9. Thyme – Another Mediterranean herb classified as an evergreen shrub of the mint family. Common garden thyme is the usual thyme grown for culinary uses. It grows to a height around 15 inches or 30 cm. Grown in pots or containers, it requires no special care making it especially suited for indoor gardening. Use slightly alkaline quick draining soil with a PH of 6 to 8 to keep your plants happy. While it can be started from seed, purchasing several plants from your local nursery will get you off to a faster start.

French Thyme (Thymus Vulgaris English Wedgewood)

Starting – I would suggest a 6 inch terra cotta, coconut fiber pot, or plastic pot with really good drainage. Another idea is an 8 inch bonsai pot for around $18 dollars.

Thyme being a Mediterranean herb is not going to use a lot of water. Remove your nursery plant carefully from its original container and inspect to make sure it is not root bound. If you find the roots are profuse and gnarled, take a fork and carefully separate some of the outside roots before replanting. Make a big enough hole in the new soil to allow your transplant to have some new soil cover over the top of the original soil. Place the transplant into the hole. Using your fingers, push soil carefully back around the root block and over the top of the soil block from the nursery. Then use fingers to lightly firm the soil.

Water lightly until water just starts to come out the bottom of the drain hole in the container. Then place it in a sunny window where the plant can get 5 to 6 hours of sun each day. You will likely have to supplement the sunlight with regular T12 or T5 florescent grow lights, compact florescent grow light systems, high output systems or high intensity discharge systems. The T12 or newer T5 florescent lights are the least expensive in the range of $30 to $35 starting with two foot bulbs. Check Amazon and eBay for these types of lights to get the best prices. You may also find comparable prices at your local nursery. Nicks Garden Center in Aurora, CO says that one 2 foot T5 bulb with reflector will work fine to grow plants in a 2 foot long container garden on almost no electricity.

Harvesting – Both the leaves and flowers of thyme are usable. Harvest by cutting with scissors when you need them during the growing season. You can prune both leaves and stems (not the woody branches). Just leave at least 6 inches or a bit more of plant so it can recover. This pruning encourages the plant to grow more.

Storing – You can store thyme in a number of ways. In plastic bags in the refrigerator, by freezing it which will retain the most flavor. You can also mix chopped or cut leaves with enough olive oil or butter and then freeze in ice cube trays. And the traditional way of cutting stems with leaves, tie the stems into bunches and dry in a shady ventilated room.  Then pluck the leaves and store in airtight containers away from light.

Uses – Thyme has many medicinal uses. For example, thymol is used in many antiseptic mouth washes. Culinary uses include Italian red sauces, stuffing, herbed chicken and pork chops, fish, on grilled or sautéed zucchini and yellow squash, in Focaccia bread, scalloped potatoes, herbed red potatoes and roast beef just to mention a few.


Thyme in Background
4/15/2012