Herbs for my kitchen windowsill

my kitchen window - winter 2011

While I am fortunate enough to have a sunporch where I can grow (some) plants year round, I also still like to grow some herbs indoors above my kitchen sink. I love having plants around the house, and especially in the kitchen; they bring a bit of nature inside, and just add a great vibe to the space. Many herbs do just fine inside, and can provide fresh herbs year round right where you need them - in your kitchen!

There are several herbs that do best if planted a couple times a year (basil and cilantro for example), but some (rosemary and oregano for example) are longer lived and once you have a small pot established, it will produce for years if properly cared for. I have a small pot of rosemary that I have been growing on my kitchen windowsill for over 2 years, since I moved down to the States. Over the past 5 years I have also had various pots with sage, basil, oregano, and thyme. These don't all do as well over multiple winters but that is mostly when I don't ever bother to repot them!

a little pine tree from Californian seeds

I really need to develop a better system for always having plants that are producing lots of good herbs for cooking, which may involve having several pots and rotating them through the kitchen windowsill. I think part of my problem is I am always sticking cool 'found' seeds in these kitchen windowsill pots and thus when a little pine tree starts growing alongside my herbs, well, the focus of the pot becomes the tree and the herbs get ignored!

one little bit of green

This weekend Little M and I sat down and redid one of my herb pots (well, she sat at her toys on one  side of the patio door and played while I puttered around on the sunporch and avoided her putting all the dirt and tools in her mouth!). I had a pot of very sad looking oregano plants that had been neglected at some point over the summer. I think only one was still alive, so I dumped everything into the compost bin and washed out the pot to start fresh.

catching some January sun

First I mixed some of the garden soil I saved earlier this winter with some sand to allow for better drainage in the pot. I made sure the soil was moist enough by mixing in some water. Then I filled up the pot with soil to about an inch from the top. Next, I sprinkled basil seeds evenly over the soil surface to get many seedlings, and then I covered the seeds with more soil. I put a clear grocery-type bag over the pot to allow some light in while keeping the moisture levels high. Then I set the pot in a somewhat warm & sunny location (the sunporch) and now I just have to wait and keep it moist!