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If time or space around your home doesn’t allow you to create that lush orchard of fruit trees or rows of vegetables you´ve always dreamed of, growing herbs is a great way to satisfy your green thumb!, At the same time, it can give you that satisfaction of reaping the benefits of your work. An herb garden, having a myriad of culinary applications is its own reward and can be as simple or complex as you´d like.
Besides being useful for cooking purposes, some herbs can be stunning when used as home décor. Gorgeous gardens created by the strategic placement of several different sized, shaped, and colored pots and containers can make a dramatic visual statement, both indoors and outdoors. Identify certain areas in your home, yard, or even on your patio, which will suit appropriate growing environments for the herbs that you want. Some of the best, most beautiful and individual pottery and ceramic containers are at an amazing store in Cabo San Lucas called Do It With Magic, located on the road to Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach.
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You are sure to find other colorful, authentic, and practical container options at the Marina Mercado, at the main dock of the Cabo San Lucas marina. Additionally, Artesanos, on the corridor just as you leave Cabo San Lucas, also stocks a nice selection. In San José del Cabo, within the Historic Art District, you may be able to find some original pots and planters, too. For your herb, plant and seed needs, check out a vivero, the Spanish term for a garden center or nursery.
To enhance the ambience within a home, and perhaps to better enjoy the aromatic properties, some people choose to grow herbs indoors. In this case, be sure to keep the containers in a sunny spot and on-hand near the kitchen to get the most use out of them. In contrast to this approach, many gardeners feel that herbs are better suited for outdoor cultivation. Using some practical clay or glazed pots for your herb containers, interspersed with naturally-growing bougainvillea, dwarf palms, hibiscus, or even cacti, you can add deep greens, or even a splash of color, and perhaps fill the small spaces that have always bothered you about your landscape.
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Although some herbs grow well under full sun, Cabo’s intense heat may be too much, especially in the depths of summer. Be sure to place containers in shady spots, depending on the recommendations for each. Herbs such as chives, thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary, dill, cilantro and mint, thrive better under some protection. Thyme requires very little watering and, in addition to being great for cooking in many dishes, spreads as beautiful ground cover sprouting delicate purple flowers. Similarly, rosemary, known for its distinctive pungent scent, also sprouts blooms of tiny, light blue flowers. Basil is one of the most versatile herbs to have around. A capresse salad of organic tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil leaves snipped from your own plant is hard to beat. Basil does require a fair amount of hydration and will therefore do best in a container by itself. Mint is simple to grow, so there’s no reason to run out of it when you are making those frosty mojitos! Cilantro leaves, a delicious herb familiar in Mexican cuisine, is doubly useful, as its seeds can be ground up to make the yellowish spice coriander, used for meat rubs and marinades. Whether a part-time or full-time resident in Los Cabos, there´s no excuse for not having this little gem as part of your herb collection.
Your gift for gardening and yearning to do some sort of cultivating around your Los Cabos home needn’t be thwarted by the fact that we live in a tropical desert. Dig in and delight in the satisfaction of growing your own herb Garden of Eden.
By Kirstin Frieze
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Copyright © 2009 - Joseph A. Tyson - All Rights Reserved - www.loscabosmagazine.com
Los Cabos Magazines, Inc - Tyson Promotions, Inc - Promociones Tyson, S. A. de C. V.
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico - Last Revision - January 27, 2009 - fap
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