A Greener Kitchen: Grow an Herb Window Garden

credit: joakami@stock.xchang

Green is serene. There is no quicker way to go green than to bring plants into your kitchen. You'll get some great benefits - your air will smell fresher, your kitchen will be brighter and - if you plant herbs - your food will be tastier.



What you need:

• a window that gets at least 5 hours of sun a day
• a wide window sill or a set of shelves
• pots
• glasses or jars for rooting new plants
• potting mix
• herbs from your local nursery or your own garden

How to grow a bright green kitchen garden

1. Define your space and figure out how to display your plants. If you've got a nice, wide windowsill, it will do nicely on its own. If you're not that lucky, you may have to do some finagling to make a kitchen garden work. I've used white metal flower carts (rescued from someone's trash), a wire baker's rack, shelving mounted inside the window frame and my current planter - an old gas stove with the door and racks serving as graduated shelving.
2. Choose your plants. Rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, parsley, oregano and basil all grow nicely in pots. So do cherry tomato and miniature strawberry vines. If you're really adventurous, you can try miniature lemon, orange and lime trees, and if you just have to have flowers, pick miniature rose bushes.
3. Herbs are notoriously difficult to start from seed. If you're lucky enough to have a friend with an herb garden, you can always ask for cuttings. You can also sometimes manage to root cuttings from fresh herbs that you buy at the supermarket, especially if you shop somewhere like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. If all else fails, hit the Home Depot or Lowes' garden shop and pick up flats or small pots of herbs that will fit on your windowsill or shelves.
4. Fill pots half full with planting mix - preferably a soil-free planting mix. Place your plants in the pots where you want them to be, making sure to leave several inches between each if you're planting multiple plants in each pot. If you pot your herbs individually, give them six inch pots at the least.
5. Add potting mix to cover roots and firm lightly around the base. Water lightly and put in the window.
6. Water your plants every few days, letting the potting mix dry out between watering. Don't overwater - few plants like to have their damp feet.
7. Give your new plants 4-6 weeks to get comfortable in their new spot. When new growth is established - fully formed, mature leaves - you can start snipping away to use in cooking.