With the rising cost of food in our country I knew I’d have
to take some serious measures so I could afford to continue my catering course.
Fresh herbs such as Rosemary, Thyme and Basil are used in so many of the dishes
I’ll need to create, but the cost is ridiculous. When you purchase these from
the store you get one little plastic container filled with a handful of herbs,
and I just can’t bring myself to buy them at $4 a pop.
My son and I went to Home Depot yesterday to pick up a
couple of things I needed for our lawn. While I was there I wanted to find some
flowers to plant around my mailbox. As I was searching the massive garden
section I came upon the fresh herbs and decided to start my own herb garden. I
bought a few large plants, rosemary, basil and flat leaf parsley to start off
with, as well as some arugula. Yes I know that’s not an herb, but I will be
using arugula quite often so why not try to grow it.
The quality of soil in Oklahoma
isn’t the greatest so I knew I’d have to do something about that. I wasn’t
quite sure what to do, but then my husband came up with a great idea. Take a
large tub, drill drainage holes in it, and use store bought soil. This will not
only help the plants to grow, but it will also give me the ability to bring the
tubs indoors when it gets colder outside and have a supply of the herbs during
the cooler months.
I priced some of the tubs at a few stores today and found a
large, plastic, rectangular shaped container on wheels. The bottom of the tub
is about an inch off of the ground so drainage won’t be a problem, and it was
spacious enough to let the arugula and parsley spread out, plus I’ll have room
for other plants. The basil and rosemary have very long roots so they will need
to be planted inside of something deep. Fortunately I found some deep, large,
round pots at Wal-Mart that would work well for them.
The cost of all of this is going to be less than $35. My
plants were only $3 apiece and the tubs and soil will cost me about $20. After
making two recipes, my herb garden will have paid for itself.
Years ago I tried planting a vegetable garden, but I was
unable to keep on top of it due to health reasons, so growing my own produce
isn’t going to be an option for me, but in my next blog you’ll see what I’ve
done to save money on fresh fruits and vegetables and how I’m making them last.