Whether you’re a chef or simply make an occasional meal in your home kitchen, growing herbs is an easy way to add fresh flavor to your foods and make a simple start with gardening. Herbs are a simple addition to your garden and can be companion plants to help your vegetables grow and protect them from harmful insects. However, it’s also super easy to grow fresh herbs in your home, regardless of where you live.
Herbs require minimal effort to start, are easy to grow, save you money at the grocery store, reduce waste, and make your life and diet healthier. How? Well, when you grow your own, you are both oxygenating the air in your home and add-ing herbs to your diet that promote a healthier body. Dried herbs that you buy in a jar oxidize over time, slowly losing their nutrient value – and you have no idea how long they’ve been sitting in those jars waiting for you to buy them. Plants also bring color and pleasant smells to your home, a welcome refreshment indoors, especially during cold, dark winter seasons.
What herbs to grow An herb can be defined as a plant that doesn’t develop a woody stem, however, that would exclude rosemary. Another description encompasses plants cultivated for their medicinal, culinary, or aromatic qualities. But that definition is extremely broad and can include even mushrooms, which are fungi, and some flowers, shrubs, and vegetables. Overall, we grow herbal plants for their roots, leaves, soft stems, and flowers, and we primarily nurture them indoors for cooking, aromatics, and other home applications. Here are some common herbs grown indoors:
+ Basil
+ Sage
+ Oregano
+ Mint
+ Thyme
+ Dill
+ Chives
+ Parsley/Chervil
+ Rosemary
+ Coriander/Cilantro
+ Sweet
+ Marjoram
+ Lemon
+ Balm
+ Tarragon
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Whatever herbs you choose, be sure to follow the package directions for planting seeds or caring for al-ready potted plants.
» Containers
Because they don’t need a lot of soil depth, your choice of containers for growing herbs is almost endless! Plant several herbs in a larger round or long container, or split them up into one per small pot. Hang grow bags and pots in a window where they’ll get sunlight, or group pots of vining herbs, like mint and hops, on cascading shelves to create a wall of greenery. Upcycling containers can also add texture, color, and cre-ative fun (paint yogurt containers!) to your home.
Whatever you choose, make sure your containers have drainage holes on the bottom with a system for catching excess water. For example, use a nail and hammer to poke holes, from the outside in, in the bottom of a metal pail. Then place it on an aluminum pie plate on a sunny window sill.
» Soil, sun, and water
Warning: don’t fill your containers with dirt from your yard! The warmth of your home will promote the perfect environment for insect eggs dormant in the soil to hatch, and your kitchen could suddenly be rampant with little black gnats. In-stead, choose an organic indoor-specific potting soil fertilized for herbs and vegetables available at your local nursery or garden center. Use a little compost or water-soluble fertilizer to amend the soil as needed.
Fully-grown indoor herbs need about six hours of sunlight a day, but your location can face any direction. Be careful with young, delicate plants, as they can burn in direct sunlight. Also, if you’re able, open a nearby window or screened door on a balmy day to allow fresh air to circulate around the plants.
Water enough to keep your soil moist but not wet, and make sure your soil and pots are draining well. If water is pooling in the bottom of your container, your roots will get soggy and rot and the plants will die.
» Harvesting and using
If you don’t trim and use your herbs, they’ll grow lanky and tough. Annuals like basil and oregano quickly go to seed if not regularly harvested to promote bushing and leaf growth. Cut your perennial herbs down to about one third of the plant by the end of the growing season, and they’ll grow fuller each year. Woody herbs, such as rosemary and lavender, can also be shaped into miniature shrubs once they’ve been established.
Herbs can be a delicious addition to salads, salsas, and other fresh foods, as well as soups, sauces, pizza, baked goods, and more.
Check out the Nspire website for recipes that use fresh herbs from a classic kitchen garden. N
By S. Michal Bennett
Photography By Joel Riner
As Featured In: 2022 Home Edition