More Herbs, Less Salt Day 2024 is on Thursday, August 29, 2024: How To Plan Your Herb Garden?

Thursday, August 29, 2024 is More Herbs, Less Salt Day 2024. More Herbs Less Salt Day More Herbs Less Salt Day

Eating a proper, balance diet is frequently easier in theory – it requires thought, effort and time to organize fresh and healthy food, when less healthy choices are frequently much simpler and much more convenient!More Herbal treatments, Less Salt Day encourages you to definitely have a simple key to re-align this balance, by using herbal treatments home based-cooked dishes instead of salt. It doesn’t take much room or effort to develop a number of fresh herbal treatments, along with a little rosemary oil, thyme, mint or any other herbal treatments can perform as much to enhance a dish like a heavy dose of salt.

Hi Sharon Salt,

This is Ricks Picks. I work in the Garden Department for The Home Depot. Thank you for your question about planting an herb garden. The "How to" part depends on where you are planning to put your garden, inside or outside. If you are in an area that freezes, then you will need to plant your herb garden inside in the brightest part of the house. The southern exposure is usually the brightest spot and is recommended for successful herb planting indoors. You can also use grow lights to supplement the lack of bright sunshine indoors.

Whether you are planting indoors or outdoors, you will want to use the right soil. For outdoor planting, you can use a garden soil. For indoor plants, you will need to use a potting soil. The big diffrence is that potting soil has perlite in it and garden soil does not. The perlite in the potting soil helps the plant breath better since all the sides of the pot are covered except for the top. Your local Home Depot carries several types of potting and garden soils, as do many other nursery supply stores. Check with you local store associate for more information.

One thing to be aware of if you plan on having your plants indoors is the window sill. If you do not have thermal windows, you herb plant could get too hot or too cold, depending on the weather outside. Glass can also magnifying the sunlite which can possibly burn your herb plant.

Regular watering will be the key to keeping your herbs alive inside. You will want the soil to be damp but not wet to the touch. The environment plays a key roll in how often you will water. If you have a low humidity location for your plants, they will require more water. Try not to have the plants in direct line of the heater vent. This will dry them out too quickly.

For planting outside, place your plants in a full sun area, this is usually in a south facing part of your property. Be sure to amend the herb garden with a good quality garden soil. Pre-place the plants on the ground before you actually dig the holes and plant them. This will give you a preview of what your herb garden will look like. If you do choose to move the plants around, it less stressful on the young plants. Once you are happy with the placement, it is time to dig into your amended soil and begin your herb garden. After you have your plants in the ground, water them in with a hose or watering can so that the soil around each plant will settle. Try not to bury the plant. The level of dirt around the plant in the pot should be the same on the ground, unless the roots are showing. You will need to make sure that the roots are covered.

If you are in an area that receives regular rain, you may not have to water your garden much. For the first week, you will need to water your plants once a day, unless it rains that day. Watering after that first week will depend on the weather. Regular weeding may also be necessary, although in the cooler weather the growth should have slowed some. Try to keep your garden soil damp but not wet. Keep an eye out for things like snails and slugs which love to eat the young tender plants. You can tell if there have been snails or slugs traversing your garden by looking out for that silvery slim on the ground first thing in the morning.

Other than a few precautionary checks for bugs, your herb garden should be in good shape. Be sure to take some before and after pictures of your garden and send them in. Have a happy holiday.

Ricks Picks

Salt. We are told that Salt is Bad for us.?

Not in moderation. The average adult should get no more than 2,400 mg of sodium a day. That's about 1 teaspoon of table salt. There's a ton of salt in processed food, so if you eat a lot of that and are heavy handed with the table salt, you're NOT doing your body any favors.

Aim for less than even 2,000 mg a day, if you can. The easiest ways to reduce sodium in your diet are by eating less processed food, and adding more herbs and spices into your cooking and not salt.

TOO much salt IS bad for you.

THE ULTIMATE V-DAY IDEAS/HELP BOARD. ((Stop posting the same questions))?

