Suburban Valkyrie

Anyone who likes to cook - or eat - knows the power of fresh herbs.

Ripe tomatoes paired with sweet basil and fresh mozzarella make for an amazing pizza. Cilantro gives chicken tikka masala an extra layer of flavor. Parmesan and rosemary take bread dough from everyday to something special.

If you've bought a clump of fresh herbs from the grocery store, however, you know how expensive they can be - and how quickly they die. So early summer is the perfect time to create your own herb garden, and you can do it for about $20 (significantly less, if you start your plants from seed).



Step by step, here is how I planted this herb garden and how much it cost.

Materials:

• 1 basket - free - This one was in my closet not being used. Be creative. Look around your house for a container and repurpose something you love as a home for your kitchen garden. If it can hold dirt, you can plant in it.
• 1 terra cotta pot - free - I already had this in my garage. If you don't have a spare pot, it isn't strictly necessary, but you can buy one for less than $1, usually.
• 2 coconut liners - $2 ($1 each from the Dollar Tree)
• 1 liner - free - (OPTIONAL) This isn't necessary, but I wanted to line most of the basket so the soil wouldn't wash out with the water between the basket weave.
• 6 plants - $15 - ($2.50 each) - Chose herbs that you love to taste, smell, and look at. I chose cilantro, fern leaf dill, chocolate mint, curley parsley, sweet basil, and lemon thyme.
• Potting soil - $2 - I used part of a big bag that I split among several projects, so this is an estimate.

1. Cut slits in the coconut liners to get them to lie flatter and fill most of the basket or container.



2. Spread the liner (this is half of a pee pad leftover from our long-ago puppy training days) along the inside of the coconut liners, tucking the edges under so they won't be seen from the top once it is all planted.


3. If you want some height in the middle of the planted arrangement, use a pot or similar container and prop it up on something. Here I cut off the bottom half of a plastic plant container and turned it upside down in the middle of the basket.


4. Arrange the plants as you please. I like to place taller plants in the back and bushier plants so they trail over the edges.


Mmm, lemon thyme.


Mmmmm, sweet basil. Pesto, here we come....


5. Place enough potting soil to cover the bottom of the container. Mound it and firm it down around the elevated piece in the middle, if needed.


6. Nestle the plants into the container and fill in the spaces between with potting soil, firming as you go. Give it a good watering to help the plants settle into their new home.





Here's the finished product, on a table on my deck, within easy reach for last-minute picking to throw into recipes. Don't forget to actually harvest and *use* your herbs - that's what they're there for, and they produce more when they're picked often.


Have a great use for fresh herbs? Share your ideas in the comments.