Potted Gardening

There really is no excuse for not growing something edible in your home garden. Even people who live in small apartments or units can grow bits and pieces in pots or trays on window sills! I really encourage people to grow something...be it a couple of herbs or a few lettuce plants. Embrace a little bit of self sufficiency...it might be one less thing you need to add to the shopping trolley, saving you a couple of dollars aswell! :) And that is becoming more and more important in this day and age, with economic problems affecting more and more people.

So, for all of you out there who are pondering growing some herbs or lettuce plants, or for those who only have space for a couple of potted plants on the window sill, here are some of my ideas. All of the produce used here (apart from the zucchini and leek) were grown in pots. I wanted to show people the possibilities of potted gardening, so I have restricted myself to pots for this post. You really can grow so much in pots...here are some of my ideas for potted produce...

Herbal Teas

One of my favourite uses for fresh home-grown herbs is making herbal teas...they are really simple, really tasty and really refreshing. This one is one of my favourites :)
You will need:

• A plunger (as shown in the photos, they are pretty cheap at shops like allens or k-mart)
• Some herbs (I used mint, stevia, thyme and rosemary in this tea)
• A regular tea bag
• Water

Firstly, I chop the herbs up relatively finely, as shown in the photo. Top left is dried thyme from my garden, bottom left is mint and stevia, and bottom right is rosemary...Empty the contents of a regular teabag aswell (top right), because the herbs only flavour the tea.

Note: You can alter this recipe to your own taste. Some people might use mint only, or add extra rosemary etc. It is up to you, this recipe is just my favourite :)

Once the herbs are all chopped, add them to the plunger. If you like sweet teas, add some honey or extra stevia (which is a natural sugar-substitute). Put the kettle on to boil, then...

...add water! Allow to brew for 2-3 minutes, before pouring a cup of delicious, home-made herbal tea :) This tea can also be chilled in a bottle or jug, and sipped on a hot summer day, with a slice of lemon or two added to the glass :)
Rosemary and thyme in a tea like this are fantastic for aiding sleep...so if you have difficulties sleeping, a cup of this tea before bed should help :)


Quick Herbal Salad

On a hot day, one of the most refreshing snacks is a fresh herbal salad. It is aso a very rewarding to harvest a bunch of produce from your own potted garden, coming inside and whipping up a salad for lunch. I did that just the other day :)

I headed out to the garden, and noticed that I had some really great stuff which would go really well in a salad. So, I took out my trusty basket, and picked a few things (please note, the zucchini was not in a pot, and I'm not really sure why it is in the picture...I didn't use it in the salad either :))

My little basket contains:

• Lettuce leaves (Great Lakes)
• Rocket
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Dill
• Fennel
• Mint
• (I also used a leek, which I picked after the photo was taken :) )
  

Ok, so simply chop/slice/cut the different ingredients as you like...throw them together in a bowl, and sit down to a fresh, green salad. I usually add a bit of lemon juice, pepper and salt and some chopped leek to the mix, because they go really well with the fresh herbs.

It's really very simple, cheap and rewarding, to whip up afew things using produce from your potted garden. If you have any questions about veggie gardening using pots, or any other questions, queries or requests, give me a yell at theveggiedude@hotmail.com and I'll get back to you :)

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Cheers again guys, and happy gardening....

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The Veggie Dude