Here are some indoor gardening herb tips from someone who has tried, failed, tried again, failed some more, and is now a successful herb grower. With a little help from the Internet.
Indoor gardening herb tips for non-green thumbs
Living in the country is wonderful but it turns out I’m a terrible at most of the things that make country living look quaint and picturesque on Pinterest. Like gardening.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. Last year I grew loads of things all over the place. And then…there were bunnies and deer and rats and all sorts of bugs. All of a sudden. And they enjoyed my beautiful garden.
So I thought perhaps I should become an indoor gardener until we can build a fence or a greenhouse. I salvaged the plants I could, potted them, and moved them indoors. But…it wasn’t so simple. In fact, they didn’t like the indoors much.
The happy discovery
In my front garden I have a small planter with chives and mint. All summer I enjoyed cutting the herbs as I was cooking, running back and forth between the garden and the stove. But by autumn they had withered so I left the container out over the winter and remembered my little herbs with fondness.
But then! The snow melted…the sun came out…and my little herbs are growing back!
It gave me hope. Maybe I can’t do a full garden yet, but what about herbs? I’ve tried them in the past to various degrees of success. But what if I gave it another go?
The next step
I did a bit of searching to come up with a great little herb garden but wasn’t sure what would work best. There are so many options!
And then we found the big kahuna of herb gardens—AeroGarden Sprout LED with Gourmet Herb Seed Pod Kit. Like, what? Gourmet herb seed pods?
We found it on Amazon and I thought it was both silly and amazing. Going with the three-herb version for the first time around I set up the little machine and set it up in the kitchen window.
And I waited.
A week or so later the waiting was over. I have kitchen herbs! I’m thrilled with it and can’t believe how well the little system works.
I’m thinking I can use the AeroGarden for the herbs I’m not sure how to grow, or haven’t had good luck with. And then the ones I feel more confident with I can keep out on in the front garden.
One herb at a time.
Indoor Gardening Herb Tips
- Herb roots like growing away from light so if you’re growing in jars or bottles, go for a colour rather than clear
- Many herbs can grow in just water—cut a five-inch stem, strip off the bottom leaves, and place the stem in water to root. Once the roots develop you can plant into pots
- Using a grow light supplements lighting for herbs. This is good if you don’t have a south-facing window or don’t get 6+ hours of sunlight per day
- The herb varieties that do best indoors: cilantro, basil, parsley, oregano, chives, thyme, and sage
This is such a random topic but I’m so happy with my AeroGarden herb garden system. It’s a bit pricey but I have herbs now! So many herbs! It’s giving me my gardening confidence back!
And if you were wondering if I ever used my garden encouragement signs the answer is YES. And they’re awesome.
Can’t get enough gardening? Try April Flowers in Season Garden
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