Which are the hardiest herbs? 4 answers on Quora.
What a great introduction to a post I didn’t even think to publish! Seems that the Quora site let’s me publish my responses to questions here and also throw them onto the Ground to Ground Twitter and Facebook groups. So maybe not such a bad deal.
Seeing how we now have a post about Herbs, how about we make it more interesting….
Coffee Grounds for Growing Herbs
Growing herbs is one of the greatest of gardening jobs, as the benefits extend far beyond grabbing a few leaves of something to improve the flavour of a meal. Most of the plants and vegetables that we grow will do better in the presence of herbs, and they will help to attract helpful insects and repel the bad ones.
Sage is a favourite of mine, as it is hardy and loved by Rosemary, Cabbage, and most beans. It will deter cabbage flies and attract bees.
Hyssop attracts beneficial insects and I was fortunate to seed these in one of my favourite old terracotta pots. I do find them slow growing and hope it is worth the wait! Have also been told they improve grape yields so have put a couple out the front with the Sultana vine.
Stinging Nettle is one of the most useful herbs to have in any garden, although most consider it a weed unfortunately. Nettle likes the nitrogen rich qualities of coffee compost.
And here we have Mint, which is about as hardy as they come. This particular batch was started over a year ago from a single cutting taken from a neighbour, and then left in a small plastic pot in full sun and with no water. I decided to treat it better this year, mainly because it helps everything else grow well and deters Cabbage White Butterfly, which is a real pest around Brassica crops.
Wow, This is great
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Thanks Kam – do you have a favourite hardy herb?
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Mint for me – and it loves coffee grounds!!
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True, so true.
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Sage of any variety gets my vote. Good companion plant and tastes great too.
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Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts May. I am a fan of Sage, fun to grow and eat, and it helps out other plants wonderfully.
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Yes it is mint for me and also Dill. Good on you the post.
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Your herbs all look very healthy and happy. I have several mint plants in pots here and use that a lot in hot and iced tea. I use the basil the most, but have several other herbs growing too. All my coffee ground go into the compost and I have thought a few times about going to one of the coffee shops to see if I can get some of theirs. You have me thinking about that more seriously now. Thanks.Emily
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You are welcome Emily and thanks for stopping by. Your local coffee shop will be happy to give you those grounds, so good hunting!
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I have experience with the rosemary herb and it has grown for several years. It has grown to a rather large bush and it still produces the freshest herb when I need to use it.
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