| Do you enjoy cooking or gardening? If so, an indoor | | | | light. If sunlight is in short supply, supplement it with a |
| herb garden may be a perfect choice for you. They | | | | fluorescent light. Follow the instructions on the seed |
| are fun, useful, and easy to maintain. If you live in a | | | | packet or plant container and plant your herbs. If you |
| colder climate, you know how hard it can be to grow | | | | buy herb plants from a nursery, be sure to ask the |
| things. With an indoor herb garden, you can have all | | | | staff for tips on planting them correctly. After |
| the fun of gardening year round. They also add a | | | | planting, mist your herbs with water until the soil is |
| special something to a kitchen windowsill. The | | | | fairly moist. Herbs That do Well Indoors You will be |
| different shapes and colors of the herbs make a | | | | able to grow almost all of the most popular herbs |
| fantastic decoration as they fill your kitchen with a | | | | indoors. Thyme, parsley, oregano, chives, and sage |
| wonderful aroma. But enough of those reasons! The | | | | do especially well. Watering and Fertilizing Herbs don't |
| real benefit of an herb garden is having delicious, | | | | like a lot of water. Keep the soil moist but not |
| fresh herbs at your fingertips. No more running to the | | | | soaked. Use an organic fertilizer to feed your herbs |
| supermarket to pick up an overpriced bundle of | | | | every week or so. Harvesting Don't be afraid to use |
| herbs that you'll have to throw out in a week! | | | | your herb garden! The more you use it the thicker it |
| Instead you can simply clip off what you need and | | | | will grow. Harvest fresh herbs like chives, rosemary, |
| toss it right into your recipe. All the while knowing | | | | and parsley as you need them. As for dried herbs, |
| that it wasn't grown with nasty pesticides and | | | | pick them at their peak flavor right before they |
| fertilizers. Sounds great doesn't it? That's because it | | | | blossom. Wash them with gently running water and |
| is. In fact, by now your probably wondering what | | | | hang them upside down in small bundles. Hang them |
| you need to get started on one. Here's what you | | | | indoors and in a warm area if possible. You can also |
| need: Six-inch pots. One pot for each type of herb. | | | | freeze herbs for later use by boiling them for about |
| Small stones and/or bark chips. These are for the | | | | a minute and packing them into freezer bags. With |
| bottom of the pot. They provide room for drainage | | | | just a little work and some easy maintenance, you'll |
| and aeration. Soilless potting mix. Potting mix will drain | | | | find that an indoor herb garden will provide lots of |
| well and keep your herbs from catching soil diseases. | | | | delicious, gourmet herbs along with fun and |
| Herb seeds, bulbs, or small plants. You can grow | | | | satisfaction. |
| herbs from seeds or get a head start with plants | | | | Christopher Fisher is a contributing writer for a helpful |
| from your local nursery. Sunlight. Herbs require lots of | | | | guide to growing your own indoor herb garden. |