SEATTLE — There's a better option than buying fresh-cut herbs at the grocery store, according to garden expert Ciscoe Morris -- growing them.
"So you can go to the grocery and buy your herbs all packaged up, and you've got to use them right away," said Morris. "Or you could grow an herb pot and you'll be eating them all summer long and adding a lot of beauty to your garden as well!"
He has tips, too, for growing herbs in a container. First, they don't need a lot of fertilizer, just a half handful of all-purpose organic fertilizer mixed into the container's soil if it's a large one.
Morris recommends starting with something you probably won't find in the produce aisle: lavender.
"Now you always want to start with kind of a tall centerpiece," said Morris. "Look at this incredible fern leaf lavender I found, this is really cool. It doesn't really smell as good as other lavenders do. But it's supposed to produce flowers all summer long and from what I've read, it's fine to eat this."
He added lemon grass, garlic chives, stevia and a common, easy-to-grow herb: parsley.
"I think parsley is so good in so many foods. It doesn't just have to be that thing you stick on the edge of a plate," he said.
Then, the herb container coup de grace.
"This is the best! This is Vietnamese coriander," said Morris. "Boy is it good on a salad."
He also added a variegated pineapple mint, and finally, some lemon verbena.
"If you're a cook, you can't cook without some lemon verbena, so good in drinks and all kinds of things," said Ciscoe.
Watering immediately after planting will help eliminate any air pockets in the soil and help the herbs get off to a good start.
"Voila. I will be eating fresh herbs all summer. I can't wait. The work of a genius if I do say so myself," said Ciscoe.
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