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If you’re going to grow anything on your homestead, start with herbs. They take up almost no space, produce all season, and pull double duty — fresh in the kitchen and dried for the medicine cabinet.
The Easiest Herbs to Start With
These thrive with minimal fuss, even in dry climates like ours here in Nevada:
- Rosemary — drought-tolerant, perennial, great for meat rubs
- Sage — hardy as a rock, repels some insects naturally
- Thyme — spreads on its own, works fresh or dried
- Mint — grows like a weed (keep it potted or it’ll take over)
- Oregano — near-zero maintenance, heavy producer
- Chives — come back every spring, useful every single day
A herb seed variety pack will cover most of these for under ten dollars.
How to Grow Them
You don’t need much. A small raised garden bed kit near the back door works well, or a few terracotta herb pots on a south-facing porch. Good drainage matters more than rich soil for most herbs — they’re built for tough conditions.
Keep a good pair of garden gloves handy. Snipping stems regularly — before they flower — actually makes the plants produce more, not less.
Storing What You Grow
Dry your surplus. Hang bundles on a herb drying rack in a dry spot out of direct sun and they’ll be ready in a week or two. Store dried herbs in small mason jars away from heat — they’ll carry you through winter no problem.
Pick two or three from that list and get them in the ground this week. That’s really all it takes to get started.
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