Weeds & Seeds Swap

As I continue to dream of the warmer days ahead, I keep reading articles that inspire me, and while looking about I came across the following about growing an indoor kitchen garden…something that can be done any time of the year, even when there is snow on the ground.

For many people their garden is a very spiritual place. Particularly if it links to another area of their life – a passion for creating beautiful food for example – the garden truly reflect one’s make up. As A. Austin put it ‘Show me your garden and I will tell you what you are’. If you choose to plant and maintain a herb garden it also has many practical uses from seasonings through to cleaning products and home decorations.

The best place to start a kitchen herb garden is along a south or west window. If winter sunlight is poor in your kitchen, invest in a “grow lamp” or fluorescent lighting for better lighting. As your indoor garden expands, you may want to invest in special shelving that fits into your indoor window frame. Indoor Window Gardening offers plant hangers and adjustable Plexiglas shelves that lengthen by cable, which are connected to a bracket that is mounted to your window molding. Below are tips for preparing your planter:

- It is important to ensure that your planter has plenty of holes in the bottom of it for drainage as herbs do not like their roots to be sitting in sodden soil. A drainage tray should be placed underneath to collect water.
- The soil should also include some gravel which should be placed in the bottom of the container at about the depth of one inch. Sand should also be mixed with the potting soil one third sand and the rest soil. Ground limestone should also be used at a rate of 1 tsp. for every 5-inch pot of soil.
- It also makes it easier if you plant herbs together in the planter that like the same amount of water

It also helps if you plan your garden in terms of how it is going to be used – are the herbs going to be purely aromatic or decorative or for cooking? Many herbs will fulfill all these criteria. For instance, basil, chives, marjoram, sage and mint are great for cooking, have beautiful flowers and smell great too. One way to plan which herbs you want is to look at them at your local store in the aisle with seasonings. Other herbs such as chive, thyme, saffron, dill and anise can be cut and used then or dried so that you can use them later.

Phyllis McGinley said “The trouble with gardening is that it does not remain an avocation. It becomes an obsession.” This has a ring of truth as once you get to grips with growing and reaping the benefits of your indoor herb garden you won’t be able to stop.

Using herbs just like the pioneers did – There was a mix of herbs used by the pioneers – some were those brought carefully across the Atlantic from their country of origin, and others were those that had been long used by Native Americans. These were seasoning herbs and those that helped keep meat edible for the longest time. Both settlers and natives had medicinal herbs in their apothecary, and many happily shared their knowledge. Some of these cures have not stood up to scientific scrutiny, but still we tend to associate herbs with medicine.

Copyright 2005 Joey V. Davidson. All rights reserved. Joey V. Davidson is the owner of Eye Indoor Window Gardening
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