Gardening with Gardiners: Growing Herbs in your Kitchen or Garden From Seed

One of the easiest ways to add flavour to your food is through the addition of herbs. For the freshest tasting herbs, you can grow your own at home on a kitchen window sill or in your garden. As well as providing the freshest herbs, growing your own also reduces waste as you can pick as you need rather than buying a whole pack and throwing half away. There is also less plastic waste when growing your own compared to buying in plastic from a supermarket every week.

Here are some of the herbs we are asked for advice on the most including when and how to sow these herbs indoor or outdoors.

Mint

Perfect for soups, sauces or in stuffing. You can also add mint to your Summer drinks for extra flavour.

Sowing:

Indoor – March to June

Outdoor – May to June

How to Grow: Plant the mint seeds in a tray of seed compost. Cover the tray with glass or a propagator lid if sowing early when the temperature is still low. Seedlings usually appear within 14-35 days. Thin as necessary and when large enough transfer to final destination whether in your garden or in a pot on the windowsill. Mint can be quite an invasive plant so is best contained to a pot if you only have a small space you want it to take up.

 

Sage

Traditional ingredient in stuffing.

Sowing:

Indoor – February to March

Outdoor – April to May

How to Grow: Plant the sage seeds in a tray of seed compost. Cover the tray with glass or a propagator lid if sowing early when the temperature is still low. Seedlings usually appear within 14-28 days. Thin as necessary and when large enough transfer to final destination whether in your garden or in a pot on the windowsill. Sage is a beautiful plant for adding some evergreen colour to your garden but may need some protection in Winter.

 

Thyme

Delicious with all types of robust meat and vegetable dishes

Sowing:

Indoor – February to May

How to Grow: Plant the thyme seeds in a tray of seed compost. Cover the tray with glass or a propagator lid if sowing early when the temperature is still low. Keep the soil moist. Seedlings usually appear within 21-35 days. Thin as necessary and when large enough transfer to final destination whether in your garden or in a pot on the windowsill. May need protection outside to harvest for longer into  Autumn/Winter.

 

Oregano Greek

Popular in dishes such as moussaka.

Sowing:

Indoor – All year round in pots or March to May if planting outside

Outdoor – May to June

How to Grow: Plant the oregano seeds in a tray of seed compost or individual pots. Cover the tray with glass or a propagator lid if sowing early when the temperature is still low. Keep the soil moist. Seedlings usually appear within 7-14 days. Thin as necessary and when large enough transfer to final destination whether in your garden or in a pot on the windowsill. If kept inside they will crop all year round.

 

Dill

Used to flavour potatoes, fish, sauces and mustards

Sowing:

Indoor – All year round

Outdoor – May to June

How to Grow: Plant the dill seeds in a tray of seed compost or individual pots. Cover the tray with glass or a propagator lid if sowing early when the temperature is still low. Keep the soil moist. Seedlings usually appear within 14-21 days. Thin as necessary and when large enough transfer to final destination whether in your garden or in a pot on the windowsill. If kept inside they will crop all year round.

 

Basil

Range of flavours available for a wide spectrum of dishes.

Sowing:

Indoor – All year round or March to April to plant outside

Outdoor – May to June

How to Grow: Plant the basil seeds in seed compost within individual pots to avoid root disturbance. Cover the tray with glass or a propagator lid if sowing early when the temperature is still low. Keep the soil moist. Seedlings usually appear within 14-21 days. Thin as necessary and when large enough transfer to final destination whether in your garden or in a pot on the windowsill. If kept inside they will crop all year round.

 

Visit our Gardening Department in our Cirencester Store for everything you need to create your own Herb Garden in your kitchen, courtyard or garden.