I've had to be creative with gifts for quite some time, since I'm in college, and therefore have little if any money to spare. Here are some of the things you could do which cost you nothing or very little (I tend to do a few of these to "pamper" my friends and loved ones as much as I can). Most of these ideas are for girls, but some work for guys as well.

-Photo album or scrapbook full of old photos and memories. Especially of the two of you together. You can put in photographs, little notes to each other, or other sweet little sentimental items.

-Bath salts (these are pretty popular - everyone loves to be able to soak and relax in the tub), bubble bath, fancy soaps, body wash. You can also make bath salts very easily. For every half-pound of epsom salt (pretty cheap), mix a couple tablespoons of baking soda (for the fizziness), and a couple of drops of essential oil (make sure its essential oil rather than fragrance, because the second one can cause allergic reactions). Some of the popular oils are rose or lavender. You could also add the appropriate dried herbs in with the bath salt (lavender for the lavender bath salt, or rose petals for the rose bath salt), but make sure to put them in a little pouch to keep the petals from clogging up the drain. To do this, just take a small square of fabric, something that water can pass through, usually a transparent fabric works best for effect. Place about a fourth of a cup (or a little less) of the salt into the center, and tie it with a fabric ribbon. You could even make a few of these, and all she has to do is toss the bath "tea bag" into the tub. The salt will dissolve and the herbs will fill the air with heavenly aromas.

-Baked goods, and chocolate. You can't go wrong. Depending on your cooking abilities, you can make anything from chocolate chip cookies wrapped up nicely, to my favorite, anise biscotti. You can find a multitude of recipes on www.allrecipes.com, sorted by rating. Biscotti isn't actually very hard to bake at all, so if you're feeling courageous, its a huge hit. Use vanilla and anise extract for flavoring, throw some crushed almonds into the batter, and when its all cooked up, dip the bottom in chocolate and let it solidify. Brownies or Blondies are also great.

-If you're going to be at home, set up an at-home date. Decide what kind of dinner sounds delicious, and buy all of the ingredients for it. Don't forget dessert, too, and maybe even an appetizer. Buy some nice candles, and wine or champagne, and have a genuine candle-lit dinner.

-If you're thinking of a more laid-back, casual sort of way to spend the evening, you can always watch a movie. Make some popcorn at home, and snuggle up in a blanket.

-If she has a favorite author or loves reading, get her a book she'd like. A great compliment to this gift is to make a bookmark. Spend a few bucks at the local craft store on a couple different sheets of scrap-booking paper (It's about .50 to .99 per sheet where I go), some nice beads, and have some string or ribbon on hand. Figure out which paper you'd like as the background, and cut from it about the size you'd like your bookmark to be. Next, from another type of paper, cut a strip that is the same height, but slightly narrower, so that a fourth of an inch or so will show of the paper behind it. Glue it on top. Punch a hole in the top, tie the ribbon or string there, and decorate the end(s) with the beads. The more important part is that, on the back of the bookmark, write a little note to her about how much you love her.

-If she likes music, and if you have any blank CDs lying around, burning a CD is always an easy thing to add to the gift you give her. Pick out her favorite songs, or songs that remind you of her. Either use a CD label for the front of the CD, or using a sharpie, give it a title and write her a little note.

-Love Coupons. On some of that nice paper, cut out small strips of it. Write a little favor on each of them. Some ideas are: breakfast in bed, a night out, a kiss, etc. Anything you can think of. Make a nice stack of them and tie them with a ribbon.

-Write her a love letter. Or a poem, if you're up to it. Pour your heart into it, write it on nice paper (but make sure to hand write it - don't type it). I guarantee it'll be the gift that she'll never forget. Words are very powerful, and shouldn't be underestimated.

-Flowers. Everyone gets flowers for Valentine's, but the thing to remember is that you can do this many different ways. You can get cut flowers; roses are the norm, but try to think outside the box. Stargazer lilies, for instance, will sweep her off her feet. Also, try a living plant. You could get her something fancy like an orchid, or something a little more simple, like potted forget-me-nots. If she's big on culinary stuff, try some chives or basil.

-February, around where I live, is the coldest part of the year. It's a perfect time for hot chocolate, mochas, coffee, and hot tea.