Fresh herbs are a must-have item – even if you don’t have a garden – and self-watering pots are a great way to grow them. I put mine just outside the back door where I can see the herbs both from the kitchen and on my way to the dining table. This has proven to be a great strategy because I often used to think that I would add some herbs to a dish and then forget. Being able to see the herbs greatly increases the chances of me using them in as many dishes as possible.
Herbs in a pot at the back door has also proven to be very useful now that I am maximising the vegetables I’m growing in the garden. Things always start off neatly and well spaced but then somehow whenever I need some parsley (or any other herb) it seems that it has been swamped by a rampant cherry tomato or cucumber plant. I still do plant herbs in the garden, particularly those that I want a lot of, but it is great to have my staples of parsley, coriander, chives, lemon thyme, sage and oregano just outside the door ready to add to a dish or use as a garnish.
Greensmart pots have a large built-in reservoir so that even rapidly growing plants only need watering once a week. They are designed to provide the optimum amount of water (and you can add nutrients directly to the water) and claim to produce 50% more growth. Once a week watering is great if your lifestyle means you are not always able to water every day – particularly when the pots are in all day sun.
The Greensmart website http://www.greensmartpots.com.au/ shows all sorts of different herbs and vegetables being grown successfully in their pots. You could do your entire garden that way if you really wanted but it wouldn’t be a cheap option. They are quite expensive but I think they are worth every cent. The pots come in 2 different sizes (20 litres and 40 litres) and 3 different colours – I have the 20l version. In NZ the suppliers are GrowGoodNZ .
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