I love the idea of growing your own fruit and veggies – it’s cheap and can help you adopt a more organic approach to your cooking (see here for the Dirty Dozen list). But living in a small apartment means that this isn’t really an option for me.
Having said that, I have a small herb garden that doesn’t take up a huge amount of space and only requires minimal love and attention. If you’re short on space and time here are some nifty DIY herb garden ideas that you can set up just about anywhere.
Teacup Herb Garden:
For the tea connoisseur this is a fun way to create your own little tea garden. Using ceramic teacups, simply drill a hole in the base of the cup for water drainage and fill with good quality soil then sit the teacup back on the saucer.
By setting your teacups and saucers on the windowsill you’ll have all your essential tea herbs at arms reach.
Tin Can Herb Garden:
For a funky repurpose, hold on to some of those baked beans cans for a novel vintage-inspired herb garden. Give the tins a quick rinse and pierce a hole in the bottom. Then, tie some brown string around the top of the cans and suspend them either in the garden or on the balcony or sit on a tray for kitsch chic.
♥ SWIISH TIP: REMEMBER WHICH HERB IS WHICH, WITH SOME CHALKBOARD PAINT TO REALLY COMPLETE THE LOOK.
Mason Jar Herb Garden
Alternatively for a sleeker industrial look, opt for some Mason jars (see here for all the other creative ways you can use Mason jars) This is my favourite look. Fill the jars to the brim with rich soil and your herbs will be thriving in no time.
Handy tips to get you to green thumb status:
- Sunlight – Herbs are sun worshipers, so make sure that your herb garden is positioned somewhere with at least six hours of sunlight daily. Exceptions to the rule are parsley, mint, chervil and coriander, which will still thrive in shade.
- Drainage – Make sure the containers you use for your herb garden have a lot of drainage. You don’t want to drown the herbs and good quality soil.
- Fertiliser – Luckily these low maintenance plants don’t require much TLC, especially if the soil you buy is enriched with compost or organic matter. Note that leafy greens, like coriander, parsley and rocket, do well with some liquid fertiliser every three weeks or so.
- Water – Initially your herbs will need a lot of water so ensure the soil is kept moist, until established. Once established you will only need to water them one or two times a week. Easy!
Herb inspiration…some of our favourite herb gardens:
