Can You Really Grow a Winter Garden in the Kitchen?

Now that winter weather has descended on much of the country, there are still loads of things a homeowner can grow to keep the freshest of ingredients available for winter culinary adventures.

Tammi Hartung at birdsandblooms.com offers a step-by-step guide to establishing a year-round indoor garden that can supply the freshest of ingredients from a tiny space. She advises you to look around your house and choose your best location - and don’t limit yourself to the kitchen.

Basil, chives, mints and parsley are just a few that do very nicely in pots with bright indirect light. It might surprise you to know you don’t need direct sunlight for growing most herbs; the indirect light most of us get will work fine.

East-, south- and west-facing windows should all give your herbs enough light, especially if you set up a small table or use a counter that keeps plants about a foot away from window glass.

Tricia Drevets at offthegridnews.com says start with a few basics, such as oregano, thyme, parsley, basil and rosemary. Then add a few others that your family particularly enjoys in their favorite meals. Cilantro? Dill? Chives?

She advises to check your garden center for high-quality seeds or for healthy and vigorous-looking starter plants. Or maybe find a selection of starter plants in your grocery store’s produce section as well.

Drevets says if your herb garden is in your kitchen, the plants should get some additional humidity from your use of the sink or dishwasher. If not, lightly mist them with a water spray bottle.