If you love gardening and want fresh chemical-free ingredients for your daily cooking, growing herbs in your kitchen garden can be a fun experience. You can grow herbs that flourish in all seasons or grow seasonal herbs indoors in winters!
All you need is a little care, few hours of sunlight or artificial light in winters to grow your fresh herbs that will make your dishes tastier and even have medicinal uses.
Here are a few herbs that are perfect to grow in your kitchen garden:
Basil
Basil also is known as Tulsi, is a common herb used in cooking and as a home remedy. Basil is very popular and is used while making pesto, along with freshly cut tomatoes in salad and Italian food. It also helps in curing stomach related diseases like stomach pain and loss of appetite. The plant can grow easily in the summertime when kept in the window sill facing sunlight and even in artificial sunlight in winters. Although it is an annual plant it easily grows from its seeds.
Mint
Mint is used usually In summer when we make those refreshing drinks like mojitos and is a great breath freshener. Mint is an invasive plant and is very easy to grow. It can be grown in a pot with moist soil and even in a bottle filled with water, all you will need is a stem! There are a lot of varieties of mint from which you can choose the one best suited for you or you can even have a garden dedicated to different kinds of mint. Mint is not only adding to the flavour of your food it also helps in digesting it and is excellent for treating indigestion and stomach aches.
Thyme
Thyme is an aromatic herb and is used Commonly in soups, sauces, and stocks to flavor them. It is used with other herbs and spices to give a complex flavor to a dish. Thyme is a perennial herb and is usually grown in soil with less water content. It can be grown from seeds and stems like mint. It is good for treating colds and sore throats and can be added to your tea. Along with this it can be used to read digestive problems, skin diseases and is great for curing your hair of dandruff.
Cilantro/ Coriander
Every Indian dish is incomplete without garnishing it with coriander in the end and not only it’s leaves we Indians use its seeds while cooking different dishes. It also goes well with soups, vegetables, and chicken and is also used for seasoning meat. Coriander can be grown from its seeds during spring and summer season. Just plant the seeds in the soil about half an inch and avoid overwatering it. It is full of antioxidants, helps in lowering the blood sugar level, boosts immunity and reliefs indigestion.
Oregano
We all love oregano as a seasoning on our dishes especially pizza and bread. It can grow easily in your garden in well-drained soil and requires morning sunlight or full-day sun. Both it’s leaves and flowers can be used in dishes as they both are flavourful. Along with an excellent taste, it’s oil respiratory used to aid respiratory problems and fungal infections. It also repels insects and is great for joint pain.
Now that you know how easily you can grow your commonly used herbs, you don’t ever have to worry about buying them from the market anymore!
Happy Gardening!