Garden Step 3: Planting Our Herb Garden (in pots)

“This makes me so happy. Every single time I walk past,” I said to my husband.

Since the success of our rainbow garden, I’ve become more confident and interested in gardening.   For our next little project, I’ve been working with my friend from About the Garden to create a simple herb garden.  I think it’s important for children to see and taste food from the ground, making those connections around them. We have no space for a garden, so we’ve opted for a pots placed in a spot I walk past multiple times every day, and there’s a happiness in that.

This project was surprisingly achievable. We broke it down into steps so it fit in around family life so we didn’t need to allocate or find a full day from somewhere.

Step 1: Plant seedlings in toilet rolls

2 weeks later

Step 2: Paint herb garden rocks

2 weeks later

Step 3: Plant garden

Materials

Soil – I used Searles Herb & Veggie Soil (for this first stage we used 4 bags — 1 per pot — and we will extend our garden with more pots soon)

SeaMax™ Fish & Kelp

Sugar Cane Mulch

Herb Seedlings

Pots (if using)

Herb Rocks (optional)

Step 1: Soil

Fill the pot or garden with the soil mix.

Step 2. Plan

When the kids and I planted the seeds, we did a colour coded system/mud map to help us identify the plants.  After looking at our soil space, we planned where to put what, and what herbs we would use most.

Step 3: Seedlings

Remove seedlings out of the container.  For best results, the seedlings should be at least 5 cm high. We used toilet rolls to grow our herbs from seeds (instructions here: Toilet Roll Seedlings).

Most of the the toilet roll had already biodegraded by the time we did the planting so I removed the top section before placing in the soil, but it can be left there and it will eventually break down.

Step 4: Planting

Dig a small hole in the garden bed, place the seedlings in and press the soil in gently but firmly around. When determining how far to space herbs apart, defer to each soil packet or tag for information.  As a very general guide, many herbs can grow to about 30 cm square.

Love the happiness in her face!

Step 5: Water

Give the herbs a good watering. We added SeaMax™ Fish & Kelp to the water.  This will give the best start for our garden by fertilising the plants and protecting against insect and fungal attacks.

 Step 6: Mulch

Add mulch to the top of the pot/garden, keeping a very small opening around each plant.  We used sugar cane mulch.

Step 7: Label

The children made herb rocks to help us identify and plan the garden out an we added them to our mini garden.

We are also growing tomatoes and we have added a trellis to this pot.

Step 8: Care

Follow the care instructions that come with the relevant plant. Depending on how they are planted, they will need consistent watering during these hot months.  Ground gardens need less watering, but as we have opted for pots, we water every day during these hot months. It’s become something we all enjoy.

Next step: Eat!

I recently interviewed celebrity chef George Calombaris for an upcoming feature and I asked him for simple tips on what we can do with our herbs garden to encourage interaction and enjoyment for the children, which I will share next in this mini series.

More

Summer Watering Tips

Another easy (space saving) herb planter idea

Thank you!

Putting a thank you here to About the Garden for helping me with this.  I was not paid for this post; my friend supplied me with the soil and guidance to help me an I’m so grateful (and excited).  About the Garden has heaps of gardening tips over on their website.