I don’t have a cover yet on the frame for the greenhouse but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to work inside the space to get it set up the way I want it. The whole area is going to be huge so I decided there was enough room for a raised bed herb garden in one corner.
I knew I wanted there to be enough space to grow a handful of basil plants and a good variety of other herbs. I guessed on the size and when we got the pieces of wood out to the space the one leg of the box was too large so I had Rich cut it down by a couple of feet. Now it’s perfect! We had a little bit of left over wood so with the pieces he cut off we created a second smaller box. I did not use pressure treated wood because I didn’t want chemicals leeching into the soil. Instead, we painted the wood with a waterproof stain. Hopefully that’ll keep the wood from rotting too quickly. We added an inch or two of gravel to the bottom of the box to help with drainage.
In goes the dirt! We have a yard full of dirt but we decided to buy some from the garden center because it was so nice. There is mulch mixed in with the dirt so it’s crumbly and soft and wonderful to work in.
After the dirt went in, it was time for plants! Some of the plants I’d picked up had been sitting for a week or so waiting for the dirt so they don’t look great. They’ll pick up just fine once they’ve had a chance to settle into their new homes and soak up the great weather we’ve been having lately.
At the far end of the planter box I put in two curly parsley plants and two flat leaf parsley plants. I like to use parsley when I cook to add a little bit of green to the dish. The flat leaf stuff is great to mix up in pesto as well. Supposedly the plants are good companion plants for tomatoes. I doubt these four little plants are close enough to the tomatoes to do much good but maybe next year I’ll put some in the garden area too.
Next to the parsley I put in some cilantro. I love adding it to salsa. Behind the cilantro is a tall lemon verbena plant. I used to have one of these in my garden up in Ohio and I’d pinch off leaves during the summer and use them to flavor my iced tea. The next two spots in the planter have dill and rosemary. We had a rosemary bush up closer to the house but thought it had completely died last year. Imagine our surprise when we ended up with three or four little plants springing up where the roots had been! I guess the plant wasn’t completely dead after all. I still wanted more rosemary in the herb harden because I can’t ever seem to grow enough of it. We love a sprig of rosemary on chicken or fish and it’s great with roasted asparagus.
We currently have thyme growing in a happy little bush up along the front of the house but this was another plant I wanted to repeat in the herb garden. It’s in front the front left on this photo. The plant behind it is hyssop. I’m not entirely sure why I added this to the herb garden but it seemed like such a happy little plant at the farmer’s market that I decided to give it a try. My research shows that it has medicinal use and can also be used in soups and to flavor meat with a slightly minty taste. The two plants to the right are basil. I love basil so I added a bunch of plants to the garden. I’m hoping to make many, many batches of pesto and still have enough leaves to dry for future use.
In the corner of the box is a very small bay tree. I’ve killed more than one of these little trees in the past so I’m hoping that this one fares better than it’s predecessors. The stone in the corner with the word “Shine” on it was a gift from good friends of ours. It’s solar powered and at night lights up so I gave it a home in the corner of the greenhouse to watch over my plants. You can see basil plants on both sides of the bay tree.
And more basil! The short leg of the planter box has four more basil plants. The two on the very end where originally indoors so they look a little beat up but I’m hoping they bounce back. If they don’t I’ll replace them but I’m trying to be patient and give them a chance to recover. The small pot in front of the planter has chives. I wanted to plant chives but I didn’t want them to take over the planting bed so I contained them in their own little pot. Hopefully they’ll be happy enough there.
My next step for the planter box is to install a drip irrigation system so I can turn a knob and water everything at once. For now I’m still carefully monitoring everything and watering by hand but I’d like to make the whole process a little easier so the plants have a chance at living through the summer. I sometimes forget or run out of time when things get busy so any time saving measures are always a good idea.
