I have never been one to enjoy gardening. I suppose the main reason for this is I lack the time and patience to create my own little 'patch'. My parents are the opposite. They love the outdoors and my father in particular grows an array of different fruits and vegetables, ranging from apples to rhubarb. Although gardening isn't really my thing, I am starting to see the benefits of it. I love cooking. For me, cooking is a way of mixing flavours, colours, smells and even textures to create something wonderful. Basil, Parsley and even Chives are all regulars on my shopping list and the other day it occurred to me how much I actually spent on buying herbs from the local supermarket. So I thought, why buy these when I could be growing them myself? In that moment, I decided to finally get my hands dirty and start to understand the wonders of gardening and help others along the way. As I am a beginner, I have absolutely no idea of the 'dos' and 'don'ts' of gardening. So I've created a short list, below, of helpful tips to consider when starting your very own herb garden:

• Start with herbs you are familiar with and that you use regularly. There's nothing worse than going over the top and growing too many herbs and then realising that you haven't even touched half of your herb garden. Start small and expand your creativity though time.


• For me, my herb garden has to be near my kitchen. I'm the type of person to make up recipes as I cook and having herbs right in front of me allows me to do exactly that (otherwise I would just forget they existed!). This doesn't always have to be the case. If you have a nice bit of outdoor garden space then I would definitely recommend you use do that instead. The main reason for this is after creating your basic herb garden you may start to become a bit more adventurous and having outdoor soil space means you have room to expand.


• Sunlight is extremely important. I had a few problems with this at first, as my apartment kitchen doesn't have access to natural light so some of my herbs started to wither. After re-arranging my entire kitchen I finally solved my withering problems. If you are keen on having an indoor herb garden, just remember that sunlight is one of the most important aspects to consider. If you plan on growing your little garden indoors, then make sure you have a good drainage system in place. There's nothing worse than cleaning the kitchen and realising what a mess your garden plants have created - as I discovered the other day.


• Remember to just enjoy yourself. It's your little hobby that no-one else can touch, so be proud of yourself and what you can achieve.
  

I hope my little list has been helpful and a motivation to get you started. I know myself that I never thought that I would grow to love gardening but this may now be the beginning of an obsession. I hope my little list has been helpful and a motivation to get you started. I know myself that I never thought that I would grow to love gardening but this may now be the beginning of an obsession.