By Erland Schulze

Herbs have been grown and used for centuries – well before modern pesticides were put into use – so organic herb gardening is nothing new to mankind. The great things about herbs is that they are easy to grow and are actually pest resistant which makes them a perfect candidate for an organic garden.

One thing you need to keep in mind with organic herb gardens is that you want to work with nature, not against it. Consider things like growing native plants and replenishing your soil – these are all part of the organic way.

One of the most important things for your herb garden is the quality of the soil. All plants need nutrients but if you are gardening organically, you don’t have the benefit of chemical fertilizers. However, there are lots of organic manures you can buy to fertilize your garden – things like blood meal, fish emulsion and rooster poop might sound gross, but they are actually really good for your herbs.

Of course, you can, and should, use compost to help your organic herb gardening efforts. Contrary to what a lot of people think, composting is not really that hard. It can actually be kind of fun to take your kitchen and household scraps, pile them up and then watch them turn into wonderful garden hummus. You can compost most anything – egg shells, coffee, hair, paper, fruits and vegetables. A compost pile really only takes a few hours of work a week once you get it going.

One thing you want to do is make sure your herbs are healthy as this will help keep pests and disease away. Most importantly, you need to make sure they get enough sunlight and water. Watering is actually critical as too much water will promote root rot which will weaken your plant.

When planting your organic herb garden, you want to look at what plants would normally grow in your area and which plants, in nature, grow side by side. Putting plants that get along next to each other – often called companion planting – is a great way to use the power of nature to help your garden flourish. Some plants benefit each other by growing side by side, but others do not so it is important to know which ones should be planted next to each other.

Organic herb gardening can be a great way to get fresh, healthy herbs for cooking or even to use as medicinal remedies. Just like with any other type of organic gardening, you have to plant and tend to your garden with a respect for the earth it grows on. Do this, and it will reward you well.