Cooking For Engineers

OscarTehGrouch · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 5

I am looking to get started growing herbs at home and here's my situation.

I am a college student living in an apartment in Baltimore City (at Johns Hopkins), so it's not like I have some patch of yard to do this in... I have a good sized balcony outdoors and am looking for advice/resources on how to get started. The Baltimore Summer is starting to die down, so it seems like I should start now, or would have to wait until spring to do so.

I am not looking to grow anything in particular... rather I would like to try to grow as wide of variety of herbs as I could possibly do. I understand each herb has different methods/needs etc. but I have been unable to locate a good resource via brief Google search. There are just a lot of random websites pertaining to specific herbs with advice etc...

I'm too lazy to compile all that information and figure if it's legit or not. I just want to grow herbs and get started right away. Any good websites or books you can point me to would be great.

The thought of parsley, basil, thai basil, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, sage, etc... fresh... any home growers around here?

kgb1001001 · Joined: 21 Dec 2005 Posts: 108

We grow parsley and basil on our deck, along with a little mint and some oregano. So long as you have sun, you should be fine. Our problem is the opposite -- it's been an exceedingly dry, hot summer here in NC and the parsley has already bit the dust despite assiduous watering. The basil and oregano still look great, though...

OscarTehGrouch · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 5

Anyone else have input?

After some more searching, I am going to look into setting up a hydroponic herb gardens... there are a lot of DIY setups that will ultimately require less maintenance...

I'll let you all know how it goes... maybe even write an article for CFE in the future... hehe =)

GaryProtein · Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 535

I saw an infomercial for a herb "growing station" that has its own lights, soil or hydroponic medium, etc, but I don't know what it was called or exactly what it cost--maybe $100. It was about 24"wide x 18"deep x 18" high, at most, as I remember. I also saw it in Zabars NYC about a month ago in their "mezzanine" level where they have cooking equipment and non-food items.

Sorry I don't have specifics, but you could call Zabars in Manhattan or do a google search based on my description.

OscarTehGrouch · Joined: 01 Feb 2007 Posts: 5

I think you might be referring to the AeroGarden.... its around a 150 dollars... it's been on TV infomercials and featured at sites like surlatable.com. I looked into it when researching and think the product is fine, but comes with some reservations.

It's more economical in the long run to make your own... by using the AeroGarden, you're stuck using their propietary products... so you have to use their seeds, their lights... etc...

People have complained that although the lights are regular fluorescents, the connection to the light is specific to the AeroGarden and therefore you have to buy bulbs directly from them...

Eek... although it may be a great product, sounds like a cash cow to me.