( 
)Growing and Using Kitchen Herbs
It takes about 1/4 of an acre to grow sweet corn successfully. Zucchini and pumpkins can easily take over half of a suburban lawn, and to grow enough wheat to feed a family for a year, you will need at least four acres and a combine! However, the average American eats their way through about 1 ounce of basil (dry weight equivalent) annually. (Italian-Americans may consume double this amount.) Oregano consumption hovers around 3/4 of an ounce per capita annually, with sage, chives, parsley, thyme, and rosemary coming in as other favorites.
It has been traditional to have indoor or door side herb gardens since long before Europeans first came to America. The early Europeans in New England brought with them a number of herbs from their native countries, and shared them with each other by means of cuttings, seeds, slips, or roots. In Holland it was traditional to encourage the wild spread of chives in dairy cow grazing pastures to enhance the production of onion flavored milk!
The small amounts required to produce a meaningful addition to cooking make growing herbs indoors a tasty and sensible alternative to merely decorative houseplants. In general, kitchen herbs as houseplants are slightly higher maintenance than most typical houseplants, but well worth it!
Obviously, some culinary herbs will work as houseplants better than others. Mustard, for example, will certainly grow on your windowsill if you plant it...but outdoors can reach a height of four or more feet, bush out to some three feet in diameter and produce scores of bright yellow, petal dropping flower heads that would prefer to be insect pollinated! The herb plants that make sense for indoor container gardening are those will not grow too large, will tolerate less than full sun, and are useful even in small amounts. This precludes any of the herbs that are grown for their seeds, such as dill, caraway, and coriander (though the last can simply be grown as cilantro and not allowed to seed.) These seed bearing plants can be started indoors, but will not grow into maturity very successfully without wind or insects as pollinators.
Some herbs can just as easily be grown outdoors as indoors, but perhaps too easily...Mint and oregano, for example, have a tendency to take over larger and larger areas of an herb garden each year. One simply solution to the creeping mint syndrome is to grow it only in containers. Even then, be cautious putting your container out for a summer, as mint has been known to leap out of a pot and root itself in the surrounding environment before you are able to pull it back in for the winter.
Some more appropriate contenders for the luxury box of your windowsill include chives, mint, basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, and sage. Of these, only basil is truly an annual. Basil is also the only one on the list that needs to be started from seed. Despite the popularity of "mini kitchen herb greenhouses" that come complete with little peat pots and packets of seeds, most herbs are more easily cultivated from existing plants. Several, such as rosemary and tarragon, are not very winter hardy so if you want to grow them at all, you would do well to keep them in pots and entertain them in your home at least during colder months. The best source for indoor herbs is an outdoor clump! It's likely you know someone with chives, mint, thyme, oregano or some combination of all growing outdoors. If your friend is alright with you sharing some of their bounty (and most gardeners are happy to thin out some of these very hardy, spreading perennials), try to get your stock in early spring. Spring plants--late April or early May--will have rooted will, but not yet encountered those insect pests that you won't want to invite into your kitchen. Take a sharp trowel and remove a discrete section of a clump of mint, thyme, oregano, or whatever herb you are targeting. Hopefully you will have brought a lightweight container with some potting soil to put the cutting directly into.
If your harvesting is an impromptu moment during an after dinner party garden tour, however, you can usually successfully transport some plants in a paper bag. If you are going some distance, or will not be able to plant in a pot for a while, consider wrapping the roots with a damp paper towel. Then put the whole plant in a paper bag, and if necessary, put the paper bag loosely in a plastic bag with plenty of room for air.
