About Herb & Hollow
Last updated
A pot of thyme on a windowsill is a garden. So is a balcony rail of strawberries, a patio crowded with tomatoes in grow bags, and a shelf of jars holding last summer's chamomile.
Herb & Hollow is an independent gardening blog for people who grow in the space they have. We write about container gardens, herbs, balcony and patio planting, houseplants, small vegetable gardens, and the quiet kitchen work that follows a harvest: drying, steeping, infusing and storing.
Who we're writing for
Mostly beginners, and people who have been beginners more than once. You might have a south-facing balcony four floors up, a shady courtyard, a 6 by 10 foot yard or a single bright window. You'd like to grow herbs you'll actually cook with, keep a few houseplants alive through winter, and maybe fill a jar or two with something you grew yourself.
You don't need a greenhouse here, or a lot of money, or any particular expertise. You need light, a container with a drainage hole, and patience with the season.
What grows here
- Container Gardening: pot sizes, potting mixes, drainage and watering for anything grown in a container.
- Herb Garden: basil, rosemary, thyme, mint, chives and friends, with the sun, spacing and harvest timing each one prefers.
- Balcony & Patio: secure railing planters, vertical gardens, wind-tolerant plants and layouts for narrow outdoor spaces.
- Houseplants: plants matched to your light, watering by touch, repotting, pests, and pet-safety notes.
- Small-Space Vegetables: compact varieties, grow bags and raised beds that produce a real harvest in a small footprint.
- Kitchen Apothecary: drying herbs, garden teas, infused oils and vinegars, herb salts, and the food safety that goes with them.
- Garden DIY: raised beds, self-watering pots, seed-starting shelves and trellises you can build in an afternoon.
- Seasonal Garden Tasks: what to do each season, keyed to your hardiness zone and frost dates rather than the calendar.
How we put a growing guide together
Gardening advice that ignores where you live isn't much help, so our guides start with zone and timing. We work from the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, average frost dates, and growing information published by university extension services and seed companies: days to maturity, spacing, light needs, and container size.
We name specific varieties, because a 'Genovese' basil and a Thai basil behave differently in a pot, and we include botanical names where common names overlap. When we recommend tools, seeds or planters, the recommendation comes from researching the public product information, specifications and reviews. We haven't grown or tested every variety or product we mention, and a guide will say so plainly when it reflects our own hands-on experience.
AI tools help us research, draft and make images. A human editor reviews and edits every article before it's published. Many of our garden pictures are AI-generated illustrations, labeled where relevant, and they should never be used to identify a plant. Our AI policy and editorial guidelines explain the rest.
A word about the apothecary
Our kitchen apothecary posts are about culinary herbs and simple home preparations. They are not medical advice. Some herbs aren't suitable during pregnancy or breastfeeding, can interact with medications, or are harmful to cats and dogs. Please read our herbal and garden safety notes before trying something new, and talk with a doctor, pharmacist or veterinarian when health is the question.
What we hold ourselves to
Each article is checked before it's published: planting times against frost-date guidance, plant care against extension and seed-company sources, and safety notes against official references. An editor reads and approves every piece, and the "Reviewed by" line shows who. We return to our guides as seasons and sources change, and the updated date tells you when we last did. Affiliate links and anything sponsored are always marked, as our disclosure explains.
Who we are
The Herb & Hollow editorial team
Herb & Hollow is run by a small, independent editorial team. Every article passes through a member of our editorial team before it reaches you. Herb & Hollow is not owned by a seed company, nursery or garden brand.
Write to the potting bench
Tell us your zone, how many hours of sun you get, and what keeps failing in your pots. Those letters are the most useful thing we receive, and they steer what we write next.
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Go on and plant something small. It counts.