On the lookout for top 10 herbs to grow indoors? Read this.
If you have a log splitter, you might consider growing your own cooking herbs indoors. Logs make excellent pots because they provide a consistent source of vitamins and minerals needed for growth. More often than not, a log-pot won’t need as much fertilizer as plants grown in the traditional ceramic or clay pot.
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| Image by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay |
Using logs as herb pots isn’t that difficult with a log splitter and some carving knife. You can easily create a hole in the log, fill it with soil and plant your herbs. Of course, if this becomes too much – you can always choose to plant them in a more convenient place.
What’s really important here is the herb. More specifically – what herbs should you plant? Here are the top 10 herbs to grow indoors and will thrive will little supervision.
1- Rosemary
Adorned with the most amazing smell, rosemary makes your kitchen fresh-smelling all the time thanks to its natural aroma. Rosemary is a wonderful herb that can be added in many dishes and perpetually grows so you’ll never have to replant it. The herb can be grown from a cutting started from a soilless mix until roots sprout out. They’re often used for meat, poultry, and fish.
2-Thyme
Preferring the sun, thyme should be placed near a west-facing window. It can also be tough to grow thyme so you’d want to grab an already rooted plant and place it in a pot. It can also be grown from a stalk but this might take a very long time. It often goes with rosemary in seasoning meat.
3-Oregano
Incredibly easy to grow, oregano can be started from a tip of the plant. It should be harvested on a routine basis in order to keep it fresh and healthy. Unfortunately, oregano needs to be replaced every two years as the plant becomes woody within this time. Providing a minty taste, it blends well with lamb meat and sprinkled on top of pizza.
4-Chives
Looking a lot like grass, chives make for an excellent replacement for onion due to its similar flavor. They like the cool weather so try to keep them away from direct sunlight. Chives should be harvested down to soil level to encourage growth. They’re best used for garnishing and must not be overcooked as they can be quite delicate.
5-Parsley
Excellent for fish, meat, and pasta – parsley is easy to grow but has a short lifespan. To prolong the productive life of the plant, its best to harvest the outer leaves every now and then. It’s a biennial herb that grows best under a full sun. You can start it from seed or you can use a tip to start a rooted plant.
6- Lemongrass
Remarkably easy to grow, lemongrass likes a full sun and is grown best from a root. Hence, you’d want to find an actual plant and place it in a pot. When harvesting, make sure to cut from the root so that there will always be something fresh on hand. This works best for rice and can be made into tea. As the name implies, this is a very grassy type of herb so you’ll want to constantly cut on the top so that it doesn’t grow too high. They can also grow sprouts quickly so try to separate the new ones whenever the pot gets too crowded.
7- Sage
Plant an indoor sage from a tip taken from a fully grown and healthy plant. It’s easy enough to grow this herb although you’ll need to make sure that it gets the full sun. There’s a dwarf version of this plant which only grows as high as 10 inches so that it would be easier to control. It stands to reason that you’ll have to harvest often to keep it within the pot. Fortunately, sage is a favorite ingredient in many recipes including pork, beef, and duck. It’s ideal for soup meals and can be dunked into a hot broth to add flavor. Use sparingly as they can be quite strong to the taste.
8-Mint
You have the choice between peppermint and spearmint – both of which are capable of providing an amazing flavor to many dishes. Mint can also be turned into tea which is perfect for those suffering from the cold or a cough. For cooking however, mint is best added as a garnishing for many dishes. During the summer, they’re also quite popular with drinks since they produce that cooling effect that offers relief from the sun. Mint is best planted alone in its own pot since it tends to overtake all the other herbs. It grows quickly so harvest often so that there are always fresh leaves for you to use.
9 – Bay
This grows slowly so you’ll want to cultivate it as early as possible to get a decent batch quickly. Bay looks like a small tree but may be managed by growing it in a pot. When buying bay, you’ll have to get something that’s at least 1 foot tall – which means that it’s not something you can place on the windowsill. However, you can try grabbing a log and putting it in a corner of the room where it can still be accessible without crowding all the other herbs. The plant is often used for its floral garnishing with food – often an excellent item to add with oregano or thyme.
10-Basil
No indoor herb garden is complete without basil. It’s practically a staple in every chef’s kitchen since basil is wonderfully flexible when it comes to recipes. It’s best to start them from seed or if you manage to get a grown plant, make sure that they get lots of sun. Basil has that minty, lemony smell to it that works well with pasta or soup. It’s the main ingredient in pesto and can also be added in sandwiches.
Bear in mind that these herbs have varying preferences when it comes to sun, soil, and water. You’ll have to put them in strategic spots in the kitchen or utilize a vertical garden if you don’t have the space. Either way, you’ll find that having these indoor herbs will make you perpetually ready to try out new meals and recipes. You can also give them away to friends if you’ve got more than you can use per harvest!
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