Start your very own Little Free Herbary

Part of the appeal and ease, we hope, of offering up a Little Free Herbary of your own is that it's mercifully simple and cheap, even free in a sense if you're using existing pots/soil/plants, to do so.

Simply pull a few containers or pots of herbs out to your property line or front stoop with an invitation to passersby to harvest from it. Or get more ambitious and offer up a raised bed, fence planter, vertical garden, larger plot or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Below are a few suggestions for helping you pull together your Little Free Herbary. (We’re currently exploring developing a package of products to assist you as you set up and maintain your Little Free Herbary including a sign, plant markets, bags, etc. Stay tuned!)

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions.

Need to have

  • A place to put it - You obviously need a dedicated spot on your property or someone else’s you have permission to use. Your Little Free Herbary should be easily accessible to your neighbors, i.e. up close to the sidewalk or road where passersby can easily encounter it and see the invitation to pick from it.

  • Herbs! - It’s not an herbary if there aren’t any herbs in it!

  • Plant container - A raised bed, pot, fence planter, etc. with healthy soil in which to grow your herbs.

  • An invitation - You definitely need a friendly invitation to let people know they’re welcome to pick from your Little Free Herbary. We’re going to be offering plaques as part of membership but for now we’d suggest using a permanent marker on a plant marker, shingle or wood shim with the words “Little Free Herbary. Please feel free to pick some!”

Nice to have

  • Plant markers - It will help a lot of your “customers,” of course, if you can help them identify the herbs you’re offering.

  • Snips or scissors - Rust proof and tied to a string, a pair of snips will help your neighbors easily take what they need and reduce the amount of tugging and disruption your plants will experience.

  • Biodegradable/recyclable bags - Provide these and give passersby an easy way to carry away and store the herbs they pick from your herbary. You’ll need a little box attached to your Little Free Herbary to keep the bags dry.

  • Dried herbs - Some of our members have talked about taking herbs from their gardens, drying and bagging them, and offering those as well. More work but super nice to do!

  • Seeds - And some of our members have expressed the desire to harvest and prep the seeds from their plants to give to others.