Hi

I'm new to the whole gardening thing and want to grow herbs for cooking
purposes. I don't have a garden and so am planning on growing them from
seed in pots on the balcony.

The main herbs I've thought of growing are Parsley, Thyme, Corriander,
Mint, Basil and Rosemary although I'm sure others would be useful.

I really have no idea about this - how many seeds of each should I put in
pots of which sizes? which ones are annual and which pezrennial? which can
I put in pots together (and how)? etc. etc.

I'm sure there is a good book out there somewhere which would explain all
of this for me - any suggestions?

Oh yes, I live in the North West of France (weather similar to the South of
England).

Any ideas, help would be most welcome!

Thanks in advance

On 03 Mar 2004 13:50:18 GMT, Holka
smyslna@holkaDOTnospamDOTnet wrote:

Hi

I'm new to the whole gardening thing and want to grow herbs for cooking
purposes. I don't have a garden and so am planning on growing them from
seed in pots on the balcony.

The main herbs I've thought of growing are Parsley, Thyme, Corriander,
Mint, Basil and Rosemary although I'm sure others would be useful.

I really have no idea about this - how many seeds of each should I put in
pots of which sizes? which ones are annual and which pezrennial? which can
I put in pots together (and how)? etc. etc.

I'm sure there is a good book out there somewhere which would explain all
of this for me - any suggestions?

Oh yes, I live in the North West of France (weather similar to the South of
England).

Any ideas, help would be most welcome!


There's a *great* book out that will explain all this very
nicely. The information on herbs in the book is
particularly good - thorough, helpful. One of the authors
is the owner of Nichols Garden Nursery, long-time herb
specialists.

Below is the information on it from Amazon.com, but you can
probably buy it online, used, for considerably less (I did).

I really recommend this book *very* highly for anyone
interested in any aspect of edible container gardening.

The authors live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, and
their climate is (I believe) fairly similar to that of
England. Still, you might need to make some mental
adjustments for this. But everyone has to live somewhere,
this can't be helped!

"McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: A Container Garden
of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers" (This is
the full title, I've generally seen it referred to just as
"Bountiful Container")
by Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey, Michael A. Hill
(Illustrator)
Paperback: 400 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.19 x 8.96 x
6.08
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; (February 1, 2002)
ISBN: 0761116230

Cheers,
Pat

Copyright © 2004 Patricia Meadows
All Rights Reserved

If you are reading this message on a website, it is without
my permission and is a violation of my copyright.

On 03 Mar 2004 13:50:18 GMT, Holka smyslna@holkaDOTnospamDOTnet
wrote:

I'm new to the whole gardening thing and want to grow herbs for cooking
purposes. I don't have a garden and so am planning on growing them from
seed in pots on the balcony.

The main herbs I've thought of growing are Parsley, Thyme, Corriander,
Mint, Basil and Rosemary although I'm sure others would be useful.

I really have no idea about this - how many seeds of each should I put in
pots of which sizes? which ones are annual and which pezrennial? which can
I put in pots together (and how)? etc. etc.

You may have to buy more than one book. :-)

Corriander (cilantro) is a short-lived annual. Goes to seed quickly in
hot weather.

Basil is a frost-tender annual. It likes lots of sun and warm
temperatures.

Parsely is a biennial -- grows leaves the first season, then flowers
and goes to seed the second.

Mint is a perennial, and invasive. Will grow in shadier spots than
most herbs.

Thyme and rosemary are perennials, 'though rosemary is a bit picky
about extreme cold.

There are thousands of herb sites on the web. For info on simply
growing them, search with:

herb-name cultivation

or

herb-name germination

Combinations? Up to you. Here's a site you might find interesting:

http://stlucie.ifas.ufl.edu/FYN/A%20...b%20Garden.htm

On 03 Mar 2004 13:50:18 GMT, Holka smyslna@holkaDOTnospamDOTnet
wrote:

I'm new to the whole gardening thing and want to grow herbs for cooking
purposes. I don't have a garden and so am planning on growing them from
seed in pots on the balcony.

The main herbs I've thought of growing are Parsley, Thyme, Corriander,
Mint, Basil and Rosemary although I'm sure others would be useful.

I really have no idea about this - how many seeds of each should I put in
pots of which sizes? which ones are annual and which pezrennial? which can
I put in pots together (and how)? etc. etc.

You may have to buy more than one book. :-)

Corriander (cilantro) is a short-lived annual. Goes to seed quickly in
hot weather.

Basil is a frost-tender annual. It likes lots of sun and warm
temperatures.

Parsely is a biennial -- grows leaves the first season, then flowers
and goes to seed the second.

Mint is a perennial, and invasive. Will grow in shadier spots than
most herbs.

Thyme and rosemary are perennials, 'though rosemary is a bit picky
about extreme cold.

There are thousands of herb sites on the web. For info on simply
growing them, search with:

herb-name cultivation

or

herb-name germination

Combinations? Up to you. Here's a site you might find interesting:

http://stlucie.ifas.ufl.edu/FYN/A%20...b%20Garden.htm

I grow mint in pots and ONLY in pots!! It took over a bed I had going a while
ago.

It didn't seem to require any special care, other than keeping it on the north
side of my house, where it would get about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day.

I used a mix of some (albeit rather poor) garden soil, with a product we have
here called Pro-mix, which is basically just a potting mix of peat and
perilite, and it worked well.

I don't see why similar techniques would work for other herb. A neighbor of
mine grows dill in an old wiskey barrel too.

"Bpyboy" wrote in message
...
I grow mint in pots and ONLY in pots!! It took over a bed I had going a
while
ago.


Sure. It keeps it from spreading. I planted a 2 inch plant in a 2 gallon
black plastic pot. After a couple of years, it grew so much it broke the
pot. I'd rather plant it in an otherwise unused area (pretty hard to find in
the city) along a fence or ditch bank.

"Bpyboy" wrote in message
...
I grow mint in pots and ONLY in pots!! It took over a bed I had going a
while
ago.


Sure. It keeps it from spreading. I planted a 2 inch plant in a 2 gallon
black plastic pot. After a couple of years, it grew so much it broke the
pot. I'd rather plant it in an otherwise unused area (pretty hard to find in
the city) along a fence or ditch bank.

"Bpyboy" wrote in message
...
I grow mint in pots and ONLY in pots!! It took over a bed I had going a
while
ago.


Sure. It keeps it from spreading. I planted a 2 inch plant in a 2 gallon
black plastic pot. After a couple of years, it grew so much it broke the
pot. I'd rather plant it in an otherwise unused area (pretty hard to find in
the city) along a fence or ditch bank.