My Herbs 1

Plants with multiple purposes – the
more purposes a plant has (whilst suiting
the chosen habitat), the more beneficial
it is for the guild.
HERB SPIRAL
The herb spiral or simple mound in
permaculture gardens is a very common
phenomenon. It was invented for
one simple reason – herbs need to be at
our fingertips, preferably at the entrance
to the home or on the terrace.
The closer they are, the more we will
use them.
However, there is a plethora of herb
species with different habitat requirements.
The spiral or simple earth
mound nevertheless meets these requirements
on a relatively small piece of
land.
The top is dry, sunny, permeable to
moisture and perfect for our hydrophilic
and Mediterranean species (thyme,
lavender, oregano, yarrow).
The middle and lower area down to
the foot is more fertile and hosts most
of the other herbs (lemon balm, sage,
skullcap, hyssop, wormwood, coneflower,
common agrimony aka sticklewort).
The northern, eastern and
western heels of the mound are in the
shade and host other edible species
(costmary, cicely, mint).
Whether you prefer to plant herbs in
buried containers or somewhere else,
they will grow strongly. And in the case
of our environment encompassing medicinal
plants growing in water or moisture,
we can bury an old tin tub right
in the bank, seal it well, fill with water
and put gravel on the bottom.
We can also grow herbs sunk into
pots filled with gravel, ideally edible
aquatic plants (sweet flag aka calamus,
broadleaf arrowhead, broadleaf cattail,
caltrop, buckbean, watercress or butomus).
Great Basil
We need to know at what depth the
various herbs like to grow.
It is also possible to grow in an old
tub. First, put a wooden board in the
tub at an angle, in order for small
members of the animal kingdom to
climb out in case they fall inside. Various
technical planting details of growing
in tubes can be found on the
Internet.
FINAL WORD
We live surrounded by many new
things, such as technical appliances and
equipment, yet this world is much poorer
than it once was. Civilization has
given us a lot of both useful and useless
technocratic gifts, and endless space on
the web, but has subsequently robbed
us of nature.
And it is nature which keeps the
human body and soul in prime condition.
Dig up a little piece of turf,
empty a bag of bought compost into
the hole, plant between 5–10 different
varieties of (not so run of the mill)
edible perennials, and water them a few
times. This is manageable for anyone,
and the benefits are remarkable.
Between the plants, mulch cut grass,
leaves, or straw (bark is not really suitable
for herbs), and you will save further
watering and weeding. The next
year, you may realise that last season’s
afternoon was the most valuable investment
of time you had made.
14 MY HERBS MAGAZINE