Growing Herbs in Your Apartment
No matter where you live, you can have your own herb garden and reap the many benefits of being an herb gardener. In my first apartment, I started slowly with a couple of herb plants in containers mixed in with a couple of blossoms on my front stoop—just your basic kitchen necessities like basil, oregano and parsley.
I then added some herb plants inside my apartment. Huddled around the only southern facing window in the place were a number of other little herbs like lemongrass and lavender, which smelled awesome together, and to those I added my outdoor herb plants when winter came..
When I lived in an urban high rise I had a balcony that was totally fenced in by a largegrate—which also put my entire balcony in shade almost all day long. So I constructed a flower bed made from chicken wire, leaves, newspaper, pine needles, peat and sod to hang outside the grate and I filled it with my kitchen herbs, plus some chamomile and other flowering plants and some cascading vines. It looked fantastic, but needed to be watered too frequently.
You can apply some of these same ideas in your apartment herb garden.
Evaluate your room to determine where you could grow your herbs—do you have a stoop, front porch, balcony, deck, window or anywhere else that you could put your herbs? Do not believe that you need some big elaborate space either. Did you know that a number of herbs can grow in little places? For example, you can raise chives for your next baked potato in a container about the size of an espresso cup—provided it has enough drainage.
The next factor to consider is your lighting. The type, quality and amount of sun your herbs get is hugely important. Without the right amount of sunlight your plants won’t grow. I lived in a cramped little apartment in the city where I only had two windows. Because one of them faced east (not enough sun) I started my herb garden in the bathroom. I actually think it worked out quite well, because the herbs really seemed to benefit from the moisture and steam in the bathroom.
Now that you know where you are going to begin your herb garden and you have determined what kind of light you’ll have, such as the quality, type and amount of light you will have, you are ready to begin picking your herb. I could go on for days about which herbs to select, but the bottom-line comes down to how you plan to use the herb plants. Are you looking to raise culinary herbs, florals, first-aid or healing herb plants? Maybe you’re looking for the right ingredients for your lotions or shampoos. For just about every need you have, there’s an plant out there with your name on it. Start checking them out, matching the needs you have with the space you have available and the amount, quality and type of sunshine your space allows and you will soon be on your way!
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Windowsill Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
Tags: gardening, growing herbs apartment, Herbs, indoor garden, windowsill herb garden
