What do you need?
bags of (biological) parsley, chives and basil seeds
(organic) potting soil
a spray bottle with water
a scoop
flower pots or fiber pots
For Mother's Day we are sowing herbs this year, it is a fun job and the mini-monsters can join in. We know already Mum will be very happy with the fresh herbs. Sowing flat (or Italian) parsley, chives and basil is so easy and nothing nicer for moms than cutting her home grown herbs while she is cooking. Just for the smell...so we fill the pots with soil and sprinkle with seed, mom will be surprised on Sunday!
How to sow herbs
Growing flat leaf (or Italian) parsley from seed is fun to do and it will work but you do have to be patient. Somewhere in between April and August is the best time to sow herbs. You can soak the seeds first. If you leave them in tepid water for 24 hours they germinate quicker because parsley seeds have a hard membrane that softens in warm water.
- Place the pot in the window where it's light. You can pull cling film over the pot to keep the soil moist through condensation.
- If the weather is nice you can also sow parsley outside directly into the pot. Without soaking the seeds germinate after +/- 4 weeks.
- You can harvest after 6 to 8 weeks, the more you cut off the harder the parsley grows, this type of parsly is used a lot in Italian food.
Fill a pot with loose garden soil.
Make the soil moist.
Sprinkle the seeds in the pot.
Cover with a thin layer of soil.
Wait until the seeds germinate after +/- 4 weeks.
If it's cold outside you place the pot in the window.
Once germinated the parsley grows opulent!
Make sure the soil is always moist but never wet!
Chives. March is the time to start sowing chives, but April or May are fine too. Chives are family of the onion, chives go well in sauces or with egg, a salad or fish.
We sow non-biological Hema seeds, they grow quicker than bio.
Sprinkle the seeds on the moist soil and cover thinly.
Sow chives in a big flowerpot. They germinate after +/- 10 days.
Full grown chives you can cut to 4 cm above soil.
Chives also need the soil to be moist and the more you cut of the better it grows
Basil is also used a lot in the Italian kitchen, in soup, pesto and sauces. With it's lovely aniseed fragrance it feels like summer in your kitchen.
Scoop 3/4 soil, 1/4 sharp sand in a flowerpot and spray it moist.
Sprinkle the almost black seeds on the soil an cover them thinly with peat dust.
After +/- 10 days the seeds germinate so you see the little seedlings come up.
- Move the seedlings from the seedtray to a big flowerpot when they've become mini plants, unless you've sowed them in a big pot already
- From May 14 all flowerpots may be moved outside
- Up to 7-8 weeks after repotting you can harvest lots of lovely fresh basil!
With basil you also need to keep the soil moist but not wet.
Then the basil grows fast and you can enjoy it all summer long.
You grow mint, thyme and celery in the same way as the above mentioned herbs
And look.. you give you Mum on Sunday surprise plantpots filled with soil bus she will have a well supplied herb garden in no time!
Happy Mother's Day!