Indoor herbs do not require fancy pots, but do allow you a sound excuse to buy some decorative pots if you want to! I have several lovely herbs growing in un-glamorous yogurt containers. Take some time to read up online or in a good plant reference guide about the optimal moisture content for different herbs - it does vary widely. Basil, for example, prefers a fairly constantly moist, and full nutrient soil with plenty of nitrogen. Rosemary is a more Mediterranean plant, and will thrive with much less moisture. Mint is flat out hard to kill no matter what you do to it. Many guides will recommend pots with holes for drainage, and rocks or large gravel at the bottom to encourage proper drainage. This is important for a long term potted plant, such as any that you intend to put outdoors during the warmer months, but it is really not essential for smaller plants destined to be re-potted or put out as annuals in the garden. If you do plant in pots with no holes for drainage, be very sure not to over water, as your plants will drown and the roots rot. One easy way to plan your watering for small pots without drainage holes is to become accustomed to the weight of the pot when it is at a proper level for the herb it's holding, and then heft the pot before watering to be sure that it's not already to heavy with water.
Many people become disappointed when their basil or parsley stops looking good and gets straggly and yellow. Before you claim black thumb, consider a few options: you could put your plant outside either in the ground or in its pot and let it live out the measure of its creation outdoors where it may thrive with more sun, more diverse soil conditions, and perhaps the help of beneficial insects. (For pollination or possible mite control.) Also, thought somewhat counter-intuitive, it is true that many plants require some stress in order to continue a robust leaf production. This is why pinching off old leaves, and even some small branches can encourage further growth and develop meant. (Remember how those tough life lessons build character?) You could also consider moving your struggling plant to a bigger pot, with a new dose of potting soil. Though it is more work to re-pot than to add fertilizer, I find it is almost always more successful. Plants will become root bound after some time, and moving them to a new pot will allow more air to reach the roots. Also, in line with the "stress is good for them" recommendation above, repotting WILL stress the roots, but that can and often does encourage a surge of new growth, first in the roots, later to affect the foliage.
Finally, consider also how long you have had this particular plant. Basil and parsley are annuals, remember, so after six months that are certainly past their prime. Even perennials need to be replaced or renewed every few years. Herb plants are relatively easy to acquire, to care for, and to pass on to other gardeners. They reward you in ways their more colorful houseplant counterparts cannot compare to. A little spice sweetens the pot, enlivens the dish and will certainly impress your friends when you pinch off chives for their soup from your own kitchen window garden!
It takes about 1/4 of an acre to grow sweet corn successfully. Zucchini and pumpkins can easily take over half of a suburban lawn, and to grow enough wheat to feed a family for a year, you will need at least four acres and a combine! However, the average American eats their way through about 1 ounce of basil (dry weight equivalent) annually. (Italian-Americans may consume double this amount.) Oregano consumption hovers around 3/4 of an ounce per capita annually, with sage, chives, parsley, thyme, and rosemary coming in as other favorites.
It has been traditional to have indoor or door side herb gardens since long before Europeans first came to America. The early Europeans in New England brought with them a number of herbs from their native countries, and shared them with each other by means of cuttings, seeds, slips, or roots. In Holland it was traditional to encourage the wild spread of chives in dairy cow grazing pastures to enhance the production of onion flavored milk!
The small amounts required to produce a meaningful addition to cooking make growing herbs indoors a tasty and sensible alternative to merely decorative houseplants. In general, kitchen herbs as houseplants are slightly higher maintenance than most typical houseplants, but well worth it!
Obviously, some culinary herbs will work as houseplants better than others. Mustard, for example, will certainly grow on your windowsill if you plant it...but outdoors can reach a height of four or more feet, bush out to some three feet in diameter and produce scores of bright yellow, petal dropping flower heads that would prefer to be insect pollinated! The herb plants that make sense for indoor container gardening are those will not grow too large, will tolerate less than full sun, and are useful even in small amounts. This precludes any of the herbs that are grown for their seeds, such as dill, caraway, and coriander (though the last can simply be grown as cilantro and not allowed to seed.) These seed bearing plants can be started indoors, but will not grow into maturity very successfully without wind or insects as pollinators.
Some herbs can just as easily be grown outdoors as indoors, but perhaps too easily...Mint and oregano, for example, have a tendency to take over larger and larger areas of an herb garden each year. One simply solution to the creeping mint syndrome is to grow it only in containers. Even then, be cautious putting your container out for a summer, as mint has been known to leap out of a pot and root itself in the surrounding environment before you are able to pull it back in for the winter.
