Clean living advocate, mom, and Perelel strategic advisor Geri Hirsch is our go-to for clean living recommendations—whether we're wanting to reduce the amount of chemicals in your home or find green alternatives to our tried-and-true favorites.

Here, Geri shares her tips to start your own herb garden just in time for spring.

During the height of the pandemic, many of us found ourselves taking up new hobbies. Suddenly, my friends who never cooked a day in their life had a sourdough starter in their fridge. Knitting became all the rage. And tennis swept the nation. For me, it was perfecting TikTok's whipped coffee and the surprising discovery of my passion for gardening.

Pre-2020, I thought very little about gardening. It was something my grandfather loved to do but I didn’t get the appeal. Wasn’t it just a chore? What could be so gratifying?

Turns out: A LOT.

For starters, it gets you outside and connects you with nature. It requires both of your hands so you're off your phone, concentrating, and focusing on your task without a screen in sight. In addition, studies have shown that gardening can reduce anxiety and stress, decrease depression, boost your mood, increase self-esteem, and it gets your body moving. Plus, you have the pleasure of growing and nurturing a full life cycle, which is wildly satisfying as I've found.

Studies have shown that gardening can reduce anxiety and stress, decrease depression, boost your mood, increase self-esteem, and it gets your body moving.

In honor of Perelel's Bloom Into You campaign this month, I want to encourage you all to get out there and garden. To feel the benefits, to fall in love with the act, and to experience how fulfilling it is. Remember: "The garden is everywhere." It's the potted plant wherever you place it, the windowsill, the patch alongside your house, the vertical setup on your apartment balcony, and the raised boxes shared in the local park. Where there is good sun, anything can grow! Including a very simple herb garden. Here's how to plant one yourself...

How to Grow Your Own Herb Garden

Grab

• Containers with good drainage
• A good organic potting soil
• Seeds or live herbs
  Tip: You could certainly start from seed, but for purposes of making this easy, I suggest live herbs from your local nursery—basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, mint, etc.

Plant

1. Find a sunny spot (like a windowsill) that gets at least six hours of sunlight a day.
2. Arrange organic potting soil and live herbs in your containers. If you're planting mint, I recommend giving the mint a separate container as it can take over. If you'd like, label your herbs. This is super cute and functional if you aren't sure which is which.
3. Water every 4 to 7 days. You want to keep the soil moist but not saturated, so feel it and water accordingly. Listen to your soil, listen to your plants! You can also grab an inexpensive soil moisture meter to help inform when to water—How easy, right?
4. Use an organic fertilizer or apply fish emulsion as needed.

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