Where do you get cheap plants?

Your backyard.

@Symbeline Well, you can try, but you’ll end up coming back with just a bunch of weeds ;)

I wouldn’t know then…I don’t have a backyard. Sorry.

From my friends…

Most gardeners love to give away the extras; plants often are fruitful and multiply beyond belief. I haven’t paid for a perennial in years. We swap. I also started some easy annuals from seed this year…cosmos, marigolds, nasturtiums, cleome. I harvested the seeds from last-years annuals.

I even have flax flowers (lovely light blue) that I grew from the flax seeds that I grind to use over cereal in the AM. I simply tossed them around outside after the last frost.

Once you buy a few herbs (like dill, chives or marjoram) they should reseed forever. Basil is cheap and you need only two plants annually. MInt will take over your entire property, as will bee balm.

@gailcalled I actually have to keep them indoors, because I live in an apartment and the backyard is shared. I would, however, love love love it if I could get them to grow beyond the little 2 square inches you start with – any tips for how/where/what planters I can use inside to get a decent herb garden going?

@papayalily: Tough to do much indoors. During the summer, most plants that belong outside will eventually get white flies or spider mites if left inside. The easiest would be a pot of chives on a sunny windowsill. Snip them often to get new growth.

If you can get some mint cuttings from somewhere, you can put them in water and they will sprout roots really fast. I found my favorite spearmint growing wild by a roadside.

Large indoor planters (preferably clay or ceramic) are going to be expensive, I am sorry to say. But they will last for a long time.

Can you ask your neighbors if they would like to go in on a little outdoor herb garden? You can share the labor and share the fruits of your labor.

@gailcalled I do have several nice windowsills for all the plants and can open the windows so they get that fresh air (don’t know if that matters…)

I didn’t know that mint thing, but my mom has herbs so I can probably get mint from her.

@papayalily: I forgot rosemary (for remembrance), which is easy and can be overwintered. Personally, I don’t like to cook with it. I do love dill and tarragon (which is an annual here in zone 4B).

Where do you live?

@gailcalled Denver. We get all the sun but our soil’s packed too tight and we get very little rain, ever, so it’s REALLY hard to grow anything here.

Start them from seeds….super easy to do and almost free. Other wise hit up your neighbors as many will have wild oregano, chives, rosemary, sage! Grown your own basil though it is awesome!!

@papayalily: You can buy potting soil and dried manure in large bags and make a little raised bed in your shared back yard, if you have the energy.

Everyone’s garden started with crappy soil; here we have clay and hardpan. So we were forced to improve the soil, but the first time is the hardest. I compost everything that is vegetative (and egg shells) and dump that around in the spring.

Canadian Tire has a great sale on!!!