Some more appropriate contenders for the luxury box of your windowsill include chives, mint, basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, and sage. Of these, only basil is truly an annual. Basil is also the only one on the list that needs to be started from seed. Despite the popularity of "mini kitchen herb greenhouses" that come complete with little peat pots and packets of seeds, most herbs are more easily cultivated from existing plants. Several, such as rosemary and tarragon, are not very winter hardy so if you want to grow them at all, you would do well to keep them in pots and entertain them in your home at least during colder months. The best source for indoor herbs is an outdoor clump! It's likely you know someone with chives, mint, thyme, oregano or some combination of all growing outdoors. If your friend is alright with you sharing some of their bounty (and most gardeners are happy to thin out some of these very hardy, spreading perennials), try to get your stock in early spring. Spring plants--late April or early May--will have rooted will, but not yet encountered those insect pests that you won't want to invite into your kitchen. Take a sharp trowel and remove a discrete section of a clump of mint, thyme, oregano, or whatever herb you are targeting. Hopefully you will have brought a lightweight container with some potting soil to put the cutting directly into.
If your harvesting is an impromptu moment during an after dinner party garden tour, however, you can usually successfully transport some plants in a paper bag. If you are going some distance, or will not be able to plant in a pot for a while, consider wrapping the roots with a damp paper towel. Then put the whole plant in a paper bag, and if necessary, put the paper bag loosely in a plastic bag with plenty of room for air.
Indoor herbs do not require fancy pots, but do allow you a sound excuse to buy some decorative pots if you want to! I have several lovely herbs growing in un-glamorous yogurt containers. Take some time to read up online or in a good plant reference guide about the optimal moisture content for different herbs - it does vary widely. Basil, for example, prefers a fairly constantly moist, and full nutrient soil with plenty of nitrogen. Rosemary is a more Mediterranean plant, and will thrive with much less moisture. Mint is flat out hard to kill no matter what you do to it. Many guides will recommend pots with holes for drainage, and rocks or large gravel at the bottom to encourage proper drainage. This is important for a long term potted plant, such as any that you intend to put outdoors during the warmer months, but it is really not essential for smaller plants destined to be re-potted or put out as annuals in the garden. If you do plant in pots with no holes for drainage, be very sure not to over water, as your plants will drown and the roots rot. One easy way to plan your watering for small pots without drainage holes is to become accustomed to the weight of the pot when it is at a proper level for the herb it's holding, and then heft the pot before watering to be sure that it's not already to heavy with water.
Many people become disappointed when their basil or parsley stops looking good and gets straggly and yellow. Before you claim black thumb, consider a few options: you could put your plant outside either in the ground or in its pot and let it live out the measure of its creation outdoors where it may thrive with more sun, more diverse soil conditions, and perhaps the help of beneficial insects. (For pollination or possible mite control.) Also, thought somewhat counter-intuitive, it is true that many plants require some stress in order to continue a robust leaf production. This is why pinching off old leaves, and even some small branches can encourage further growth and develop meant. (Remember how those tough life lessons build character?) You could also consider moving your struggling plant to a bigger pot, with a new dose of potting soil. Though it is more work to re-pot than to add fertilizer, I find it is almost always more successful. Plants will become root bound after some time, and moving them to a new pot will allow more air to reach the roots. Also, in line with the "stress is good for them" recommendation above, repotting WILL stress the roots, but that can and often does encourage a surge of new growth, first in the roots, later to affect the foliage.
Finally, consider also how long you have had this particular plant. Basil and parsley are annuals, remember, so after six months that are certainly past their prime. Even perennials need to be replaced or renewed every few years. Herb plants are relatively easy to acquire, to care for, and to pass on to other gardeners. They reward you in ways their more colorful houseplant counterparts cannot compare to. A little spice sweetens the pot, enlivens the dish and will certainly impress your friends when you pinch off chives for their soup from your own kitchen window garden!
Guide created: 05/31/07
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