Meet our brand new culinary herb garden!

Because I’m brand new to the world of gardening, I wanted to keep it as easy as possible, so I decided to get a Greenstalk vertical garden. The watering system takes a lot of guesswork out of the equation, the vertical shape holds A LOT of plants in a small space, and the accessories make it easier to deal with challenges like pests and sun exposure.

I got the 5-tier version. Since each tier has 6 pockets each, this single planter holds a total of 30 plants. I wanted it the entire planter to be a culinary garden, so every plant is edible! On the first day, I planted the following:

• Dill – 3
• Jalapeño peppers – 3
• Rosemary – 3
• Chives – 2
• Garlic Chives – 1
• Sage – 3
• Cilantro – 3
• Basil- 3
• English Thyme – 2
• Lemon Thyme – 1
• Oregano – 3
• French Tarragon – 3

Two months later, it’s safe to say this endeavor has been a success! There have only been a small number of challenges to address:

• None of the basil survived, as our spring temperatures have been uncharacteristically cold this year. I plan to replant new basil starts in the currently-empty pockets as soon as our overnight temps are high enough.

• A bird made its nest in one of the oregano plants. It was adorable, but it killed the oregano, for sure!

• One of the sage plants became infested with aphids and their larvae. Within 24 hours of realizing this, I had acquired and doused the entire thing in Neem oil, and it seems to have worked!

Otherwise, everything is growing very well! I have more cilantro and dill than I know what to do with. There are harvested herbs on the kitchen counter, in the fridge, and shared with friends and family. I’m really enjoying using my own home-grown organic herbs in our meals, and I’m planning to learn how to dry herbs soon. I’ve even used one of the empty former-basil pockets to plant the base roots of some grocery store green onions, which are now over a foot tall!

Two months in, I can heartily recommend the Greenstalk system for amateur gardeners interested in starting a vertical garden. I especially recommend getting the caster wheels (to make it easy to relocate when needed), the pest cover, and the removable arms for additional plant support.

Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this success going as our summer temperatures rise. If the entire season works out well, I might consider building a raised vegetable bed next spring!

Do you have a culinary garden? What are you growing? Herbs, berries, veggies? Leave it in the comment section!

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