Sometimes it seems that the flavoringsand food concentrates will soon supersede from our lives all natural flavors and flavors. But there are still real gourmets in this world who appreciate and recognize only fresh greens and natural products. A bunch of parsley or cilantro can, of course, be bought on the market, and a set of dry spices - in a supermarket. But it is possible, with the onset of spring, to stock up seeds or seedlings of herbs and plant them in your dacha. So it will be both more useful, and tastier, and more economical. And even more beautiful, if you make at least a minimum of effort and plant spicy herbs in the country, creating a flower bed or mixborder. It will not be difficult to do this. First you should choose a convenient, well illuminated by the sun and protected from the wind, clean it of weeds. It is even better to do it in advance - in the fall. Then you should think about the shape of the kitchen spicy garden, its filling and the main idea. Picking variegated varieties of thyme, sage, tagetes, silver wormwood and flowering monarchs, you can make it an ornament of landscape design. And having collected a collection of representatives of the family of clear-cut, umbrella or Mediterranean herbs, turn your garden of spicy herbs into a storehouse of improvised seasonings for the kitchen. If we talk about the spicy herbs at the dacha for beginners, then it is mint, oregano, lofant, marjoram, catholic, fennel, anise, etc.
Set Goals
Before you break a spicy garden,why do you need it: do you create it in order to grow ecologically clean spices of aromatic and ornamental species and medicinal plants or you just want to scare off the pests and attract bees to your site. Depending on what task you set for yourself, you will choose such plants. If, for example, you need medicinal herbs, the main attention will have to be paid to the conditions of their cultivation and harvesting, and not to decorativeness. If you need to get rid of harmful ones and attract useful insects, then accordingly you will have to choose the place - it is better to plant them around the perimeter of the site or between beds with vegetables. Kitchen patch will be naturally arranged closer to home or kitchen. And the assortment of herbs on it will have to match the corresponding: dill, parsley, basil, onion of different varieties, horseradish, coriander, lyubovok, mint, oregano and so on. Classical kitchen spicy herbs in the country and the garden are often planted on a round or square bed, broken into segments or squares. Today, this is not so much a tribute to tradition, as to the convenience in locating and caring for cultivated plants. But no doubt, the form can be any - rectangular, square, triangular, arbitrary. The main condition is that the grasses have enough heat and light, because many of those spicy herbs that we use today, such as basil, thyme, marjoram, hyssop, tarragon, sage, etc., came to us from the Mediterranean. Other greens - for example, parsley, lemon balm, all kinds of mint, lovage, cat, sorrel, lofant, monarch, feel great on slightly shaded wet areas.
Determine the place
The basis of this kitchen garden isperennial herbs. But while they have not grown enough, in the first few years in the collection of herbs will be a big place for annuals. In principle, it is impossible to do without them in the kitchen. These are dill, parsley, coriander, basil, chervil. And they are used most actively in the kitchen. Therefore, arranging a decorative garden, and not just beds with greens, think over the scheme of replacing plants with one another, since they all have their terms for growth and collection. It will be logical to grow not only spicy greens in the kitchen garden, but also green cultures. For example, sorrel, rhubarb, all kinds of salads and so on. And also medicinal plants - calendula, nasturtium, etc. For decoration, you can even grow vegetables, such as small-fruited tomatoes or hot peppers. Their bright fruits perfectly adorn the decorative bed of spicy herbs. True, the latter is better to put in a container. You should know that the only thing that almost all spicy plants do not tolerate is the excessive moisture of the soil. Therefore, it is necessary to make good drainage. On heavy clay soil and in the lowlands, the place under the spicy grass should be raised, pouring ridges of land with the addition of sand in them. In autumn the site is free of weeds and digs. Then you need to think about filling the garden and its shape. And in March it's time to engage in seedlings. True, it is possible to buy ready-made planting material closer to May. In spring the soil, when it is warmed up enough, once again loosen and choose weeds. Then, in accordance with the developed plan, mark the paths and lay out the border. For this:
- with the help of twine and pegs, outline the plan and form of future plantings;
- from the boards on the markings, assemble the frame of the raised bed;
- pour the resulting bed with fertile soil, and the aisles should be covered with decorative material;
- in order to be able to combine andcombine plants, seedlings in the garden, first set in pots. If the result meets your aspirations, transplant the seedlings into the ground, taking into account that many of the spicy plants grow very fast. To avoid this oregano, mint, sage can be planted directly in containers, thereby limiting their growth.
In the middle belt, most types of lavender and rosemary do not winter, so they need to either grow as annuals, or with the onset of winter carry in a cool room.
Care
As a rule, spicy herbs are unpretentious and struts,so do not need special care. They are resistant to diseases and pests. They can grow on poor soils, and excess nitrogen is harmful to them. On such soils they grow and become weaker, losing their flavor. They need watering only after planting or during periods of drought. True, until they grow, we will have to regularly weed out weeds and loosen the soil, but this work can be eased by wrapping up the planting. The only problems that can arise from the owner of a spicy garden are associated with excessive overgrowth of plantings. The vitality of many of these plants is so great that they themselves become weeds. Therefore it is not necessary, for example, to plant horse-radish in the kitchen garden, because it will be difficult to get rid of it later. I'll have to look after the oregano, mint, melissa, monarch and sage. Because if you do not, then after a while you will be stuck in the most unexpected corners of your site. Growing spicy herbs in the country can become a real hobby. And the results of the fruits of their labors will not only be joyfully admired. After all, how pleasant it is to enjoy a variety of dishes, seasoned plants grown by oneself. We advise you to read: