After the rains settle down, you can see your garden pit filled with leaves. While the trees get ready for the growth of new plants, leaves, and flowers, it is also a great time to fill your kitchen garden with a new set of herbs. Just imagine relying on your backyard for fresh produce of herbs like cilantro for culinary use or adding sage to your plate for its medicinal value!
Given their immense benefits and wide range of culinary uses, you can start planting herbs even if you don’t have a lot of garden space. Being delicate plants, they can be harmed in extreme weather conditions like heavy rainfall or scorching sunlight, so if you want your home garden to have herbs, there’s no season better than autumn.
Thyme
Thyme is one of the most versatile herbs that is perfect to grow in autumn. Being a perennial herb, it can tolerate cold weather conditions, even frost, making autumn just the right time to sow the seeds. Thyme can grow well in partial shade, so you can pot a plant and place it in your kitchen window as well. Just note that thyme is drought-resistant and requires minimal watering, so check if the soil is moist before watering regularly.
Sage
The bold and aromatic flavours of sage make it an impeccable choice for adding it to the kitchen garden. You can not only use the herb to enhance the taste of the dishes but also to reap its medicinal benefits which can help calm a sore throat and boost digestion. After planting the herb, ensure to keep the pot at a spot that gets direct sunlight and remember to water it regularly.
Cilantro
Cilantro, also known as coriander is another popular herb that is known for its slightly citrus flavour profile. Since coriander leaves are often used to garnish Indian curries and sabzis, it is only natural to have the best produce right in your home garden. All you need to do is ensure that the soil you’re using is slightly acidic and well-drained. Then, just take care of watering and fertilisation, and your garden herb will grow quickly.
Parsley
The best time to grow Parsley is in the cooler autumn months. Thanks to its culinary uses of being a popular garnish and its medicinal value of having anti-inflammatory properties, you must consider planting parsley in your home garden. Since it just requires 4-6 hours of sunlight, you can conveniently place the pot and keep adding balanced fertilisers and water for healthy produce.
Chives
Another herb which can tolerate harsh cold weather conditions is chives. They are usually used to add a mild onion-like flavour to a dish. Even though chives prefer direct sunlight, they thrive well in partial shade as well, which means they’ll grow well even on the typical winter days when you don’t get sunlight. Just remember to use slightly acidic and well-drained soul which has organic content and chives will grow without a lot of maintenance.