This is a first for me! I've always bought herbs from the supermarket but now the price of gas had me thinking of growing my own afterall. I've grown just about everything else in an EB so why not herbs? They certainly will be fresher.
I planted Curly parsley, Cilantro, Basil (2), Spearmint and dill all in one EB. They are doing very well and I am impressed with their rapid growth.
Your off to a great start.You must buy other herbs at the store,right? Time to expand.Once you grow chives,basil,thyme,rosemary,oregano to name a few.You will turn your nose up at the produce section.Lovage is great in alot of dishes.Ever drink a bloody mary through a lovage stem (straw)?Edge
Wow! What is a lovage stem and how is it used? You not only sparked my curiosity but are helping me to not only save money on herbs but also to save on fuel costs. I will take a ride today to buy some more herbs. This sounds like fun! What started as a convenience for my son, the amateur chef, turns out to be an additional hobby to me.
Did you do the fertilizer and lime, same as for veggies? I have some daylilies in one of mine and some herbs in some smaller EB type planters. I have wondered, since they stay in there alot longer than a veggie, does it take the same start-up routine.
Sure did! I used 10-10-10 fertilizer but did not need anymore lime according to my soil test. The herbs seem to like growing in an EB as I have two additional herbs in pots and there is little comparison to their growth.
Your EB looks great and no place for weeds what a plus. Fresh herbs like fresh tomatoes ''just doesn't get any better''.
I use lovage leaves as a celery substitute , in potato salad ,soups,dressing ect...
It is perennial here but , I don't know how it likes the heat.
Gardengus is right.Lovage is a perennial up north.It needs winter dormancy.The stems are hollow so you can use them for a straw with a strong celery flavor,perfect for bloody marys.You could always grow it as a annual,probably wouldn't get very large. Now don't be getting zone envy on me Tplant.Many herbs for us have to be winter overed indoors.You could grow lots of herbs in the ground that would do great in your climate.Here is few that I over winter indoors that you would not have too.Lemon verbena,rosemary,coffee,licorice,pineapple sage,aloe vera,scented geraniums,lemon grass.Want to save more money? Most herbs grow easily from seed. Will make you a herbaphile yet.Soon we will be watching your son on the food network,move over Emeril, Bam! Lots of luck, DG herb forum is here,when you need us.Edge
Tplant what's the difference between an EB and other containers? Lovage is a must for me. Mine gets 6-7 feet tall, (sorry for bragging but so much doesn't do well here AT ALL) Luvly planting Tplant. DANGER you're gonna get hooked ^_^
dahlianut --(me too)---The difference is like night and day. Everything grows to the best of their ability in the patented earthboxes as well as some good homemade ones. Try www.earthbox.com for more info and their advertising is true. I can see where they would be terrific for herbs because you can plant six per in far less space and because of their rapid growth you will get far more use out of them.
PS -- I have twenty-two EBs..
This message was edited Jun 12, 2008 6:10 PM
Thanks Tplant. Now I think I have to get me 1 or 22 of those for my tomatos and basil ^_^
edit: I just googled to find them in Canada and ALERT there seems to be some imitations out there :o that don't come with the fertalizer band and I bet that's an important part?
This message was edited Jun 12, 2008 4:21 PM
Some of my tomato plants. They just love EBs
And they produce delicious tomatos also.
OMG those are tomato TREES!!! Definitely getting 22 of them. Note: I added above that I found some in Canada that don't come with the fertalizer band and I bet that's an important part. Right?
There is another product that imitates the EB but it does not work as well. We were just discussing that a few days ago on one of the other threads. Vegetable or Tomato. Not sure! If you are going to buy some use the hyperlink above and buy the real ones or you will be disappointed. You can just buy them without the mix and buy your own fertilizer and container mix and dolomite lime much cheaper from your local nursery or you can purchase the complete package. A definite plus for you in your area is that you don't have to wait for the ground to thaw as you can add mix whenever.
WOW Tplant! Just WOW!
Trying EBs for the first time this year, Maters and corn! Pics soon!
My corn of last season. Sixteen stalks to the EB.
Just one of many ears.
WOWSER! I DREAM of growing corn drooooooool. How many toms in each EB Tbone? also I wonder if I could grow some dill with the toms?? Basil would be too intimidated by those giants I think.
You can grow two tomato plants in an EB. Basil would be great to grow in small pots around your tomatos. I use marigolds. I wouldn't grow anything else with the tomatos as they will crowd out any additional plants because they grow so fully. You will have to support your plants with stakes of some sort stuck in the ground around the EB.
Tplant, you may want to move that spearmint into its own earthbox.
Plants from the mentha family tend to take over (they spread via underground runners) and smother other plants...
amandaemily -- Thank you for your knowledge and advice! I will remove it today...
My corn so far!
I'm getting hungry for corn! Just tasted my basil from my EB and it was delicious!! What a difference from so called fresh store bought? Now if I only had tomatos as it is to hot here at this time for them to pollinate but will plant some corn this evening.
Thought I'd show you an up to date picture of some of my new EB garden. I did remove the spearmint from the top right corner and replace it with greek oregano. I should have planted only one basil as I thought That I would need two? One is more than enough. I have cilantro, dill, basil, oregano and curly parsley.
WOWSER quite a change in less than a month. Looks awesomely fabby.
ha ha - those are some nice-looking herbs! amazing.
The earthbox seems to be made for them! It contains all the fertilizer that they will need for at least six or more months and are watered every two days but best of all no weeding. Don't mean for this to sound like a commercial but they really seem to work as advertised.
Now I have a problem! What am I going to do with all that basil?? Next time I will grow only one of each....
I really like that controlled environment, so I'll definitely try some earth boxes when I'm in a position to do so. I thought about it for my indoor herbs, but I wanted to do some cheap trial and error stuff before I put any money into it.
Great looking herbs, Tplant! Ya done good!
As for the basil, looks like it's time to make pesto (then freeze it for use later). OR you can pick the basil, bag it and freeze as is. Do NOT wash it first, if you try to freeze it while wet it'll turn black and mushy.
For those of you not familiar with EB's, click Tplant's name and view some of the EB threads he has, lots of pics there!
Shoe
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I'm curious about EB and Tomato Success Kit from Gardeners...
What would you like to know? www.earthbox.com
Thanks Tplant. I found a dealer super close by. I did get Tomato Success Kits for my mom and sister and I could try EB.
My heirloom tomatoes are arriving in a few days. I hope it's not super late for the season...
We are both in the same zones and I'm just about to start my seeds. So it is still early for plants in my area.
Very cool =). Thanks.
Tplant, I went to the EB site and looked at the Planting Guide. However, I did not see a "recipe" for companion planting.
I would like to plant my tomatoes with basil and borage. Please advise. Thank you.
Moonglow -- Not all in the same EB, however you could plant one tomato and one basil in the same EB but be prepared to trim the basil as mine, two of them have taken over the EB. They squeezed out the parsley, dill and oregano and I am supplying the entire neighborhood with fresh basil. I also eat it fresh as I pass by the container as it is so sweet and fragrant. Ebs seem to be fantastic for herbs. As far as companion planting OK as long as they grow the same size togeather or one will have one variety taking over like my basil is doing in my EB. You can plant four to six varieties if they have a common growing size and you trim them.
