Vegetable garden at home

We have all been there: you would like to eat with your housemates at home, but it's nearly 5 pm and no one in the groups app said he or she would like to cook. It has also been a while since you have put a meal on the table so reluctantly you propose to cook this evening. However you still remember the last time when your food was so-called dull and there was not much taste to it. We are here to help you, with this quick guide you know what herbs you can add to make your boring meals taste great. Even better, you can seed them yourself so you don't even need to spend a lot of money on them!

Before you start seeding the type of herbs you like, you firstly need to know what’s the best way to seed. To seed your herbs the best, you need to do the following steps:

1. Get a tray which has a transparent lid or where transparent foil can be placed on.
2. Take a bucket of sowing soil and add water to it. Mix this soil with your hands.
3. Put this mix of sowing soil in your tray, and sprinkle your seeds over it. 
4. Make sure that your seeds aren’t too close to one another, they need enough space to germinate. 
5. Place some extra soil on top, so that the seeds will be around 1 cm below the ground.
6. Spray with a plant spray over your seeds. 
7. Put the trays or pots that you have in a warm and sunny space.

Make sure that when you feel like the soil stays wet for a long time, to put the lid or the transparent foil off the tray, to avoid having fungus in your soil. When the soil has become dry, you can water your seeds again. 

Below a list of eight herb types are listed, in which you can see at what time it needs to be sowed, how long it takes to harvest, and in which recipes you can cook these delicious herbs.

Mint (Munt)

Seedtime: between March-August

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 120 days

If you love sipping tea, mint is the herb that’s perfect for you to sow! Mint is namely used to make mint tea, in which you literally put a mint twig in a cup of hot water. But besides this, mint can also be used for other cooking recipes. Mint is used in various summer dishes like couscous salads, summerrols, or linz dish, but you can also use it in soup or risotto. The recipes of these dishes can be found here. 

https://www.degroenemeisjes.nl/favoriete-recepten-met-munt/ 

Chives (Bieslook) 

Seedtime: between March-May

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 90 days

Chives is a common herb which is used in many recipes, so it’s very handy to grow such a plant. It is mostly used to put on top of a dish for a finishing-touch. For example, chives are perfect to chop and sprinkle over a soup, like pumpkin soup. Besides this, people use it in a quiche, or salad, or add it to their omelets. You can find some recipes with chives here.

https://kookidee.nl/ingredient/bieslook/ 

Coriander (Koriander)

Seedtime: between March-May

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 120 days

Coriander is a herb which is used in many different recipes. It can be used in a curry, a chilli or other Indian dishes. Besides this, it can also be used in pasta, or in a couscous as well. Different recipes for coriander can be found here.

https://supersnelgezond.nl/tag/koriander/ 

https://www.boodschappen.nl/recept/spaghetti-met-koriander-en-avocado/ 

Basil (Basilicum) 

Seedtime: between March-June

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 90 days

Basil really is a must-have for a herb. It is a popular herb and can be used in many dishes which are commonly cooked, and mainly used in Italian dishes. It can be used in a lasagna, gnocci dish, pastas, tomato soup, and caprese salads. Therefore, it tastes good with tomato and mozzarella.

https://www.allesoveritaliaanseten.nl/basilicum-recepten/  

Thyme (Tijm)

Seedtime: between March-May

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 90 days

Thyme is not only a herb that shows that you know what you are doing but it is also very useful in your very own kitchen garden. Thyme attracts very useful insects that help your herbs grow faster and it keeps lice away. Furthermore Thyme has a very strong flavor so don't put too much of it when you first start using it. You can use it on your potatos or with your meat and chicken to add an extra profesional flavor to it. 

https://www.veggipedia.nl/groentenenfruit/tijm 

Rosemary (Rozemarijn)

Seedtime: between February-May

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 90 days

Rosemary is one of the easiest herbs to grow yourself. It does not need a lot of water or attention and you can even grow it in the winter. Rosemary is just like Thyme, really nice with potatoes and pork/lamb meat. So if you would like to cook a classic AVG but you do want to show your roommates you're a great chef you could start using Thyme and Rosemary.

https://www.veggipedia.nl/groentenenfruit/rozemarijn

Parsley (Peterselie)

Seedtime: between February-July

Time needed between seeding and harvest: 90 days

Last but not least Parsley, this herb also grows in the winter but is especially good with bbq hamburgers and scampi’s. If you and your roommates are going to organize a barbeque this summer and you want to blow them away with your knowledge of how to season your meat to make it extra tasty you will have to buy this herb. It also has a lot of vitamin C to add a final plus for this herb.

https://www.veggipedia.nl/groentenenfruit/peterselie

Hopefully your dishes will be spiced up with these delicious herbs. Good luck with sowing your herb seeds!

Sources:

How to seed: https://stadstuinieren.nl/moestuintips/kruiden-zaaien/ 

Seeding calendar: https://zaaikalender.com/kruiden-kweken/ 

Other herbs: 

https://inspiratie.intratuin.nl/kruiden-kweken/