Fast and Easy Indoor Vegetable and Herb Gardens

By Fran Kroller

Many people are using the AeroGarden to grow organically grown edibles for their family because they know organic grown produce is a healthy alternative to store bought produce. The system can be used to grow an indoor herb garden and there is nothing that adds zest to any recipe than home grown herbs. The system is fool proof and can be used in any type of weather.

It is easy to use this kit and the instructions are easy to follow and in little time one will enjoy the harvest from his efforts. The revolutionary concept of using this system to grow vegetables, herbs, and plants, is that there is no dirt involved and therefore no mess. Plants, herbs, and vegetables, grow as large as the size of the kit used to grow plants, herbs, or vegetables.

The weather is not a factor when it comes to growing indoors so it could be snowing outside and the indoor crop will still thrive. There is no need to check the farmer's almanac to find out when seeding season starts because the indoor system works year round. There is no need to be an expert at growing plants, vegetables, or herbs, because the system is fool proof.

Vegetables grown with this system can be harvested for approximately four months. Herbs can be harvested for approximately 5 months. Plants, for instance flowers, will bloom for approximately 6 months when tended indoors.

A lot of people would like to have their own home grown vegetables but have not time to water, seed, and tend their crop. However, using an indoor system, one can take as little as 5 minutes a week to tend her crop. Most people can find at least 5 minutes every seven days to tend their crop.

The indoor growing kit is energy efficient. The kit needs less energy than a 60 watt light bulb. A little bit of water is needed to hydrate the crop and all of the nutrients required to grow a crop are found in the kit. The reason why organic foods are healthier for us is because organic foods, unlike store bought produce, is not sprayed with pesticides.

In a word the AeroGarden system can be described as foolproof. There are many advantages to growing vegetables at home. Organic vegetables are a healthy alternative to store bought produce that has been contaminated with pesticides. Home grown herbs add a zest to recipes that dried out herbs in a bottle cannot match. Since all growth takes place indoors the weather is not a factor.

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You can find a listing of the benefits of growing healthy indoor fruit and veggies using the Aerogarden grow kit and view our inventory of grow kits, now.. This article, Fast and Easy Indoor Vegetable and Herb Gardens is available for free reprint.

Growing An Indoor Herb Garden Is Easy

By Jeff Glasser

Article: Instead of planting a big outdoor herb garden consider planting one indoors. Many smaller varieties and dwarf varieties of herbs grow quite well in small pots that can be placed on a kitchen window sill. Now when you are cooking you do not have to run to your outside garden to pick a few herbs to add to your cooking. You can just simply turnaround and grab a few leaves!

It's easy to grow your own indoor herb garden. Many kits are available that have everything that you need to get started. Look for the chia herb garden which is a fun way to get the kids involved too. You can enjoy the same benefits that you would outside, but with a few distinct advantages with an indoor herb garden.

Advantages Of An Indoor Herb Garden

With an indoor herb garden you can easily monitor your plants. You will notice quickly if they need any maintenance. If they need a quick misting you can accomplish the task with little effort. Outdoor gardens are more frequently overlooked. Indoors you will not have issues with bugs eating the leaves of your herbs. You will not have to contend with trying to find a safe chemical that can be used to treat your herbs to keep bugs away.

You can do it within the comfort of your own home when it is time to harvest all of your fresh herbs. You will not have to deal with mosquitoes or other bugs while you are trying to garden.

When you plant an indoor herb garden you can bring in the wonderful fragrance that they provide. Now your kitchen will smell delicious like fresh basil or rosemary. Being surrounded by the fragrances of an indoor herb garden might even inspire your cooking. Instead of using dried herbs that have been sitting in a cabinet, any meals you do cook will now taste even better as you will be able to add fresh herbs.

Having an indoor herb garden will also protect any other plants that might be in your garden. Known to be extremely invasive are some species of herbs. Once they start growing they are hard to stop and before you know it your herb garden has taken over. By planting your herbs in small individual pots inside you can control its spreading.

Plants can make indoor spaces feel warm and cozy. Why not add a few practical plants to your kitchen to achieve the same result. You can generate an inviting atmosphere while growing herbs to use in your cooking.

Growing your own indoor herb garden is simple. Several kits are available that have everything that you need to get started. Now when you are cooking you do not have to run to your outside garden to choose a few herbs to add to your cooking.

Herbs to grow indoors

Here are some of the herbs which will grow well indoors. Choose as many of these as you can find room for. They will bring fragrance to your home, exciting taste to your foods, and a little fillip to your imagination.

ANISE
Hung over your bed, anise may not make you as fair and youthful as our ancestors believed, but surely the new interest which it brings to foods will keep your appetite young. Although anise is generally grown for its sweet seed, the fresh leaves are appetizing in fruit salads, soups, stews and herb teas.

