Tasty greens! The best herbs to grow indoors

Think delicious flavours in your food is the only benefit to growing herbs? Well, ok, that is a pretty major perk. But did you know that growing any kind of plants can have a really positive impact on your mental health, can save you money, can improve the air in your home, and can cure illness? Yup, it’s a small investment for a big payoff. And you can get in on the action even with a little corner of space on your windowsill. Here are the best ones to grow:

ROSEMARY

Rosemary is incredibly aromatic and a really hearty herb that will grow well all year round. It likes full sunshine and can survive being a little on the dry side. Aside from making roast potatoes taste amazing, it has compounds that may help fight cancer cells. Another one with a heavenly scent is basil – which is perfect on pizzas and in tomato salads. Make sure this guy has plenty of drainage and water it every second day. It has been found to have a detoxifying effect on the liver and may help clear skin blemishes.

CHIVES AND MINT

If you don’t have a whole lot of light, go for chives – they’re happy without lots of direct sunlight, and are part of the family of veggies that help boost the immune system. And if you’re hoping for something that will really take off and yield lots of leaves for harvesting, then you’ll love mint – pretty much all varieties will thrive in a big pot with just a little light every day. Mint is great for digestion; steep fresh leaves with boiling water and honey for a Moroccan-inspired tea, or throw fresh leaves into your morning smoothie!

OREGANO

And finally, anyone who loves cooking Italian food should have a little oregano plant in the kitchen – though it does need 6-8 hours of sunlight so set your pot in a nice bright spot. Not only is is great added to scrambled eggs and pasta sauce, it’s antibacterial, a source of vitamin K, and contains antioxidants.

WINDOW FARMING

If you still don’t think you don’t have space to grow herbs indoors, then you should check out this new phenomenon called window farming (get inspired with windowfarms.com) – if you have windows, you can have food!

Photo credit: The4thMonkey.com