Gaia herbs prides itself on the natural organic ingredients it puts in its extracts and products. Their herbs are grown on a two hundred and fifty acre farm. The farm is right next to the production plant and research facilities. Their mission is to provide fresh organic quality ingredients for their products. The farm and facilities are in North Carolina and they do not get their ingredients from anywhere else. Their motto is pure plant medicine from the highest quality ingredients.

Their farm is located in the south west Blue Ridge region of North Carolina in a fertile valley. Although this is their main farm they do plan on setting up a farm in Costa Rica for the tropical and subtropical herbs. Every part of their growing process is certified organic. Their facility houses every aspect of the growth process from seeds to final finished product. Even the capsules and bottles are organic.

Their extracts are made in the exact same place as they are grown so you know that only the freshest herbs are used. They are kept at their peak throughout the extraction and refining process. Also there are quality controls in place that insure that their product stays pure. All of their facilities meet or exceed FDA guidelines so although their products are not FDA approved they do still meet their standards.

Growing herbs is a superb hobby. They add to your cooking, decorate your home and are simple to grow. Many people believe that herbs will not grow properly indoors. This is certainly a long way from the truth. Most herbs will grow quite happily inside a home. However, there are a few areas which need a little extra consideration.

Below are the 3 most common pit falls and how to avoid them.

1. Sunlight. Herbs like sunlight. Attempt to keep your plants near a bright window that catches plenty of sunlight. If the herbs start to get long, weak stems then this is a sign that the indoor herb gardens craving extra sunshine. If you’re unable to offer natural sunlight to your herbs then you should buy a growlight. These are special lights that copy sunlight and help your herbs to flourish.

2. Temperature. Nearly all of us like to be warm in winter. But our heating dries out the air and can upset your herbs. You may well find that the plants flourish better with added moisture. To accomplish this you shouldn’t have to go out and purchase costly humidifiers, one can simply place your herb pots near a larger bowl which you can fill with pebbles and water. As your house gets warmer then the water will evaporate and the herbs will perk up almost instantly.

Paul Stamets’ Mycelium Running is a must have reference book for anyone working the land in any form, whether it be farming, forest management or environmental cleanup. But also for people who, like me, enjoy growing things, especially delectable edibles.

The book is a treasure trove of useful practical information on what Stamets refers to as mycofiltration (of water), mycoremediation (of toxic waste), and tips on how mushroom mycelium can help improve soils and boost productivity in farming and forestry with less use of pesticides and fertilizers.

A detailed description of Mycofiltration, the use of mushrooms to filter waste water, is given in one section of the book. It lists recommended mushroom species and materials to use in creating the mycofiltration bed, as well as dimensions, depth, layers, etc. Mycofiltration beds like this can be effectively used for both industrial waste water and farm runoff.

Not only does it solve the problem of farm runoff and E. coli contamination of nearby streams, it can also yield highly palatable food mushrooms, and the bed itself can be dug out every 2-3 years and then used as an excellent fertilizer for the farm.

Planting herbs of your own in your home herb garden really has a lot of advantages. Herbs have a lot of uses to those herb growers. Although engaging yourselves in growing herbs requires extra effort for them to grow and flourish and will give you your expected outcome.

In order to use the herbs from a home herb garden you will need to harvest them first. Timing is a huge factor. The wind and the heat can disperse the essential oils of the herbs. You should choose a calm and dry morning during midsummer to enter your home herb garden and harvest your herbs. It is a fact that fewer oils are produced by the herb on extremely wet days. Harvest the herbs from your home herb garden just after the dew has dried form the leaves right before the flowers open. Harvesting the herb does not mean removing the entire plant. At this point, you are just taking a certain amount of growth for use. You do not need to use the herbs from the home herb garden that you are harvesting at the time that you pick them. You can preserve them to use later. Be careful not to take more then one third of the plants foliage at one time. The plant will need a good amount of foliage to re-grow well. Owner of a home herb garden also should inspect the plant for insects and damaged leaves before you harvest it.

Think you don?t have time to grow and maintain a garden, think again. Try herb gardening. It might not be as beautiful as a flower garden or offer up as big of a harvest as a vegetable garden, but an herb garden can add so much to your home.

