All about garden herbs

[chickengr]

I also have not had luck with many seeds. I prefer to buy small plants and transplant them.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I also have not had luck with many seeds. I prefer to buy small plants and transplant them.

Same... Herb seeds don't do well for me either. I quit wasting money and just bought some small starts.

Sadly I did not get time to really dry anything except some basil and butterfly pea. I really wanted to dry some lemon balm, mint, and make some essential oils from lemongrass. Oh well, always next year.

Next year I'm hoping to add more lavender & chamomile (I've struggled with them both) and some oregano, thyme, and MAYBE some fennel. Fennel is very particular and can inhibit a lot of other plants so I'm not sure about this one yet.

 

[chickengr]

I can grow anything in winter but not in summer, lol. so I don't need to dry a lot of herbs. I dried some spearmint and lemon balm. as my built coop became smelly I cleaned it and spread those dried herbs. I swear I will never ever have a concrete floor coop again.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I can grow anything in winter but not in summer, lol. so I don't need to dry a lot of herbs. I dried some spearmint and lemon balm. as my built coop became smelly I cleaned it and spread those dried herbs. I swear I will never ever have a concrete floor coop again.

I have a concrete floor, but it is covered by 4" of sand which absorbs moisture and odors so smell isn't a problem. However, I do have some girls who LOVE roosting in the nesting boxes and poop in them. They are filled with shavings & straw. That smells. So maybe I should put some dried lemon balm in THOSE, eh?

 

[chickengr]

I have a concrete floor, but it is covered by 4" of sand which absorbs moisture and odors so smell isn't a problem. However, I do have some girls who LOVE roosting in the nesting boxes and poop in them. They are filled with shavings & straw. That smells. So maybe I should put some dried lemon balm in THOSE, eh?

I always put dried herbs in nesting boxes. that helps.

 

[chickengr]

I use storage room as coop. there is no room for deep litter. max 1'' space. in another coop I have dirt floor. no need to clean it. I just throw some lime stone from time to time.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I wanted to start a thread about garden herbs. What do you grow? Do you use it fresh or dried? How do you harvest and store it? What do you use your herbs for?

I grow the following herbs -

Dill - typically use fresh in canning

Rosemary - just started growing a new start this summer.

Lemon Balm - will be drying this herb and saving for tea.

Lemongrass - will be drying this herb for tea. Would like to use the stalks in cooking but I'm not sure what dishes we routinely make where I can use it.

Basil - have always used this fresh in various dishes. I'm going to dry some this year. Not sure what I will use it for yet.

Pineapple Mint & spearmint - use this fresh in fruit infused water.

Stevia - got this because I use Stevia in lots of things but don't really know how to convert leaves to usable sugar so I'm not sure if I will maintain it.

Herb gardens are SO cool.
This year (i am new to herb gardens) I successfully grew:

Chives - they are still going strong and got as big as aloe plants. I used them fresh & dehydrated a bunch last week for the spice rack

Lavender - wonderful herb (maybe not an herb, but is lovely dried out used in the chicken coop and for gift ideas and smells wonderful.

Peppermint - has no trouble growing here. its really easy to grow and I love dehydrating it and crushing the dried leaves for sprinkling in the chicken coop. its also good for tea for an upset tummy. chewing it fresh freshens breath.

Spearmint - i love the mints! Amazing to me

Basil - dehydrate and into the spice rack

Oregano - research suggests Oregano has shown promise as a preventative measure towards worms in poultry(?). I am still learning the best way to utilize Oregano with the chickens. Maybe making a tincture for higher concentration to supplement in water. I too would like to learn this to consume for myself seeing that it is very good for the human body.

i wonder what I will add next year. I just want to grow everything!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I've always struggled with chives. They hate me. (So does lavender and chamomile for that matter.) I've tried to grow it from both seed and started plants. This year I THOUGHT I was going to get a good, healthy section of chives inside my hoop house....until my dreams of fresh chives were dashed by that dastardly gopher who pulled ALL my chives underground and ate them...

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I've always struggled with chives. They hate me. (So does lavender and chamomile for that matter.) I've tried to grow it from both seed and started plants. This year I THOUGHT I was going to get a good, healthy section of chives inside my hoop house....until my dreams of fresh chives were dashed by that dastardly gopher who pulled ALL my chives underground and ate them...

View attachment 3326899

We put hardware cloth on the ground under our garden, but, its not big enough, lol. We have moles and they got nothin' from our hardware cloth garden this year! Good luck

 

[TJAnonymous]

We put hardware cloth on the ground under our garden, but, its not big enough, lol. We have moles and they got nothin' from our hardware cloth garden this year! Good luck

My garden is too big to use hardware cloth. So next year I'm going to plant them in a container instead of in the ground. I will just need to be very particular about what gets put into the ground until I can dispose of the goobers.