Choose a sunny windowsill which gets at least 6 hours of sun. Lack of enough sunshine will leave you with spindly, stressed plants, with little flavor.
Select your container(s) ensuring plenty of drainage holes.
Use a saucer to avoid marking your sill.
Start by putting a layer of potting mix in the bottom.
Gently remove the herb plant from its original pot loosening the roots.
Finish with potting mix, firming gently around the plant leaving space for watering.
Water immediately.
Drain the saucer when excess water accumulates.
Harvest regularly to encourage them to grow full and bushy.
Feed your herbs weekly.
Sweet Basil: Basil brings a taste of the Mediterranean to your food! This popular annual herb is fast-growing so will last just one season. Young foliage can be picked as required, avoiding whole stems as this weakens the plant.
Chives: This onion flavored herb is an easy to grow perennial herb – great for salads! They can be harvested from spring to autumn and will then die down over winter. Shoots will emerge again the following spring.
Rosemary: This woody-stemmed evergreen herb produces tasty leaves that can be harvested year after year. Rosemary can be used as part of a bouquet-garni to be added to soups, stews and casseroles; whole sprigs can be roasted with root vegetables or sprinkled over Italian breads such as focaccia to add flavor.
Parsley: Parsley is a biennial herb with a two-year life cycle. It is a hungry plant so ensure it is kept well fed and watered. Of the two varieties available, the curly-leaved parsley is commonly used as a garnish or in parsley sauce. Flat-leaved parsley has a stronger taste as is used more widely in Mediterranean recipes.
Thyme: This small leaved evergreen herb will form mounds of edible foliage all year round but it is best to ‘rest’ the plant in winter when it isn’t actively growing. There are many varieties of thyme available with different aromas and uses ranging from soups, sauces and adding to fish and meat dishes.