If you’re like me, the current stay-at-home order has drastically changed your life. You no longer are going to concerts, yoga classes, coffee shops or even to work. In addition you’re probably spending a lot of time at home (duh) and online (hello FaceTime and Zoom).
But, food is possibly one of the biggest changes. No more going out to eat. More picking food up, and more cooking food at home. With more people embracing the challenge of cooking delicious meals at home, what better time than learn to grow some fresh herbs?
So, without further ado, here are some tips for growing your own herbs right in your kitchen!
Step 1: Pick The Herbs You Want To Grow
Herbs are a great starting place for any new gardener becuase they’re fairly easy to grow. With that being said, you can kill plants not suited for the indoor lifestyle. The key to picking your plants is undestanding which ones will thrive indoors.
Our top recomendations are parsely, mint, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and chives.
Start by picking only a couple of herbs that you think you’ll use a lot so you don’t have to focus on too many different types of plants.
Pro Tip: Take this as an opportunity to try different varieties of the herbs you’ll be growing. One fo the fun parts of growing your own food is that you can try specility varieties and experience flavors you can’t buy in a typical grocery store!
STEP 2: FIND YOUR LIGHT
Even plants that typically do well indoors need some light. The obvious choice is a windowsill, but the glass of the window can cause your plant to get too cold in some climates. Where I live in the moderate PNW I’ve never frozen a plant through the window, but if you live in Chicago, or Canada, I wouldn’t recommend using the windowsill. Instead, find a place that still gets natural light, but doesn’t get as cold.
Pro Tip: If you don’t have an ideal location for your plants, perhaps consider under counter grow lights like these. I have these in my kitchen and am able to grow lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries all year long under them!
STEP 3: FIND PLANTERS
Most herbs (most plants for that matter) will do best in planters that have a good draining system. This is why pots often have holes in the bottom.
Pro Tip: You can still get the adorable pot you’ve been wanting that doesn’t have proper drainage. The key is to create your own drainge system. Add some small rocks to the bottom of the pot before adding your soil. This will allow the water to escape the soil lessening the chances of drowning your plants.
STEP 4: Figure Out Your Dirt
Now, just keeping it real, I prefer hydroponic systems in my house. No dirt, perfect nutrition levels, and best of all, less water waste.
However, most people just starting out are most comfortable with the traditional dirt in pots method of growing. And that’s totally fine! At least you’re trying to grow something!
As far as your growth medium goes for herbs, a mix of potting soil and fertilizer is pretty standard. Some herbs, like oregano, thyme and rosemary like wood mixed in for aeration.
Pro Tip: Considering the environment that the herbs originated from will give you a good idea of the type of soil they will need. Oregano originated from a Mediterranean environment where rocky, woody soil would be common. It makes sense that it would still like this type of soil today!
STEP 5: PLANT THE SEEDS, HARVEST AND ENJOY!
Seeds can take awhile to sprout, but once they pop up they’ll grow super fast! To harvest, simply pick off what you need for your dish and let the plant itself keep growing!
Pro Tip: Once you have healthy adult plants, you can take “cuttings” from the plants and grow new plants from them! This is one of the most efficient ways to grow more plants!
