Q: I am interested in growing parsley and rosemary as my first herbs. Are They Difficult to Maintain?
A: Herbal horticulture is an excellent introduction to edible horticulture. They don’t take up too much space, they are (generally) less fussy about growing conditions, and fresh herbs really go a long way in home cooking.
Perennial herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme, bay leaf, marjoram, and oregano produce year-round, but their flavors are strongest in summer and early fall. These herbs are all well adapted to our Mediterranean climate and grow well with minimal attention.
Parsley, coriander, dill, and basil are annuals that grow for a season and die with the first frost. They too will grow very well in our climate, but have to be replaced every year.
Q: My coriander plants always screw before I can even pick them. Same goes for dill. When do you plant to be successful?
A: Many annual herbs will rot quickly – some as soon as there is the slightest hint of warm weather. Coriander has an unfortunate tendency to shoot very quickly. Sometimes you can lengthen the harvest by cutting off the stud stems, but the flavor will still decrease.
Look for varieties of “slow-bolt” cilantro and parsley. They don’t produce all summer, but they do give you a little more time to harvest the leaves before they get tough and tasteless.
I have had some success with saving seeds and re-sowing continuously over the summer. When the coriander begins to bolt, remove and discard the plants that lock first. Save the seeds of the last plant to lock them in place and plant them again immediately. Repeat this process and you’ve chosen your own slow coriander.
Q: I grow all tomatoes in containers. Easy to water, observe, bring to sunny areas, pick and protect from gophers. Plus, I can give them the perfect soil mix, not the horrible stuff on earth here. It’s difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to recreate this mix every year. How important is it that I put all new mixes together every year? Would this add 100% to the cost and effort to get a 10% improvement in facilities?
A: If you grow vegetables or other foods in containers and have no problems with diseases like Fusarium or Verticillium Wilt, you don’t have to start over every year when you plant new vegetables.
Note, however, that you will need to replenish the soil when harvesting fruit (or leaves) from food grown in containers. I recommend adding finished compost or vermicompost (worm cast) to the existing soil in your pots. If you pull out the used plants, the soil will be removed. So just add some compost.
We also used slow release pellet fertilizers to keep things moving. Avoid using more concentrated granular fertilizers as they may be too concentrated for containers. Do you have questions? Email to gardening@scng.com.
