Spring is here!

Sometimes you can't tell by the weather outside, but when you see your herbs poking out of the ground, you know spring has arrived!  I love springtime in my herb garden.  Even though it's a lot of work in the beginning of the season, you will reap great rewards all season long with flavorful herbs just outside your kitchen door.

Start by raking out all the leaves and sticks that have wintered over in your garden.  Next cut back the dead wood and stems from your herbs.  Here is my sage plant that is about 4 years old.  It's huge-but loves being cut back in the spring.

You will notice near the base of your plant new leaves sprouting.  This is where you want to cut back to.  Always cut ABOVE the lowest leaf sprouts.  This might seem like a drastic cut for your plant, but trust me, it will grow very fast once the weather warms up.

 

One of my favorite springtime herbs are chives.  They are usually the first to poke out of the snowy garden bed.  You don't need to do anything with them but clean out any debris that may be on top of the plant.  Soon you will be seeing flower buds among the slender spikes.  

 

Tarragon and oregano both grow up from the crown of the plant.  All last year's growth is dead, so cut all that back. You'll see the new leaves right on the ground.  They grow fact, so get those plants cleaned up as soon as you can.

The rewards of growing your own herbs is the bright, flavorful taste they bring to the food you prepare.  Nothing tastes better that the freshness of herbs.

Happy gardening!