5 Easy-To-Grow Herbs - For Kids Or Adults

If your kids are looking for something easy to grow in their little garden patch this summer, herbs may be a great option. And if you don't have kids, or if they're not the gardening type, these are still a great option for adult gardeners too! Herbs are one of the most useful items to grow in your yard or home.  They grow quickly and a quick snip of the scissors brings fresh taste to your recipes and dinner table.  Here are 5 tasty, useful, and easy to grow herbs, and tips for growing and harvesting them.

Basil

English: Thai basil with flowers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are a number of basil types including spicy Thai Basil and Sweet Basil, which is commonly used in Italian cooking.  Basil can be grown either indoors on a sunny window ledge or in your garden once the fear of frost has passed.  Simply place the seeds in the ground per the package directions, The plants can grow up to two feet high which means you’ll want to start thinning them until they’re about six inches apart.  Leaves can be picked and used for seasoning when the plants are six weeks old.  If you’re going to dry leaves then pick them before the plant’s bloom spikes appear.

Mint
Mint is delightful in drinks, deserts and in many Middle Eastern dishes.  Mint, a perennial, is easy to grow because it really doesn’t care much about the soil it’s planted in.  This makes it good for even those with brown thumbs.  If you’re growing mint outside then take care because it spreads like a weed and can take over your garden or lawn.  This makes it a great herb to grow in pots, or indoors in smaller window ledge containers.  Leaves can be harvested as soon as plant reaches six inches. 

Dill
Dill is an easy to grow herb and fits quite nicely in a flower garden.  It grows to about three feet tall and produce yellow flowers.  Both the greens and the seeds from the flowers can be used to season food. Your kids may be interested to know that this is the herb most commonly used in making pickles! The leaves are best harvested before the flowers open.  The seeds can be harvested when the flower is open and they’ve ripened.  It’s advised to sow them from a seed as transplanting dill plants is difficult.  Like Basil, plant seeds after danger of frost has passed. 

Herbs: Thyme, oregano and rosemary (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thyme
In drier climates, Thyme is actually used as a xeriscape ground cover.  This means it’s quite hearty and grows like a weed!  You can grow them in a container garden, right in the soil, or on your window ledge.  Thyme is another one of those herbs that comes in a number of varieties.  It’s best to grow it from a cutting rather than directly from a seed because seeds take a long time to cultivate. 

Parsley
Parsley, either curly or flat leaf, is another easy to grow and quite versatile herb.  Like many other herbs, it grows quite quickly and reseeds itself, which means you could easily end up with a garden full of parsley if you don’t prune and keep an eye on it.  Sow from seeds directly into your garden.  They’re not choosy about their soil but they do like a lot of sun. 

Growing herbs at home doesn’t have to be left to the green thumbs in the world.  Many herbs are tremendously easy to grow and practically raise themselves, which  makes them ideal for kids who want to try their hand at gardening, and for adults who are new gardeners or simply haven't had much success with gardening so far.  Whether you garden with your kids or without, indoors or out, in containers or in a small plot in your yard, herb growing is a great way to add flavor and fun to your summertime meals.


Easy Herb Gardening Resources: