Fresh Herbs At Your Fingertips

Want to speed up the arrival of summer? There’s no better way than creating an indoor herb garden for your kitchen. The fragrant aroma and rich flavor of fresh herbs at your fingertips inside your home is reminiscent of summer nights.

To get started, you will need the following items:

Containers with drainage holes

You are eating the herbs, so make sure the containers you choose will not leach chemicals into the soil and herbs. Be careful if looking at materials such as plastics, rubber or treated wood. Ceramic is always a great choice.

It is best to plant each herb in its own planter to allow proper drainage and air circulation specific to each herb.

Tray or saucer for catching excess water
Herbs like to have well drained soil, so you want something to catch excess water from the container to save the surface underneath from damage.

Potting soil
To allow the best environment for herbs to take root, the soil mixture used must allow for good drainage. Compact and dense soils will suffocate the root system.

Herb plants or seed packets of choice
Herb plants allow faster harvesting, but can be more costly up front and harder to source in colder months. Starting herbs from seed is much more cost effective, but can take much longer to grow into a full enough plant for harvesting. Your final choice depends on how quickly you want to harvest your fresh flavors.

Some herbs do better indoors than others. Here’s a selection of herbs that thrive indoors:

Chives

• Do not require much light and produce abundantly.
• Best to start from an already established plant.
• Mild onion flavor.

Peppermint

• Thrives in shade but needs a little light each day.
• Grows rapidly.
• Best to start from seed.

Oregano

• Greek variety is the easiest to grow.
• Needs six to eight hours of sunlight daily.

Thyme

• Intensely aromatic green leaves often used in French cuisine.
• Needs at least six hours of sun daily.

Parsley

• Provides a light fresh flavor.
• Needs at least 6 hours of sun daily.

Make sure to trim your herbs regularly to promote future growth and prompt the herbs to branch out more fully. For a creative display for your kitchen, check out Home Depot’s video on making an indoor herb garden here.