If you have enough natural light in your kitchen, you can grow an herb garden. Growing a variety of herbs you use on a semi-regular basis can be both easy and incredibly satisfying. All you need to grow an indoor herb garden in your kitchen is good light.
In years past, I attempted growing rosemary in my kitchen, but being a city dweller, I rarely ever lived in a place that received enough daylight to keep it alive. Our new house in the city has two skylights in the kitchen. The previous owners remodeled and put the refrigerator under one of the skylights, which we at first thought created a rather odd space above, but it’s actually been quite beneficial for growing herbs (with a pothos and a cactus). It’s a perfect platform for growing since it’s just the right distance from the skylight.
Parsley, mint, chives, rosemary……and a pothos and cactus, too!
But what if you don’t have a skylight? If you have a bright window, you can always put a flower box on the inside or outside of the window and grow your herbs there. Friends of ours have a kitchen with windows that open out into a light well (another anomaly of urban living) and they, too, are successfully able to grow basil and mint from the amount of sunlight peering overhead.
Fridge-top Garden
When selecting herbs for your own garden, keep in mind that they don’t all require the same light and water conditions. Do a little research prior to going to the garden center so you have a better idea of what will do well in your kitchen conditions. Also take note of the lifespan of each herb. Is it an annual? A biennial? A perennial? Plants such as parsley are biennials. They’ll look great for two seasons, but as soon as you see it has produced a long spike then its days are limited. Many people don’t realize that parsley is a biennial and then feel like they did something wrong when it dies. Don’t worry! You didn’t do anything wrong.
We’re growing chives, rosemary, parsley, and mint. I wasn’t sure that a woody rosemary plant would be able to grow well under the same conditions of the herbaceous herbs, but it’s doing well. Soon after we brought home the mint, I saw that there were little red spots under the leaf. Yes, mint rust. I figured it was only a matter of time before it was a gonner. Well, a month later and there are no signs of rust and the plant is looking as healthy as ever. I’ll continue to keep an eye on it, of course.
No rust, but there is some mark on one of the leaves. Other than that, it looks healthy again!
With a sunny enough spot, anyone can grow a great and useful herb garden in his or her kitchen. When reading a recipe and you see it calls for one of the fresh herbs you are growing, nothing is more satisfying than knowing you have it and you grew it yourself!
————————————————————————————————————————
On the fourth day of each month, garden bloggers everywhere are coming together to post about what you can grow. Posts will be about anything from growing hops for your home brew to growing your own wedding bouquet. To see others, check out the You Can Grow That! Facebook Page.
