Easy tips to grow common herbs on your kitchen counter

When a dish is flavourful, it not only satisfies the cravings but the soul as well, and this is where herbs play an important role. Herbs not only enhance the flavour of a dish but make it pleasing for the eyes as well. And the flavours you get when fresh herbs are used in a dish, is beyond comparison. But most herbs are not available with the local vegetable vendor the year round and hence growing your own herbs is a great idea. Some of the common herbs used in Indian cuisine are coriander, mint, basil, fennel and fenugreek. Not just that, you can also grow oregano, rosemary, thyme as well as chives in your home!

Due to this novel coronavirus, it is not easy to go for vegetable shopping every now and then and everyone is buying stocks for at least a week. Fresh herbs can become stale in a week and thus it is important to grow these herbs at home. If you are wondering it would take a lot of your time in growing these herbs, then worry not! We bring you an easy guide and step-by-step method that will help you in growing these herbs in your garden.

Depending on the kind of herb you want for your kitchen, you can grow them in sunlight. You can grow these herbs by the window where sunlight comes in abundance or even on the kitchen counter, which would make it easy for you to pluck and use them. The temperature also plays an important role in growing these herbs. All you need is a large tray or a container in which you want to grow them.

1. The soil used should be of good quality.
2. Follow the watering instructions carefully. Little or too much water can destroy the herbs.
3. You can put the containers in a tray and conveniently move them in and out of the kitchen if sunlight is not available inside. The idea place though would be the kitchen window sill.

All you need is a container/pot, rich-quality soil and some fertilizer. Firstly, you don’t need any seeds for growing this herb. You would require some fresh mint stems, which you can easily get by plucking leaves from it. Buy some mint from the vegetable vendor and take out its leaves. Make sure that the stem is thick. Wash it well and add soil in the container. Wet the soil and then plant these stems one by one leaving some space in between. Spray water all over and make sure that the container has holes for drainage. Within 10-15 days, you can see little leaves. All you need to take care of is that you must spray water every 2 days so that they don't dry. Keep it near sunlight or partial sunlight and you can enjoy fresh mint leaves.

It’s one of those herbs that can be grown indoor at home. Monsoon is the best season for it to grow. All you need to do is take coriander seeds and crush them a little. Add them in a container filled with rich-quality soil. Make sure that the soil is moist. Then, add these seeds in the soil and press them a little to go inside. Spray them well and put this near some kitchen space where natural light is available. During monsoon, the sprouts will come out in a week. Just water the soil daily using spray bottle. Else, it takes 20-30 days for coriander leaves to come out.

Take a pot for growing basil and add soil in it which is moistened with water. Sprinkle some basil seeds in this soil and cover them with a thin layer of soil over it. Press them inside and using a spray bottle, moisten the soil a bit more. Keep this pot near natural light as much as possible and water it daily with a mister or spray bottle. Basil sprouts also take 2-3 weeks to come out like leaves.

For growing fennel leaves, soak fennel seeds for 1-2 days in water. Then, after 2 days, fill a large tray with a rich-quality soil and water it to moisten the soil. Add these soaked seeds in it and press them a little. Water it daily using a spray bottle and you can see those little fennel sprouts in 2-3 weeks. Make sure that you do not dry the soil at all as that can stop the germination process. Fennel grows best in monsoon season, so this is the ideal time to sow its seed.

Growing fenugreek is the easiest as it takes time to harvest. You can directly add washed fenugreek seeds in the soil-filled container or pot and cover with soil and then water it. Keep this container in a place where you receive the most sunlight. Just make sure that pot or container you have used has good drainage and it is wide enough for fenugreek to spread. This herb can tolerate afternoon shade and thus you need not worry about it. You can spot fenugreek sprouts in 2-3 weeks easily and use them afterwards.