Herbs are culinary staples in everyday cooking and the good news is, they are so easy to grow and thrive in the Vegepod.
Buying herbs from the supermarket can be costly, lacking in flavour and cause excessive waste due to the single use plastic they usually are packaged in (not to mention the fuel, refrigeration and power used to ensure they get onto supermarket shelves!)
By growing your own herbs in a Vegepod you can have fresh, nutritious better tasting herbs just outside of your door instead of having to make trips to the supermarket for herbs that will just rot in the fridge and go to waste.
Our small Vegepod is an ideal size for a dedicated herb garden, but you can fit more herbs in our medium or large Vegepod as well as planting some leafy greens and larger veggies to keep them company.
Here are our top 5 herbs to get you growing:
Sweet Basil
An Italian classic, Basil is the perfect spring/summer herb to grow and use in salads, pasta dishes and pesto of course! Cut with sharp garden snips from the top to promote bushier growth during the warmer months. Have excess basil to use up? Check out Cherie Tu's Super Green Pesto Pasta recipe
Parsley
Another staple in the kitchen, parsley is a great garnish or main ingredient in salsa verde, tabouleh, chimichurri sauce or with baked fish. Parsley can be grown most of the year but will eventually go to flower and begin to taste bitter. Best to grow from seed straight into the Vegepod in more mild weather for a longer lasting Parsley harvest. Try Georgia Barnes' Spicy Salsa Verde recipe for herby goodness!
Coriander
A key ingredient in Asian cuisine, coriander is well-loved but notorious for being difficult to grow. However in the Vegepod we have found coriander thrives as it loves the water reservoirs underneath and the mesh canopy provides the perfect microclimate for fast growth. We recommend growing from seed in the cooler months and choosing a slow-bolt variety for best results and enjoying in an aromatic curry dish.
Oregano
No herb garden is truly complete without oregano! Perfect on pizza, this Mediterranean herb is tough and very low maintenance, so it is a breeze for beginner Vegepodders. Make sure you allow a bit of space when planting as it will spread to about 25cm wide and loves a good haircut to encourage fresh growth!
Thyme
Available in a variety of flavours, thyme is a multipurpose herb that can be used in stews, stuffings, roasts but also equally lovely when baked in a lemon cake or in a summer cocktail. It also puts on a beautiful floral display that will attract pollinators so is a fantastic all-rounder. As a spreading herb, you will need to allow about 30cm for width when planting. Keep an eye out for varieties like lemon thyme, pizza thyme and BBQ thyme at your local garden centres for some different culinary flavours.
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