Herbs are a simple but brilliant way to add flavour to your cooking. And, most people will agree that fresh herbs taste much better than their dried counterparts.
But buying herbs from a supermarket or greengrocer can be frustrating. Cut herbs not only wilt and die quickly but they are often sold in much bigger packs than we need, leading to unnecessary food waste.
A good tip is to chop up leftover herbs and pop them in a bag or container in the freezer for the future. They are not quite the same, but if you’re like us and hate waste then it’s a good option.
Of course, you can also buy pots of ready-grown herbs from supermarkets. Many of us have probably wondered why these die quickly too, even if watered well. We’ll come to that a bit later in this post and share the secret of keeping them going for much longer!
If you check the packaging on supermarket herbs, you’ll also find they have often travelled a long way to get to our plates. These food miles, combined with the copious amounts of plastic in the packaging, make supermarket herbs a lot less sustainable than we’d like.
Grow your own herbs indoors
There’s an obvious answer here: have a go at growing your own herbs. The good news is that it’s pretty straightforward. Growing your own herbs doesn’t need much space, and can be done indoors if you don’t have suitable outside space. It’s also inexpensive.
We think it sounds like a no-brainer!
So let’s take a quick look at everything you need to know about growing herbs indoors. We’ll tell you the best herbs to grow indoors and how to do it.
Which are the best herbs for growing indoors?
Chives, basil, parsley and coriander are good contenders for herbs to grow indoors.
If you think about it, these are all ‘soft’ herbs and it makes perfect sense that they’d be suited to an indoor environment.
At a later date, we’ll look at the best herbs to grow outdoors and share our top tips.
What equipment do I need to grow herbs indoors?
The good news is, very little.
A bit of space, ideally a windowsill but one that’s not in direct bright sunlight. You’ll also need some good, peat-free seed sowing compost. We recommend peat-free compost because it is much better for the environment, as we explain in our recent post Five easy ways to make your garden more sustainable and environmentally-friendly.
You’ll also need some pots, around 8cm (3”) – you can even reuse large yoghurt tubs or similar but make sure to add some holes, and something to place underneath the pots to catch excess water. You’ll need the seeds themselves which are available online or from garden centres, hardware stores or supermarkets. Consider some fertiliser – ideally a slow-release or controlled-release variety. We always choose organic where possible.
Growing Parsley and Coriander indoors
Parsley and coriander are easy to grow from seed. We recommend sowing at 3-4 week intervals to keep a steady supply. Follow the steps below:
Step 1: Simply fill your pot with seed-sowing compost, water it and sprinkle a thin layer of seed on the top.
Step 2: Cover with a light sprinkling of compost and place in a sunny location.
Step 3: Keep watering the pot so it does not dry out – but don’t drown it!
Coriander and Parsley seeds can be sown indoors this way from spring onwards, and outdoors in the summer months.
NB: you may need to thin out the seedlings once they have germinated, so keep some extra pots on hand.
Growing Basil and Chives indoors
To grow basil and chives, you have two options, both of which work well.
To grow from seed
Step 1: Simply fill your pot with seed-sowing compost, water it and sprinkle a thin layer of seed on the top.
Step 2: Cover with a light sprinkling of vermiculite.
Step 3: Put the pot into a propagator. If you don’t have a propagator, you can cover the pot with a clear plastic bag, using an elastic band to ensure a good fit, and place it somewhere warm and light.
Step 4: When the seedlings appear, move the pot to a sunny and warm spot like a windowsill. Keep watering the pot so it does not dry out – but don’t drown it!
Step 5: When the seedlings are big enough to handle, split them into their own pots to avoid your pot being overcrowded which will affect healthy growth. You can skip this step with chives)
To grow by rescuing supermarket pots of herbs
We like this method as it is a bit quicker and easier, and produces good results. The supermarket pots are actually lots of very young plants. The reason they die quickly is that there are too many plants crammed into one pot, meaning they can’t get the space or nutrients they need to survive. But you can easily solve this!
Step 1: Take your supermarket pot of basil or chives. Remove the plant from the pot and gently tease the roots apart – it should be quite obvious from underneath where the segments are. Generally, we find you will be able to split a good-sized supermarket pot into five or six.
Step 2: If using fertiliser, mix a small amount into your seed-sowing compost and get some 8cm (3”) pots ready.
Step 3: Plant the split-down plants into their own individual pots and fill gaps with your compost mix.
Step 4: Place the pots in a fairly sunny and warm spot like a windowsill. Keep watering the pots so they do not dry out – but don’t overwater.
Watch and wait
Your new herbs won’t need a lot of work, but you do need to keep an eye on them and ensure the compost is kept moist but not waterlogged.
Before long you should have an abundance of homegrown herbs to add to your cooking!
As always, if you need help with any aspect of your garden in North Wales, whether as a one-off or a regular service, our team are on standby – just give us a call.