Indoor Kitchen Garden
Like most of us, we are working in our home, fixing things that need fixing, cleaning things out, and tackling new home projects. I’ve always wanted an indoor kitchen garden but we don’t really have good natural light for one anywhere near the kitchen. Recently, we purchased a grow lamp and a basil plant and decided to give it a try.
The two plants at the right were my test plants and they have done really well inside under the lights. That gave me the courage to expand the indoor kitchen garden. My hubby came up with the easy shelf construction to see how it would work.
The long shelf you see was one saved from the original kitchen when we bought the house. We had granite installed before we moved in but kept this long shelf. Originally, we were going to use it in the garage but that didn’t happen so it has been leaning against some garage shelves for 7 years. It fit the window space perfectly. Crates were added as a base which will also add some storage, if we need it. The grow lights clip to the edge of the shelf. A couple of nearby outlets came in very handy.
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on pots so rummaged through ones I had in the garage and under the house. Bought. some potting soil and a few plants and we were in business. Some of the herbs I just transplanted into pots from the garden. I usually have multiples of the common ones so that worked out well.
If the experiment works, we’ll look around for a rough edged board or two for something more permanent.
These were the herbs I chose. Top Left to right: French Tarragon, Basil, Flat Italian Parsley. Middle Left to right: Rosemary, Lavender, Lemon Thyme. Bottom Left to right: Lemon Balm, Chives, Basil.
I chose these because I use them in cooking frequently and also because of their fragrance. I used thrift store pottery plates to place under the pots. Right now….until I get a few more grow lamps…..I’m putting most of the pots outside on the back deck during the day. That way they get lots of sun. Water most herbs when the soil drys out on top. They really don’t like wet feet.
Try a few herbs indoors. If you can put them outside during the day, you won’t have to buy lamps until the Fall. You’ll really enjoy using fresh herbs in your cooking. Having growing things around you makes you happy and we need all of the happiness we can muster right now.
Next Post it’s back outside to the garden for an update.