Q: Tally ho, good website! ‘Tis a glorious day for a question on your electronic board! Earlier today, I was taking my morning constitutional to the local herb grower when it struck me: with a little ingenuity and some old-fashioned elbow grease, I could grow my own herbs indoors! Bully! Alas, I’m baffled and bewildered about where to begin. Your counsel would please me exceedingly. Huzzah!A: Thanks for writing, Whitney! Growing herbs indoors is a great alternative to buying them at the supermarket. There’s much less waste, and the financial aspect, especially if you cook with a lot of fresh herbs, could work out very well in your favor.
To get started, I might check out IndoorHerbGardenTips.com, then peruse the tutorials as eHow and HGTV. For ideas about what kinds of herbs thrive indoors, this slideshow from This Old House could be very helpful. If you’d like to prettify the whole setup, I love this window treatment from Apartment Therapy’s 2007 Smallest Coolest contest. Finally, CHG's own 156 Cheap, Healthy Recipes for Ten Common Leftover Herbs might be useful on the cooking front.
A quick word about the Aerogarden, which you might have seen on commercials: Rachel (who often writes for this site) owned one in her last apartment. She says, “If you have gardening experience, you’ll probably do great. If you don’t, do some research beforehand. It’s good for people with low-light environments and no outdoor space. The only con: do not keep it in your bedroom. Those lights are bright, yo.” Hee.
Readers, what about you? Do you have an indoor herb garden? What herbs do you grow? What tools do you use? What are your favorite online resources? What advice would you give Whitney?
Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.