I’m warily eyeing my stack of empty pots on the porch as winter ices them over once again.

When will I get to plant them?

Will spring ever come?

Well, of course it will, and according to a sign outside a local nursery, it will be here in 17 days. Hopefully this is the last time I can rant about ice falling from the sky. C’mon nature, we’ve had enough already.

Growing Herbs in Pots

In anticipation of spring, I have been pouring over seed catalogs and have decided to grow herbs in the pots on my sunny front porch this year. This keeps them as close as possible to the kitchen door, making it more likely that they will be properly tended and more frequently harvested.

Most herbs are well-suited to life in a container. It’s even preferable to grow some herbs in containers, like mint and chives, due to their aggressive spreading tendencies in the garden.

Herbs don’t need a lot of attention to thrive, just plenty of sun (at least a few hours of direct sunlight, preferably more). They need consistent water, but would rather stay on the dry side versus soggy. Overwatering is one of the surest ways to kill an herb.

They also don’t require much, if any, fertilizer to thrive. If you do fertilize an herb, and you intend to use the plant for consumption, make sure to use diluted concentrations of an all-natural fertilizer like blood meal, fish emulsion, or compost tea.

Prevent Bolting Plants

Bolting causes the flavor of herbs to become somewhat bitter, since the plant directs its energy into flowering rather than new leaf production.To avoid this and prolong the usefulness of herb plants, continuously pinch or cut off flower buds all season long.

This requires almost daily attention once plants have reached mature size. Don’t be afraid to drastically prune/harvest herb plants, as they will produce new growth as long as you cut above a set of leaves. If saving seeds, stop pinching and allow herbs to set flowers later in the season, or sometime in mid to late August.

To remind yourself to pinch your herbs, try keeping your container herbs in a convenient spot where you’ll see it daily. That also makes it convenient to snip of a few stems when cooking dinner or making a cup of tea.