Herb Garden

In south Texas spring is starting to lift it's dear sweet head, and peak in between rain showers.

The sunny cool days beckon me outside. Starting an herb garden, in pots from seeds, makes a fun pre-spring(and kid-friendly) gardening project. Here's how we did ours!

1. First pick your herbs. This go round we chose basil, oregano, thyme, and dill. Then have your mother bring you four lovely colored pots (because your kids just can't bear ONE more trip to the nursery).

1. Now these pots MUST have holes in the bottom for drainage, or you will have to drill your own. Save yourself a step, ya know??

3. Fill the pots with potting soil and follow each seed's directions. Some seeds will want to be buried 1/4" deep others will only want to be sprinkled on top of the dirt. Be kind, read, and give your seed babies what they need.

4. Here is where I should remind you, "Love is patient, love is kind..." This part, if your kids are anything like mine, will make you want to pull your hair out. Your real babies will NOT care what your seed babies want. They will want to play with seeds, dirt, and water in no particular order and with out any real instruction from you. From trial and error this is how I would go about it...I would have an empty egg carton or two and a let your kids fill it with dirt and after securing a few seeds for yourself hand over the seed packets. Who knows you may have basil sprouting up from the driveway cracks?

5. Now give them a healthy drink of water and find a sunny patch. The general rule for watering is to not let the soil get too dry, and to not have standing water on top of the soil. Those parameters should keep you from over or under watering. The pots are handy because you can move them until you find the right sunny spot. Beware of February freezes, if this happens just bring your babies inside or cover them with an old towel. Look for signs of life within 5-10 days.

6. Now give yourself and the kiddos a healthy drink of water and sit back and admire your productive handy work. Talk about spring a little, and then talk about why it's important they pick up their mess and put their tools away. Ha ;)

~Sarah