Keeping Your Herbs in For the Winter

• Organic Gardening For Beginners
• Companion Planting Guide
• Seed Saving Tips & Techniques

If you have cultivated an herb garden outside all summer and into the fall, you are probably disappointed that winter is so quickly approaching. You are aware of the nutritional and health benefits that you get from eating natural and fresh foods, and you do not want to have to stop gardening your own herbs. Do not dismay! You can easily bring in your herb garden during the winter. You can have a windowsill garden right in your kitchen! By doing this, you can have fresh herbs all winter long.

Preparation

In order to successfully move your herbs into your home, you will have to have a windowsill that is in a sunny area. The best place to put your windowsill herb garden is a windowsill that gets at least five hours of sunlight per day and has minimal drafts. Often times a south or southeast facing window is perfect. Next, shop for your favorite herb plants~{Next, buy your favorite herb plants}~Next, purcahse your facorite herb plants}. Make sure that these are smaller plants as the area you will be planting them in is probably not as big as your outdoor space. After that, use a container that is about half a foot to a foot deep. If multiple herbs are what you plan to plant, get a long container. You will need the pot to be at least six inches deep for individual plants. Plant your herbs in the pots the way you would have planted them outside (many gardeners have specific methods in the way they plant theirgradens, from the kind of soils to various potting mixes!).

Caring For Your Herbs

Once you have your herbs planted and set in the windowsill, make sure that you remember to care for them. However, do not over do it. While they were outside in your home herb garden you probably did not have to worry about watering them, but make sure that you water them on occasion when they are in your windowsill garden. But keep in mind, herbs do not grow well in wet soil. In addition, you can feed your herbs once a month with a specific fertilizer that says it is safe for use on edibles. Remember, your plants need to be given some time to get used to their new setting. Do not cut them until you see new growth. Or your plants will not flourish.

Tips For Your Indoor Garden

First, make sure that you are choosing appropriate herbs for your indoor herb garden. You do not want herbs that grow very wide or very tall. Second, if sunny windows are unavailable, you can use a fluorescent light and keep it on for about ten hours a day. Also, make sure it is close to the plants, about eighteen inches away. Third, do not trim any more than a third of your plant’s foliage. In addition trimming will often encourage them to grow more, but make sure the before you clip away that there is new growth!