Tricks To Sowing Seeds In Your Home Herb Garden

Sowing herb seed outdoors sounds pretty straight forward, and it is. But there are a few tricks to sowing seeds in your home herb garden that will allow you to get the most out of what you sow, and minimize the work.

Most annuals and biennials are started from seed outdoors. And the seed can be purchased from your local nursery, or supermarket. Also, you shouldn’t worry about the quality of the seeds you’re buying. Commercially-packaged seeds are reliable in that what’s on the label is what’s in the package.

Most herbs like dry sites, lots of sun, and a hot climate. In hot conditions the concentration of essential oils are greater, and the flavor is usually stronger. If your garden site tends to be moist with rich soil, the herbs will grow faster and have a milder flavor. They will also look healthier and flower less than their hot site counterparts, and will be easier to harvest. Loamy soil with some added organic matter is an ideal seed bed. Since those conditions are also ideal for vegetables, you can plant herbs in your vegetable garden where they will thrive as well as act as companion plants.

Dealing with small seeds can be difficult, but you can distribute them uniformly if you mix them with fine sand. You can also make furrows with your fingertip or a stick and carefully place the seeds in these. Soak slow germinating seeds in warm water for several hours or overnight, and if you don’t know whether your seeds are slow germinating or not, look at the seed packet for instructions.

Once the seed is sown, take a little loose soil and cover lightly. Cover about 1/16 of an inch for smaller seeds, and ¼ of an inch for larger seeds. Moisten the soil lightly to keep the seeds in place and put wooden stakes about 12 inches high along the rows, or around the edges of the beds. Use these stakes to suspend sheets of plastic as a canopy to protect your little plants from hard rains, and cool nights. When your local weather forecast is sunny and fair, remove the plastic overnight to harden your herb plants. And when the seedlings are well established, remove the plastic permanently. However, if you live in cold country where the nights get cool, keep the plastic handy to keep in the warmth.

Remember that seeds, and later seedlings, should only be watered when the soil seems dry. To test your soil for dryness, simply stick your finger about a half-inch into the soil, and if it feels dry, give your plants a shot of water. And by a shot of water we mean dampen the soil, not drown it.

Try these tips and we guarantee you will be an expert at sowing seeds in your garden patch.

By: John Schepper

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Our names are John Schepper and Maggie Guscott and we've been herb garden enthusiasts for many years. To learn more about herb garden plants as well as other great tips on how to create a beautiful herb garden, check out our free 10-part mini-eCourse, Herb Gardening 4 Beginners at www.herbgarden4beginners.com