By Brett Mundinger
Fountain Mortgage Marketing Manager

Have you ever bought plastic packs of fresh herbs from the grocery produce and felt like a fool spending $12 on them at the checkout? At what point is your money better invested in actually buying the plants, potters, and hardware yourself so you can have fresh herbs on hand at home? As I found out, it makes financial sense pretty quickly after the initial investment.

As a renter, I obviously have zero garden space in my loft or access to the outdoor space needed for a home garden. While I could rent a community garden plot, I know myself and understand there’s just zero chance I’m driving anywhere to go work on my garden. I want it front and center at home where I can control all the variables like a helicopter parent. I remember reading a study once where scientists discovered that continuously playing jazz or classical music for greenhouse plants produced better growth than no music at all. I aspire to one day be as insane about variable testing within my garden(s?) as those scientists, but until I one day reach my inevitable final form as a sunburnt, wide-brim hat and overall-wearing plant Papa, I’m sticking with loft living and its limited horizontal real estate.

But I’ll put my obsessive hobbyist tendencies aside for a moment! Here are four quick steps I learned recently when getting my own kitchen herb garden started:

Choose the perfect herbs

It may seem obvious, but think about the herbs you use most in your cooking and select those as your first to pot. I stuck with a few basics I find myself cooking with the most like thyme, parsley, chives, rosemary, and oregano. You may also consider herbs like mint, tarragon, sage, dill, or cilantro, though I personally opted out of the last of those as I find it tastes soapy to me.

Note that mint will try to take over other plants in the area, so see that you house it far away from other herbs or in its own container if you elect to grow it.

Don’t buy herbs evenly

As a lover of fresh pesto, I could easily wipe out one basil plant for a simple batch of the stuff, so I had to consider buying multiple of the same herb. Determine which herbs you’ll use most and consider growing multiples of that same plant as recipes dictate. Many starter plants are small, thus the clippings you can take at any point are also limited by that size, so buy accordingly.

Get the right (aesthetically pleasing) containers

Choose pots or boxes that are at least six inches deep for your herbs. You can use plastic, ceramic, or terra cotta containers, and I’d recommend taking a run to everyone’s favorite Swedish home goods store for yours. I scored some great rectangular wood potters ($12) to house my cheap aluminum pots ($.80/each), and each container holds three plants while concealing the pot edge beneath the lip. I choose the look of wooden outdoor potters that stand freely, but you can also choose the vertical hanging approach if you’d like to mount yours from the ceiling or wall. To each their own!

Pick the right spot

Herbs need sunlight, so choose a spot in your kitchen that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight each day. If you don’t have a sunny area, consider using a grow light. You’re likely to have at least one window in your kitchen you could utilize, however. I personally house my herbs away from my cat by placing them on the tops of my cabinets where he can’t jump. He’s a chronic plant eater, intestinal consequence be damned.

Test a spot in your kitchen, and if your herbs start to look rough after a few days, consider moving them to a sunnier spot.

Plant and care for your herbs

This is an area where I’m admittedly not an expert by any means. Fill containers with potting soil and plant your herbs according to their individual needs listed on the tags, but be sure to avoid packing them too tightly when transplanting. Likewise, be gentle with their root systems as you remove them from their containers. Pack them with just enough soil to fill out the pot and keep extra potting soil somewhere to add later if needed.

Be sure to also trim and use your herbs routinely enough to encourage growth and prevent them from getting leggy and burdensome. If they grow past the point of your usage rate, just dry them out or give trimmings to friends! Additionally, you can freeze snipped herbs in ice cube trays within some olive oil, a solution especially helpful in winter.

Get cooking!

What’s the fun in growing all these herbs if you can’t actually use them to make great tasting stuff? Consider exploring herb butters, adding fresh herbs to baked goods, roasting vegetables in different combinations, or utilizing them in sauces for things like pasta. There are limitless recipes out there calling for fresh herbs, and your imagination is the limit. Just keep in mind the dried/fresh ratio when working fresh herbs into your recipes. For each dried herb utilized, you should times your amount by about three for its equivalent when working with fresh. Dried herbs are dehydrated and more potent, so a teaspoon dried equals a tablespoon fresh (three teaspoons) and vice versa.

This weekly Sponsored Column is written by Fountain Mortgage. Located in Prairie Village, Fountain Mortgage is dedicated to educating, and thus empowering, clients to make the best financial decision possible for their situation.

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