Start your own Culinary Herb kitchen Garden

You're in the kitchen, cooking up a storm. Boiling some Spaghetti, stirring the sauce, your house is basically Italy. You plate it up all nice in the “fancy guest plates”, it’s a mood. The only thing missing is some basil to sprinkle on top to make it truly gourmet. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just run to your garden, pick some fresh herbs? Well, you can.

Here are some herbs you can grow so easily, that you'll never have to buy more from the Sabji wala/wali. 

1.Mint:

Mint is an extremely fast-growing plant.it is very easy to grow and requires minimal attention. The easiest way is to propagate a few stems in water from a bunch you bought and then transfer into the soil once rooted. They like well-draining soil and bright indirect light. They like to have slightly moist soil. They love being pruned in order to keep growing, which is good because more for us! You can use mint in tea, in a fresh glass of Mojito or a tasty chutney for your pakodas. A wide range of options with this one!

2.Coriander:

Now listen carefully, get up, go to your kitchen, ask your mom where the Dhaniya is (coriander seeds). Take a few, crush them just a little and then run to your garden and put them in a pot and water it. That’s it! You're done! It likes well-draining, slightly moist soil and bright sun. In just a few days you'll see little baby plants and another few weeks you'll have fresh green coriander to sprinkle on your food. Have another planter ready, with more seeds germinating because coriander can only be harvested once.

3.Basil:

You can use seeds bought from plant nurseries or online or propagate stems in water, either way, is very easy. Basil like bright light, well-draining, slightly moist soil. While watering, try to not spray the leaves with water. Other than that, it pretty much does all the work for you! The harvest is the same as mint!

4.Garlic:

Words cannot express how much I love garlic. I can eat an exorbitant amount of garlic. And recently, iv unlocked a new level of power. I planted peeled fresh garlic – root side down in some well-draining soil and less than 10 days later it has come to this stage. (refer to the very adorable picture of my baby garlic). I water it when the top is dry and I obsess over it quite a few times throughout the day. It likes bright light and the green shoots can be used in chutneys, in pasta sauces or anywhere you want a subtle garlic flavour.

5.Curry leaf:

The easiest way would be to buy a small plant from a nursery, but you can grow this plant from stem cuttings by putting them into a well-draining soil and keep it in bright light. As this a plant that will grow into a tree, you can give it some fertiliser in the summers. You can just pick off a few leaves as needed when you want a give a tadka to some dal, or you're making sambar or to add some flavour to curd rice!

I hope you have a lovely day!

Until next time,

Gayatri Vaidya ©