Grocery Store Herbs
The herbs that we buy in plant form from supermarkets and grocery stores aren’t designed to live for a long time. They are meant to be used down to the soil and then composted.
Why do they die so quickly?
They are often overcrowded. There are 6 or more plants in the same small container.
And the soil is often not…optimal. It contains very little nutrients.
The best way, I’ve found, to keep these herbs alive is to first prune them (using the leaves in cooking, of course). Then I split the plants and transplant them into their own containers or the ground as soon as possible.
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Gardening – 2026 – The Year Of The Herbs
One area of the garden I plan to really focus on in 2026 is
herbs.
Specifically herbs that overwinter well. I plan to split the 3 containers of oregano (assuming they survive the winter) into 6. I plan to plant more containers of mint, thyme, sage, try rosemary, experiment with other herbs. I’m super interested in growing chocolate mint. I merely have to figure out a way to source those seeds.
Herbs, fresh OR dried, are very expensive in my part of the world right now. And worse than that, they are often hard to find.
And they add such flavor to food. Plus many herbs ward off the bad bugs in our gardens.
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2025 Gardening Lessons – Plant More Perennial Herbs
2025 was a challenging gardening year for me.
BUT I did learn a lot and that will make it an invaluable year in the future.
One of the things I learned was…
I need more herbs, preferably perennial herbs like mint, sage, thyme and oregano, herbs that overwinter in Toronto and that I don’t have to buy and plant every year.
These herbs not only add some much needed flavor to dishes. But they also ward off unhelpful insects i.e. pests like flea beetles and Japanese beetles while supporting helpful insects like bees and butterflies.
That protects the rest of the garden.
I badly needed that protection in 2025’s growing season. The insects chumped quite a few of the vegetable plants, stripping them to their stems.
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Overwintering Perennial Herbs In A Cold Climate
Last year, I watched a video about how to overwinter perennial herbs in a cold climate like mine (Toronto).
I took the container of oregano, buried it to its rim in the ground close to the house, and covered it with an evergreen branch.
We had a cold, snowy winter (for Toronto). The container of oregano had over four feet of snow on top of it at one point.
But that gardening expert was right!
The oregano regrew in the Spring. I dug the container out and moved it back to its spot in the backyard garden. And it provided us with oregano all summer.
This year, I’m using the same technique with the sage and the mint, as well as the oregano again.
If this works…again, we will have these herbs forever.
This makes me so very happy.
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In-Ground Storage
(This is a stock photo of beets. Mine are often misshapen. – grins – They still taste great, however.)
One of the many things I love about vegetable gardening is…
The garden can serve as in-ground storage.
I can pick lettuce as I need it. I don’t need to place it in the fridge.
I don’t have to worry about herbs going bad because I can harvest them the same day I use them.
Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, beets, turnips, onions can often be left in the ground for months until we need them. No refrigeration or freezing is necessary!
The garden is truly an extension of the kitchen. And that makes me happy.
(smiles)
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Starting Plants To Bring Inside The House
I started some herbs (basil and parsley) outside while the weather is still nice.
I plan to bring these inside the house when temperatures drop.
Why do I start them outside?
I have more space. I can plant a few small containers and then bring in the best of those.
I’ll have those herbs sooner. And I don’t have to turn on my basement grow station just yet.
There are some downsides to this.
Plants will need to acclimatize to the indoors and the different light levels.
There’s also a possibility of insects coming inside with the herbs.
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