Herbs to Start Growing on Your Kitchen Windowsill Today
Spring may be unpredictable in the UK however it rarely stops the growing season. March and April are the best months for starting your own herb garden. Even if you only have the windowsill from your Kitchen Warehouse kitchen you can still grow fresh herbs that add intense flavour to every meal.
Here’s a selection of the best, how to use them and how to grow them:
Coriander
Coriander is a great fresh herb for Indian and Thai cuisine. It can also add a depth of flavour to many salads and sauces. It pairs brilliantly with garlic and lemon and has a floral fragrance that tantalises the taste buds.
You can grow this from seed easily on your kitchen windowsill, beware that it does bolt quite quickly and will go to seed within weeks however you can use these in many dishes either whole or ground and they’ll add much more flavour than any you can buy from the supermarket.
Top Tip: You can grow fresh supermarket herbs on your windowsill however they need a little attention first. They are sown with far too many seeds to one pot, this is why they often die within a week. You can carefully separate the roots and replant in separate pots to create lots of plants that should survive throughout the summer.
Basil
Originally an Italian herb Basil has made its way into English cuisine as we all love it with a salad, cheeses and the Sunday Roast. It pairs beautifully with lamb, mozzarella, and tomatoes, garlic and lambs lettuce and is even used occasionally in desserts.
It’s easy to grow from seed on the kitchen windowsill from April and it can be put outside in May. You’ll find that one plant can produce enough Basil to keep the kitchen supplied throughout the whole summer.
Top Tip: If you grow tomatoes, grow Basil and tomatoes together. The flavours infuse as they grow giving a wonderful taste.
Parsley
Parsley is one of the easiest herbs to grow and can be added to a multitude of dishes to give a fresh colour and a savoury taste. It is the perfect complement to any fish dish yet it can also add a lot of flavour to vegetarian dishes and roast meats.
Parsley can take a while to propagate when growing from seed so it may be best to buy a small plant from the garden centre. Flat leaf parsley needs a little more care than curled parsley but chefs find it more aesthetically pleasing.
Top Tip: The average parsley plant will come back year after year. To ensure your Parsley tastes fresh and doesn’t become woody replace plants biannually.
Chives
Chives are not only a flavoursome herb that adds a subtle onion flavour to any salad or meat, they also add colour to the kitchen when in flower. Their pretty pompom purple heads bob up and down on the kitchen windowsill bringing a fresh twist to the kitchen. The flowers are also completely edible and make an ideal decoration for salads whereas the chives can be used in almost any meal from stews to cheese dishes to fish.
Chives are easy to grow from seed and will come back year after year. To ensure they don’t become tired and woody split the roots every autumn and create new plants. These will also make great gifts for any other foodie in your life.
There are many more herbs to grow on the kitchen windowsill or conservatory area between the furniture or on the sills. Each vegetable has their own unique flavours and appearance. The ones discussed above have been chosen as they are the favourites for al fresco dining in the summer.