Home And Family

In recent years, we have seen a tremendous increase of consciousness about health and eating healthy. There has been a rise in the demand for organic fruits and vegetables, as well as for herbs that are used to flavor food and for teas and aromatics. Many people have started to cultivate backyard edible gardens, growing kitchen herbs for their own use.

An herb garden is a wonderful thing to have. When you need basil and rosemary for your Sunday night spaghetti, one can just go out into the garden and clip a few leaves and stems, and these make such an impact in the taste of the food. You can even impress your guests when you are entertaining a lunch or dinner party, when they find out that you grow your own herbs.

However, not everyone can be afforded the luxury of a backyard or garden space for growing kitchen herbs. Although herbs are very hardy and are generally small plants that can be tucked in the most cramped spaces of the flower beds or corners, people who dwell in urban areas may hardly have any area outside their apartments or flats.

But city dwellers and flat owners can enjoy the benefits of having an herb garden just as well as people who have a backyard garden. Since herbs do normally require such special attention, growing kitchen herbs indoors is an activity that you can do, despite having limited space. What you need is some creativity and imagination. Not only will growing kitchen herbs inside your flat or apartment give you fresh condiments for your cooking, but having herbs growing indoors will also improve your air quality in the living space . It can even beautify your kitchen by adding splashes of green all around. Here are some of the basic things to remember when growing kitchen herbs indoors.

First, you must find places or containers that will hold enough soil to sustain your plants. Shallow flower boxes and small elongated clay pots are ideal, but I have seen people growing kitchen herbs in their kitchens in milk cartons turned on its side, and even recycled plastic soda bottles. The key thing is that the container should be deep enough to allow the herbs roots to take hold. And herb roots do not go very far, so you have many options. Another point to remember is to maintain the soils moisture, as well as provide for good drainage. Herbs need generally semi-dry soil for it to grow best. Another important thing to consider is the location of your plants. Of course, you want to grow them in your kitchen for easy access when cooking. But you must take note of the amount of sunlight that you provide for your plants. Herbs usually like sunny spots, so a good place by the window where the herbs can get at least 10 to 12 hours of sunlight will keep your plants happy. If you cannot provide this much sunlight, you may want to consider installing growth lamps for growing your kitchen herbs. It is also good to know what herbs you will constantly use, so that you can prioritize which types you will plant. Since you do not have a big space, small patches of your favorite herbs will have to do.

Growing kitchen herbs is not at all a complicated thing to do. And the best thing is, you know exactly what you are putting in your food. You need not worry about pesticides or harmful toxic fertilizers because you have grown them with your own two hands.