Planting a Window Box Herb Garden

One of the best ways to start learning about herbs is to grow them. You just have to get your hands dirty. A window box is a wonderful way to begin the introduction to plants that will last a lifetime.

When you grow an herb, you get an opportunity to live and learn from it. You watch the seedling emerge through the soil, watch the plant expand with new growth, smell the flowers as they bloom and rest with the plant during the colder months. You get to know the herb in a way that connects you to the rhythms and cycles of the earth and the individual plant. Experiencing living herbs best connects us to the energy and vitality that the plants offer.

Of course the pleasurable side-effect of growing a window box herb garden is that you get to have the green goodness of the plants close at hand for adding a pinch of this to recipes, a snipping of that for tea, and a whiff of all of them for inspiration. The “Fun with Herbs” class that I teach begins in the early and cold days of March, so the first class is always dedicated to planting an indoor window box. It’s always a crowd pleaser and many students have commented that the overwhelming herbal aromas, scent of the soil, and textures of the young plants are just the right blast of green to kick start the spring season.

In class, we focus on only a few plants at a time rather than a multitude. Like a good friend, it takes a while to get to know each one so we take a fewer but more exhaustive approach to learning. For each herb that we plant, I’ve created a brief data sheet that discusses some of the folklore, identification, cultivation, harvest methods, and uses (including recipes). You can click on the plant links below to download the pdf of each. There is also a planting resource data sheet that includes planting zones, a list of mail order seed & plant companies as well as and some local (to southern NH) nurseries and garden centers that I’ve found to be reputable.

The first plant we get to know is basil, a symbol of love and good wishes. Basil, a tender annual, is one of those plants whose fragrance calls to you with seductive allure. Ah, Basil, the king of herbs. Next we get an introduction to thyme, a symbol of courage, vigor and strength. This tender perennial is a standard in kitchens all over the world where many a cook has said “when it doubt use thyme”. The third herb we meet is rosemary, a symbol of love and remembrance. Rosemary is a tender woody perennial whose pine-like needles add a distinctive scent or flavor to many herbal combinations. Rosemary holds a special place in my heart and I have placed a sprig of it with both my grandmother and father when they left this world, to express my love and unending memory of them in my life.

So, dig in and plant your own window box herb garden. You may find some great friendships with plants that you didn’t expect but that you’re sure to appreciate.

Fun with Herbs: Wonderfully Green Weeds

One of the more interesting things I’m fortunate enough to be able to do is teach a class through the Derry Cooperative School District - Center for Adult Studies in Derry, NH. I taught a class for the first time with them in Spring 2007, and they were kind enough to invite me to teach again this year.

The course is titled “Fun with Herbs” and is a five week course that covers introductory topics and activities with the smell good, feel good, taste good, wonderfully green weeds. Here’s a description of the class according to the Spring 2008 course flyer:

“Learn the basics of how to use common herbs in your everyday life. This hands-on course teaches you how to plant a small window box garden, make an herbal inspired meal, create a soothing lip balm, blend your own home-made incense, and understand how to harvest, store, or select quality herbs.”

Each Monday evening for five weeks beginning in March, students get to know the plants. They get their hands dirty planting, cutting, cooking, blending and using herbs in ways they may not have tried before. The course focuses on just a handful of plants, which gives each student time to get to know each plant individually and to gain a working knowledge of what they are, how to use them, how to grow them, and how to harvest and store them.

The best part about the class work, other than working with the plants themselves is of course getting to know the students. During the first class I taught, I was pleasantly surprised by the sincere interest and enthusiasm of the six women in the group. Despite their different backgrounds and lives, they made an instant connection and were swapping contact information and sharing resources, tips and recipes without hesitation.

In today’s world of drive-through food, frenzied work-loads and over-scheduled lives, the simple pleasure of women gathering around a table to learn, talk, laugh, and share stories is a simple pleasure that I treasure. Taking time to interact with each individual person and to learn about them is refreshing. Taking time to slow down, be present and experience the smell, texture, and taste of the plants, is rejuvenating.

Teaching this course is as much fun for me as it is for the students who attend, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to spend my late-winter/early-spring evenings sharing the lessons of herbs - the wonderfully green weeds.