Fitness for women - Herbs and Spices

Fresh herbs and spices are chock full of vitamins and minerals and can turn an ordinary diet into a much healthier one. Growing your own herbs can be an enjoyable and rewarding pastime, and eating herbs fresh from your garden will reap plenty of healthful benefits. Cooking with your own home grown herbs will turn any dish it into a healthy dinner recipe for your family.

In warmer climates it is possible to grow herbs outside all year round. However, if you live in a climate where you have cooler months, you may want to grow them inside. Herbs are easy to grow and because they self seed, they are best grown in containers whether grown indoors or outdoors.

Growing herbs in container pots or contained spaces is a good way to keep your gardening maintenance low. So, don’t worry about having to spend hours tending your herb garden.

Herbs grow well in drier soil and indirect or defused sunlight. Most homes will have a room that will supply enough light to grown herbs indoors. Since heat is kept fairly constant in homes you won’t have to worry about them getting frost or winter killed either.

Another benefit of growing herbs in your home is for their aromatic qualities. You’ll always have the wonderful smells of these plants to freshen the air in your home. Herbs are best grown in their own separate pots but will look lovely when arranged in groupings such as under a window or on a table where there is ample light. An advantage of herbs is they require very little maintenance. Watering is best done once the earth is dried out and then give them enough water to soak the earth and you should only have to water them once every week or so.

Here are a few herbs that you can either start from seeds or pick up at your local gardening center: Ø Parsley Ø Oregano Ø Thyme Ø Rosemary Ø Chives These herbs are commonly used in both vegetables and meats dishes so plant plenty of them and you’ll always have a supply handy. Learning to cook with herbs and spices is a great way to improve your vitamin intake and enhance the flavor and aroma of foods.