Cafeteria and Terrace Herb Garden in Kolkata

Established in 1787, the garden at Shibpur demonstrated that aromatic and spice crops from very different climates could be brought on in Bengal's heat and humidity, tea, cinnamon and coffee among them, before the larger commercial scale for some of these moved elsewhere.

For a cafeteria or terrace herb bed we lean on basil, mint and coriander as the core planting, since these tolerate Kolkata's heat and humidity better than the more delicate herbs that struggle here through the summer months.

Raised beds against a ground that holds water

A herb bed at ground level or in a shallow planter waterlogs fast once the rains set in, so we raise the bed and improve drainage before planting rather than treating the herbs themselves as the problem to manage.

Once the drainage is right, the same bed grows fastest in the cooler, drier months, and we schedule the bulk of new sowing for the start of that stretch.

Common problems in a humid herb bed

Basil is prone to powdery mildew and leaf spot in weeks when the air stays damp for days at a stretch, and we thin the planting and improve airflow between plants specifically to keep that risk down rather than reaching for a spray as the first response.

A cafeteria bed is harvested on a rolling basis rather than all at once, which also keeps the planting open enough for air to move through it.

Keeping the bed producing rather than just growing

A cafeteria herb bed that is never harvested gets leggy and stops producing new growth, so part of the visit is encouraging regular cutting by cafeteria staff rather than leaving the bed to be admired and not used.

We set the planting density with that harvesting rhythm in mind, spacing basil and mint further apart than a purely ornamental bed would need.