson, offer the largest selection of herbs and greens that I have ever seen at a North County farmers market.
She had recommendations for growing herbs in September that will be ready for holiday meals:
“The chef’s choice for turkey, stuffing and potatoes would be an Italian spice combination including gray sage, rosemary, Italian parsley, oregano and thyme. This combination can be used in all the holiday savory offerings at Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Christmas meals.
“Many gardeners don’t realize that there are numerous varieties of thyme and sage varieties in garden centers or farmers markets. We suggest the traditional English thyme and gray sage. Many of the sages are grown specifically for their flowers (purple sage, pineapple sage, red sage) but these are not suitable for culinary use. There are also numerous thymes on the market but some are too strong for the mix. Try tasting the herbs before you put them in your container.”
All of these herbs can be planted in September and can be harvested throughout the fall season. Sometimes the simplest method of accomplishing this combination is to find an attractive container such as a ceramic pot or whiskey barrel.
This arrangement could be placed at your front or back door or on your kitchen patio. A friend of mine who is a serious gardener purchased a horse trough, drilled holes in the bottom, and filled it with her favorite herbs. She placed it on the back porch, right next to her kitchen door.
Of course, the positioning of this container would be relatively permanent, since the trough including the soil weighs over 50 pounds.
SO MANY CHOICES
The pursuit of the perfect container is similar to the pursuit of the perfect pair of black shoes. A tall, azure blue ceramic pot would not only catch your guest’s eye at the front door, but will also last for years to come. Be certain that the diameter of the ceramic pot is at least 15 inches across and stands at least 3 feet tall. You can use smaller containers, but the “wow” factor won’t be there!
This investment will last throughout the seasons and can be changed every few months. During the early summer, the blue vase can be filled with tomatoes and lettuce, changing to the Chef’s Choice in early fall.
I learned the do’s and don’ts of creating a container garden in my first job, 20 years ago, at Carefree Gardens, a family-run garden center in Cooperstown, New York. Each year, for the Fourth of July, the Cooperstown Garden Club sponsored a container garden competition for the residents of this summer lake community.
We worked with the homeowners to create over 50 entries into the competition. I learned quickly from the owner, Mary Leonard, how to prepare the perfect container.
“The trick,” she said, “is to choose tall, medium and small plants that complement each other and fit harmoniously in the container. The landscape designer’s rule it to only use odd number of plants (3, 5 or 7) in the total design, with equidistant spacing in between each plant.”
Needless to say, I had to redo many of my first attempts before creating the winning combinations.
STEP-BY-STEP HERB CONTAINER
- When you make the decision about where to place your container, be certain that it is in a partial sun location. After locating the pot in its final spot, fill it with high-quality potting soil. Be certain that the soil is organic and not soil from your garden.
- If the container is exceptionally deep, add broken pottery or plastic peanuts to fill the pot to the halfway mark.
- Place the tallest herb in the middle of the pot. In this case it would most likely be the upright rosemary. Dig a hole the depth of the plastic pot, place the rosemary in the hole only as deep as the first branches, and press firmly into the soil. Be certain to loosen the roots before placing in the soil.
- Continue planting the other herbs in a circular, clockwise fashion until the container is full.
- Each herb will have its own size and spacing requirement. For example, the English thyme will be the lowest of the group and requires space to spread, whereas the oregano will drape over the side of the pot and grow downward.
- Continue planting the five herbs until the planter is full.
- Water when soil is dry, and fertilize every two weeks.
- The fully grown herbs will be ready in November for your holiday meals!
LOCATING HERB COLLECTIONS
Sue Lin sells her herbs at the Vista Farmers Market at the Vista Courthouse, on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Other garden centers that specialize in herbs include Pearson’s Gardens & Herb Farm, 1150 Beverly Drive, Vista; Green Thumb Nursery, 1019 W. San Marcos Blvd., San Marcos; Armstrong Garden Center, 5702 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad; and Anderson’s La Costa Nursery, 400 La Costa Ave., Encinitas.
Jano Nightingale is a horticulturist and Master Gardener who teaches at the Carlsbad Senior Center community garden. Call 442-339-2650 to register for her gardening classes. Contact her at [email protected] for garden consultations and questions.
