Growing Herbs Indoors

Growing herbs indoors allows you to have fresh herbs all year long. Plan to grow your herbs organically and use herb planters that fit your indoor herb garden space.

An indoor herb garden is a wonderful way to make your house smell wonderful while also providing culinary herbs and spices throughout the year. Even if you’ve never tried growing herbs indoors is very low-maintenance. It’s a lovely way to have both functionality and living beauty.

Before you begin, you need to consider how much space you have. You’ll need to choose herb planters or growing containers and herbs according to the vessel in which they’ll grow. Some herbs need more water, some need more sunlight, some need greater root room. Group your herbs according to their growing needs and the indoor space you’ve got available.

There are certain herbs that do better indoors than others. These include:

• Basil
• Chive
• Chamomile
• Lavender
• Mint
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Thyme

Grow your herbs indoors using organic soil, organic heirloom seeds or organic plants and organic fertilizer. Producing organic herbs is better for your health and it supports the environment (even when growing indoors).

You can often get herb planters that include seed and instructions. The great thing about indoor herb kits is that they are set up to provide good drainage for your herbs. Without decent soil and drainage your plants won’t be healthy, and may not even grow.

Besides soil, growing herbs indoors requires a good window. They need light. A skylight will work. If you do not have a decent window an alternative is using broad-band lighting over something like a fish tank.

Over watering or under watering will kill your herbs. Watch your moisture. When the leaves of your plants begin to wilt, that means too little water. Plants become vibrant when they get the right about of light and water.

When you’re growing herbs indoors its nice to know how you can use them! Here’s a brief list:

• Basil: this is a sweet herb often included in sauces with tomato or butter. It’s excellent on seafood, and a wide variety of meat.
• Chives: The great thing about chive is that it grows well even without a lot of natural or artificial light.
• Lemon thyme: the least needy of the thyme family for light.
• Mint: do not try to grow mint unless (a) you want LOTS of it and/or (b) you can adequately contain its growth. Keeping mint in a container does the trick nicely.
• Parsley: Like chives this is an herb that doesn’t need tons of light. It’s a very hearty herb.
• Rosemary: You don’t need a lot of rosemary (it’s very strong) so you can relegate it to a sunny pot by itself.

No matter what herbs you choose, remember to pick ones you can actually use (or that you can use in creating gifts for friends / family). The most commonly grown indoor organic herbs are basil, oregano, and thyme. All are easy to grow and very useful in many delicious recipes. Having something growing in your home is healthy; even more so if you get to eat it.

Additional Reading

• Organic Herb Garden Plans

• Organic Perennial Herbs

• How to Dry Herbs, Organically

• Freezing Herbs: Organic Keeps Its Flavor Better

• Organic Milk Thistle Herb

• Organic Holy Basil Herb

• Return from Organically Growing Herbs Indoors to Organic Food for Everyone Home Page