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.

The farm itself is in the south western section of the Blue Ridge region of North Carolina. This currently is their only farm. They are setting another one up in Costa Rica to farm the tropical and subtropical herbs that they offer. All of the growing process, refining process, and bottling process is certified organic. This facility has all of the production, growing, and bottling together.

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 pastime. They add to your cooking, decorate your home and are simple to grow. A lot of 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. Though, there are a few areas which need a little bit additional thought.

Below are the 3 most typical pit falls and the way to avoid them.

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

2. Temperature. The majority of us love to be warm in winter. However our heating dries out the air and may upset your herbs. You might discover that the plants flourish better with additional moisture. To achieve this you don’t have to go out and buy costly humidifiers, you can simply place your herb pots close to 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 immediately.

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 filled to the brim with valuable information on how to improve soils for farming, gardening and forestry; create simple, low-cost biofilters for waste water (mycofiltration); and clean up toxic waste (mycoremediation).

For example, an easy do-it-yourself method of creating a mycofiltration bed for filtering waste water is delineated in detail. Recommended materials are listed along with suggested mushroom species to use and the ideal dimensions of the bed. In Stamets’ examples, these mycofiltration beds are used to effectively filter and neutralize farm runoff but they could also be used to filter industrial waste water.

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.

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 are many types of herbs that can be grown and harvested. The most popular among herb gardeners are Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Chives, and Oregano etc. Just take a look in your kitchen cabinets or spice rack and see what you typically keep on hand for cooking. Think of the money you’ll save your herbs on your grocery bill overall. A few hardy plants can supply enough herbs to last you all year.

Herb gardening requires well draining soil for an optimum growing environment. If the soil doesn?t drain well, your plants will get to wet and won?t grow correctly. You can fix a drainage problem in an outdoor garden by digging a trench in the soil and filling it with crushed rock, and then simply shovel top soil over it. For container gardens, place some large rocks or crushed stone in the bottom of your containers.

What the visitor to public authority greenhouses fails to understand is that houses open to the public are really display greenhouses. In order to support the display there are usually many greenhouses behind the scenes in which plants are grown in individual environments from where they are chosen to fill spaces in the display greenhouse as and when required. The display greenhouse will have many permanent plants, but the majority will be fly-by-nights that may be in position for only a few days before being replaced.

It really is not practicable to grow a range of plants with differing temperature, humidity and light requirements together under the same roof and expect them all to do well. Frequently I am invited to inspect the plant collections of acquaintances and give my opinion as to why a certain plant does not do so well. More often than not the garden room enthusiast is paying the price of trying to emulate the example of the botanic garden display and meeting with the customary failure.

With flowering plants it is always better to remove flowers as they die in order to stop them rotting and avoid fungus troubles. With saintpaulias and cyclamen it is particularly important to ensure that when flowers are no longer attractive the complete flower stalk should be removed.

Any pieces of the stem that may be left will rot back in time and damage the remainder of the plants. The majority of glossy-leaved plants will he improved for having their leaves cleaned periodically. Most of them can be simply treated by gently wiping the leaves with a soft sponge moistened in water.

You will have the satisfaction of knowing that the most competent expert in the land could not pot the plant any better, as it will be at exactly the right depth and the old and new compost will be in contact all the way round the pot. Better than that you just could not have!

If the garden room is attached to the house, then the house wall should be brought into use as a support for climbing plants. All sorts of fittings are available but I am still a great believer in the old-fashioned trellis as a means of support. The timber will be greatly improved by a couple of coats of white paint, which will set of the plants well. As an alternative to the conventional diamond-shaped trellis try making your own up in a squared rather than a diamond pattern.

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.

Growing advice amounts to little more than keeping the plants in reasonably good light not full sun under glass watering and feeding regularly and potting on into reasonably large containers fairly early in the season. Try putting five or six cuttings in a large basket early in the season, mid-April say, and you will be quite amazed by the display provided with very little eflbrt on your part only a few months later.

Ficus benghatensis proved to be the most rampant grower of all, developing into a considerable tree with many strong branches at all levels in less than three years. Fortunately it does not take unkindly to annual, almost savage pruning. If you have the space and a really dominant plant is required, then this could well be the one.

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’re a beginner when it comes to herb gardening, you might be worried about which types of herbs you should grow. There are many different herbs available, and some are more difficult to grow than others. There are a few types of herbs that are especially easy to grow for beginners. These are generally more hardy plants that don’t require a lot of fertilizer or special work.

Parsley – Parsley is a relatively hardy annual in zones 2-11. Both flat-leaf and curly varieties are easy to care for and grow very well without a lot of extra care. It can do well in full sun to light shade, and needs rich soil that is well-drained but moist. It doesn’t do particularly well in 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.