Gardening Indoors with Herbs
Not much room for gardening? You can always grow a small herb garden on the windowsill of any sunny window in your house or apartment. Make sure that the window is going to provide plenty of sunshine. A south-facing window is better. If you don’t have a nice window or location, you can purchase a grow light. This is more expensive than sunshine, but whatever works for your herb plants is best!
Do not put your herbs near your heater (maybe this is obvious?) because they can get easily scorched and too much hot air can harm them.
I gave up on bringing my herbs inside during winter months long ago because I never really had good luck. If you’re like me, you will drop by the greenhouse or grocery store to get the herb plants you’ll need over the winter. Just because I don’t like mixing my herb plants doesn’t mean that you cannot do it though.
Another thing to keep in mind about indoor herb plants is that they tend to get a bit leggy. What I mean by that is they grow tall, but do not often get full and bushy is a nice thing. To help with this, clip off the top of the herb and that will trick the herb into growing more full.
With any plant, you will want to match the pot with the plant and make sure that it can thrive in your indoor herb garden. Many herbs have a number of types and with some research; you will find the one that will do best in your garden.
Here are some good herbs to begin within your indoor garden. Not only will these bring a fantastic aroma to your home, they have a lot of uses.
- Sage: Like rosemary, the pungent flavor and silvery leaves make sage a brilliant addition to your indoor garden. You can always snip a few leaves to add to your meal. Now that’s sage advice!
- Thyme: With all the tastes and kinds, you may have a hard thyme choosing the right one for your indoor garden. Not to mention how awesome it smells as it grows.
- Mustard: If you love spice, you will like mustard. Experiment with some of the different varieties of mustard, keep in mind that all the flavor of the plant is in the foliage and the seeds. If you like mustard greens, be sure to cook them thoroughly to soften the course leaves. Since this one can get pretty big in some types, be sure that you’re getting a smaller kind for indoors.
- Angelica: I like angelica and because of its beauty and thick leaves it will be fantastic in your indoor herb garden. Trim off a few stemmed flowers for your floral arrangements. Angelica is similar to the mustard plant in size, so look for a smaller variety for your indoor herb garden.
Choose a container that will provide for good drainage. If you don’t, your plant will drown and die. But be careful where you put your pots (you don’t want them peeing all over you countertops, window sills or kitchen table). All my potted herbs sit on a tray on my kitchen table. It keeps my herb plants together and catches the draining water. I enjoy using the tray because I can fast move all my herb plants at once, or turn the tray so that my plants get the best sun.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Mini Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.