Organic Perennial Herbs

Perennial herbs are a good investment; they come back year after year. Look for herb garden kits for your perennial outdoor or indoor herb garden (including herbs such as sage herb or rosemary herb).

Perennial means 'through the year'; and perennial herbs are those that grow for more than one season. This is a great advantage to gardeners as you’re not left to buy new seeds or plants every year. It also means that the herbs are able to mature over time, growing larger and more productive.

Choosing the right herbs, or organic herb garden kits, however, is the key to success. You will need to decide whether or not you want your garden to be outdoors or an indoor herb garden. You need to look for herbs that you will be able to use in your food or in herbal medicine or organic tinctures. In other words, select the types of herbs that you want to use frequently. You also want to make sure the herbs will grow readily in your region.

Ensure that whatever herbs you choose to plant, and whether you want to plant inside or outside, that you use organic growing techniques: no chemicals, no pesticides, and organic soil, organic fertilizer and organic pest control!

Some people like theme gardens. For example, you might want a culinary garden that includes plants like fennel, dandelion (this herb works in cooking and in healing), sage herb or rosemary herb. Or, you could create a healing garden with plants like echinacea, dandelion, or aloe (which is really easy to care for both indoors and out).

While many herbs are considered perennials, the reality is that the weather conditions can have a serious impact on the health of the plant. If you live in an area where you get three feet of snow in the winter months, it is unlikely that your sage, thyme or marjoram will survive. Rosemary is somewhat more hardy of a plant but it would still struggle with below freezing temperatures and being buried under snow and ice all winter long.

We transplant our garden herbs in the fall into large pots and move them into our small greenhouse. This does provide our perennial plants and herbs with enough protection from the weather to provide us with fresh cut herbs year-round.

If you’re thinking of focusing mostly on organic herbs for your health, here are some ideas to get you started.

• Angelica: Beautiful border plant that helps with colds and coughs.
• Catnip: very calming as a tea; very hearty.
• Chicory: digestive aid (somewhat bitter flavor).
• Echinacea: an overall systemic tonic good for fighting off bugs.
• Feverfew: use in poultices for treating minor scratches or bruises.
• Ginkgo: a larger tree, this is good for memory and alertness.
• Hyssop: another very easily grown, heart herb that has natural antiviral and antiseptic qualities.
• Lavender: There’s a lot of good things to say about lavender. It lifts spirits and acts as an anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and anti-depressant.
• St. Johns Wort: anti-depressant

There are a lot of organic perennial herbs from which you can choose to accent your menu in tasty and natural ways.

These include Bay (you need a mild environment), Chives (really hearty-like onions) and Marjoram. Mint herbs are also a great option but be careful they can take over any garden space. You can limit mint growth by using pot garden methods or getting one of many herb garden kits.

Additional organic culinary herbs include:

• Oregano
• Rosemary herb (be careful with proportions - it has a strong flavor)
• Sage herb (Great with eggs, meat and fish)
• Thyme

Organic perennial herbs can be a healthy and beautiful addition to both indoor and outdoor gardening efforts. Herbs, when chosen for their growing environment, tend to be high in heartiness and low in labor. The key is choosing the best organic herbs for your home and yard.

Note: there are many more herbs such as basil that while they can be grown year-round as perennials are so sensitive to cold and frost that they often act as annuals. However, you can grow basil indoors successfully as a perennial.

Consider using an indoor herb garden kit that provides the right size of pots; organic herb seeds that grow best indoors; and instructions on how to grow herbs, when to water and 'feed' them, and how to keep them healthy year round.

Additional Reading

• Organic Herb Garden Plans

• Growing Herbs Indoors, Organically

• How to Dry Herbs, Organically

• Freezing Herbs: Organic Keeps Its Flavor Better

• Organic Milk Thistle Herb

• Organic Holy Basil Herb

• Return from Organic Perennial Herbs to Organic Food for Everyone Home Page