There is such a huge selection of the types of herbs you can grow that it can be overwhelming to decide what to plant. My suggestion is to take a look at the herbs you regularly buy for your kitchen, take a look in your cabinet or spice rack and familiarize yourself with the favorites. Growing your own herbs can save you money at the grocery store and add so much rich flavor to the foods you cook. Some of the more popular herbs to grow included Rosemary, Basil, Chives and Parsley, but there are so many more.

For a successful herb garden you must have good draining soil, so that the roots of the plant are not steeping in damp earth. Too much moisture will cause diseases in your plants and a poor harvest. If you choose to garden in the earth be sure to dig down under your bed and leave a layer of crushed rock for drainage. If you decide to container garden your herbs a few large rocks or broken terra cotta in the bottom of the pot will provide adequate drainage.

General hardening of the foliage colour is also an indication that the plant requires additional fertiliser or potting on. It is, however, very unwise to pot on plants that are unhealthy and producing little or no new growth.

Leaves turning yellow and falling off are an indication, not of need for potting, but that the plant is suffering as a result of root damage. Consequently, any attempt to pot on such a plant will only further aggravate its unhealthy condition by unnecessary root disturbance.

On the other hand, with. many sick plants it will often be found that the compost is at fault and rather than pot the plant into a larger container, it is better to tease away as much of the faulty compost as possible and to repot in the same or smaller container using fresh compost.

There is at least one of these leaf-cleaning products Which is perfectly satisfactory when the temperature is reasonably high, but disastrous when the temperature drops. So it is well to be warned rather than sorry ; it is sensible to test any new product on part of the plant only, allowing ten to fourteen days to elapse before deciding that no harm has been done. It is also of special importance to leaves such as the saintpaulia and platycerium do not have their leaves cleaned by rubbing; a soft brush lightly used is the best way of removing dust.

In any neighbourhood there are countless greenhouses and garden rooms choc-a-bloc with plants of every description; many of them overgrown, pest ridden and past their best. You can rest assured that once the various house plant owners get to know of your new acquisition they will not be slow to offer the odd gift to set up your collection of plants. This may appear very matey and friendly, but it does have its drawbacks.

You invariably feel indebted to the donor and, worse still, once you have accepted the bug-ridden chlorophytum, or whatever, you are obliged to keep it for fear of causing offence when the previous owner pays you a visit and finds his ‘gift’ missing from the collection.

Attractive, unfussy plant containers can make all the difference to the elegant appearance of the room. It is preferable to have a few expensive containers filled with well-chosen plants rather than a motley collection of cheaper plant’ containers of all shapes and sizes.

Let there be no mistake, the garden room will be filled to capacity in a remarkably short space of time. It won’t take many weeks before you will be standing with a pot of plants in each hand wondering where in the world you are going to put them.

We were invited to plant the central section of the conservatory with indoor plants; the temperature to be maintained at a constant minimum in the region of (66T.). The floor was completely flagged over with natural paying stone and there was ample head room for any plants from the nursery that we cared to bring along.

It is pointless to have adequate heating for 364 days of the year if on the 365th it should prove to he insufficient – one really cold night can put paid to an entire collection of plants. Advice on fitting out the interior can only he general as everyone’s taste will differ and arranging plants and interior decor is very much a personal matter. Whether plants are made permanent features by planting them in beds of compost on the floor, or portable by growing them in pots on raised staging, are also matters for individual taste.

Beds were filled with sphagnum peat to just below the height of the surrounding wall. Into these beds a wide selection of plants were plunged as deeply as the peat would allow some of the larger pots were only half buried.

If you are just starting out in herb gardening for the first time, you may not be sure which herbs are best for your garden. Well, there are many herbs that you can choose from; however, there are some that are a bit harder to grow. The following are a few great simple herbs that you can easily grow, even if you are a beginner.

Parsley – A hardy, easy to grow herb is parsley. You can grow curly leaf and flat leaf parsley easily, and they grow wonderfully without you having to give them a whole lot of care. They do well in either light shade or full sun, and they prefer moist soil that is nice and rich. However, it’s important to note that parsley doesn’t do overly well in the heat.

Cilantro – Cilantro is used in many Spanish dishes and has a distinct flavor. This is an annual herb that grows well both in the shade and the sun. You’ll find that it is very easy to care for and it will grow pretty well in just about any type of climate.