Start anise from seed or bring in a young plant from the garden and let it have plenty of sunlight.
BASIL
This herb grows particularly well in the kitchen, for it doesn't mind the heat. Keep the plants trim by using the leaves generously in salads, stews, ground meats, poultry stuffings and fruit cups. It is a necessity in any dish containing tomato, or with fresh tomatoes. If you have enough basil, sprays are beautiful in bouquets.

Start basil from seeds or bring in healthy small plants from the garden. You can put three or four light green, smooth-leaved basil plants in the same container. In the spring I set the basil plants back in the garden. These plants can be counted on to produce seed. This is not always true of those raised the first year from seed, because our growing season is too short for seeds to ripen thoroughly.

BORAGE
Although borage is more attractive in the garden than in the house, a pot containing three or four plants will furnish young cucumber-flavored leaves for salads and cool drinks.

If it blooms, the blue flowers are worth the space given this somewhat coarse, hairy-leafed plant. Borage loses its flavor when dried, so use its young, tender leaves. Start the borage from seed or bring in young plants from the garden.

BURNET
Burnet trails its feathery leaves when grown indoors. It is one of the prettiest plants, and the dainty, cucumber-flavored leaves are delicious in salads. A sprig is attractive in cool drinks.
Because of their trailing stems, burnet, santolina (French lavender), and sweet marjoram are good choices for hanging pots or those placed on shelves at cupboard ends or alongside windows.
Bring burnet in from the garden or buy a plant.

CHERVIL
This fine-leaved herb resembles parsley in looks but not in taste. It is too lovely to look at and too good to eat to be left out of the kitchen herb garden. Bring in a plant and use the fresh anise-flavored leaves for garnishing and to season sauces, soups and salads. The white blossoms are small and fragile. It will germinate rapidly and may be grown from seed.

CHIVES
A clump of chives may be bought at almost any grocery store. If you have both an outdoor and indoor garden, divide a large plant and bring part of it to the kitchen window. The spikey leaves are excellent wherever a delicate onion taste is desired.

DILL
The Orientals used dill in brewing up charms. We “charm” our guests by using its seeds in pickles, fish sauces and salads, but Europeans use the leaves, too, in cooking. Why not try them?

PARSLEY
This herb, one of the oldest known to man, is as popular today as always. When grown in a sunny window in a glazed or metal pot so that the roots will not dry out, it will thrive for a long time. Use rather small plants, for the taproots of mature plants are long. Parsley does better in a cool temperature. Do not use fertilizer. Although parsley will do well inside, it will not be as strong and full as when it grows outdoors. The curly-leafed variety is the prettiest, the flat-leafed type the tastiest.

If you do not have a plant to bring in from the garden, it should be easy to get one from a nursery.

ROSE GERANIUM
Best-known and easiest to find of the fragrant-leaved geraniums is the rose geranium. The leaves are useful in potpourris, sachets and in bouquets, and they are soothing in the tub. A bit of leaf in a cup of tea gives an indescribable fragrance. If you don't know how to use it in apple jelly and cakes.

Start new plants with cuttings from an established plant. Since they are sensitive to cold, you must bring rose geraniums indoors in the winter.

ROSEMARY
Rosemary, the herb of poetry and legend, is not easy to grow, but it is worth the trouble. Grown in a pot as a house plant, it may be less than a foot tall and its lower branches will fall gracefully over the sides of the pot. The leaves resemble long, oval pine needles, particularly when dried. The leaves of rosemary are more fragrant than the flowers, and when gently crushed, they will give off the warm odor of pine.

Rosemary is a tropical plant, and it must be cut back, potted and brought indoors before frost. Your first plant should be purchased from a nursery as it is hard to start rosemary from seed.

SAGE
If you can find a small sage bush, it may be brought indoors. Its furry grey-green leaves are attractive and its fragrance pleasant. Although you will probably use sage which you dried during the summer, a growing plant gives a nice variation in hue to your indoor garden.

TARRAGON
Tarragon must be brought in for the winter in most climates, and may be set back in the garden in the spring. Early in the summer, start new plants from cuttings, for tarragon does not set seed which will germinate. Plunge the new plants in the earth, pots and all, and let them grow during the summer. When the first heavy frost causes the leaves to fall, you can trim back the stems and transfer the plants to larger pots for wintering indoors. Its young leaves are delicious in eggs, fish, meat and poultry dishes and salads. Plants must be purchased at a nursery.

THYME
Thyme will thrive in your window. Use it sparingly, in poultry stuffings, stuffed peppers, onions, zucchini squash, in meat and fish dishes. Start thyme from seed, and make sure that it has a sunny spot in which to grow.