Last month we talked about the herbs that are best purchased as plants, and which can successfully- and economically- be grown from seed. Many culinary herbs are best purchased as plants, either because they’re too time- consuming to grow from seed or they don’t set viable seed (thyme, rosemary, mints, winter savory, lavender, lemongrass and sage, to name a few.)

This month we’ll take a look at some successful seed sowing tips. Indoors, of course, seed can be sown year- round, as long as adequate light and warmth are provided for the young plants. To direct- sow seed outdoors, garden books often advise to plant “as soon as the soil can be worked”. To check, squeeze a handful of soil from your garden bed. If it is crumbly and falls apart easily when you release your grip, it’s dry enough to cultivate and to plant seeds. If the soil stays in a wet, cold, stubborn mass in your hand then it’s too early to plant.

Here are some tips for growing some of the most popular culinary herbs from seed.

Basil
The most important thing to remember about basil is that it is a tropical plant and will not germinate in cold soil, or succeed as transplants, until after all danger of frost is past. In the Valley that means that we do not direct- sow basil until late May, and wait to plant hardened- off seedlings outside until late May- early June. We sow seed indoors in mid- March. Basil seeds form a mucilaginous coating around them once they’re dampened, which aids in germination, so it’s critical to keep the seeds moist once they’re sown, either outdoors or in flats indoors. We lay a sheet of plastic wrap loosely over our seed flats to keep the soil moist, lifting the plastic every day to check for germination and to keep the soil from getting too soggy.

Chives
This leafy member of the onion family can easily be started from seed either indoors or out. Make sure the seed is fresh, i.e. not over a year old; germination rates with onions drop dramatically with old seed. When sowing seed indoors we plant not just one seed per cell, or pot, but a dozen or so. That way a clump of chives will emerge. Use that same idea when planting seed directly in the garden bed, spacing the seed “clusters” about a foot apart and marking each clump so that they are correctly identified and not weeded out when they emerge. Chive seeds can be planted outdoors from early spring onward.

Cilantro and Dill
We direct sow both of these culinary mainstays with abandon from spring to early fall, because their individual yield per plant is small and our goal (oft- repeated but as yet not realized) is to have a steady supply of fresh leaves for harvest. Both dill and cilantro thrive in cool weather, though dill is much more tolerant of summer heat. And both will bolt, or go to seed, about a month or two after planting no matter what care they receive. That seed can either be saved for the next sowing or used in the kitchen: cilantro seed is better known as the spice coriander and is one and the same, and dill seed is indispensable for pickles. Fertile soil and a regular supply of water will help to delay bolting for both herbs, especially in summertime.

Parsley
Parsley is another herb whose seed must be very fresh in order to achieve good germination rates. Even fresh seed can take up to 3 weeks to germinate. Soaking the seed in water overnight before sowing can speed germination slightly. Since it takes so long for parsley to grow, it’s a good candidate for starting indoors. We sow both Italian and curly parsley seed indoors in early March, and direct- sow outdoors from late March to early April. A summer crop is also sown outdoors, which overwinters for us and emerges with gorgeous green leaves in the spring before bolting.

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