Great Kitchen Herb Gardens

Writen by Joey V. Davidson

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are." Alfred Austin's quote on garden comes close to describing the passion many gardeners feel about their flowering weeds. For the indoor gardener, this is especially true since most gardeners who bring their gardening indoors do so for a specific purpose. This purpose usually goes beyond a way to express one's spirit. Kitchen herb gardens can also purify the air and be harvested for seasoning cooking delights, ornamental creations, and ingredients in cleansers.

When setting out, the new herb garden enthusiast will likely choose the failsafe 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.

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 (http://www.indoorwindowgardening.com) 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:

- Use a planter with plenty of drainage holes since herbs don't like soggy roots. Set the planter on a drainage tray.

- Line the bottom of the pot with one inch of gravel. Mix potting soil two parts to one part sand. Sweeten each "5-inch" pot's worth of soil mixture with 1 tsp. of ground limestone.

- Put herbs that require the same amount of watering in prepared planter.

Pick herbs according to how you intend to use your garden. For instance, will these herbs be for cooking or for show? Many herbs will crossover from one purpose to another purpose. For example, marjoram, mint, basil, chive, and sage work as seasoning, have incredible flowers, and are especially aromatic. To get ideas on which herbs to grow in your kitchen, check the seasoning aisle at your grocery store. Some other great herbs that can be harvested and used fresh or dried for later use include saffron, chive, tarragon, thyme, anise, and dill.

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.

Copyright 2005 Joey V. Davidson. All rights reserved.

Joey V. Davidson is the owner of Eye Gardening improvement - a top resource for garden improvement topics. Go to http://www.eyegardening.com