Growing Your Own Spices (Oregano, Basil, Rosemary, etc.)
Growing your own spices, such as oregano and basil, is one of the easiest things to “grow” if you’re looking to save a little money and beautify your space. There’s really very little difference between McCormick’s spices and the stuff you can grow on your own, except yours will be fresher and have richer flavor (and it’ll be a little cheaper). My girlfriend and I started growing our own spices on our back deck and it’s ridiculous easy. Just hop on over to Home Depot where you can pick up those little containers of spices for around 99 cents a piece, a plastic planter, and transplant.
When you calculate out the total cost, it’s about the same as buying spices from the supermarket (considering the planter, the water, the brief time, the plant itself, etc.) but your spices will be fresh (i.e. not dried up) and it’ll give your space a little more green. Plus, people will automatically assume you’re going to be good at cooking because you grow your own spices… just don’t prove them wrong.
And remember to keep gnomes around to guard against spice thieves!
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There are 4 comments, add your thoughts now!
Plus the cost goes down over time as you reuse the big containers.
I love to cook, so this is essential for me. You actually do save in the long run because you only have to cut off however much you need at any given time, versus buying fresh herbs at the store, where you have to buy a large bunch and you might not use it all while they’re still fresh!
From my Italian roommate (no really, her parents were from Italy, making her 2nd gen. like me!), pinch out the buds of basil flowers. Do not let the plant flower. If you do this, then the plant will grow wide and bushy, instead of tall and narrow, i.e. more leaves to pluck!
Plant with rosemary since they both like full sun. That’s a major mistake people make. They put shade and sun loving plants together in the same pot, when they should be in separate pots.
I just planted basil and cilantro in a container pot. They both seem to be doing well. Last year I had a problem with some type of caterpiller getting into my pot and destroying the plants. Hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy the herbs as they mature this year.
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