Herb Garden Kitchen in Monastic Medicine

Fresh basil or chives: herbs give many dishes the final touch in taste and appearance. Lovingly arranged on the plate, the food becomes a true feast for the eyes with a bit of green. Due to their content of healthy ingredients, there are even more good reasons to refine dishes with herbs. It is especially practical when the plants are already right nearby during cooking and meal preparation – a personal kitchen herb garden supports you in this.

 

A kitchen herb garden greatly simplifies meal preparation. You have the herbs right where you need them. Also, not everyone has their own garden or balcony to grow plants. For rental apartments and/or limited space, a kitchen herb garden is a worthwhile alternative. Because a few herb pots fit in even the smallest kitchen.

A personal herb garden in the kitchen saves you the trip to the garden. The needed herbs are close at hand and remind you directly to use them. Additionally, a kitchen herb garden, unlike a garden or balcony, offers a decisive advantage: you have access to fresh herbs all year round. Chives and parsley survive indoors even during the cold season if you plant them in autumn.

A kitchen herb garden also looks great visually. Here you have many opportunities to get creative and implement individual ideas. Whether you attach the pots directly to the wall or place them on the windowsill is up to you. The 5 reasons again briefly:

1. Simplifies meal preparation
2. No garden or balcony needed
3. Saves the trip to the garden
4. Fresh herbs all year round
5. Beautiful look for the kitchen

For your kitchen herb garden, you can confidently choose from numerous varieties and methods. Basically, you can decide whether you want the herbs just on the windowsill, on the wall, or elsewhere. For higher yields, there are indoor grow tents that simulate summer weather conditions. Alternatively, there are hydroponic growing systems for the kitchen, where the plants root not in soil but in a watery substrate. This optimizes oxygen and nutrient uptake, resulting in higher yields and more plant compounds. The easiest is clearly the herb garden on the windowsill, the most complicated is hydroponic cultivation.

 

For an indoor herb garden, herb pots for the kitchen are recommended, which you can buy ready-made in stores. Ideally, the container has drainage holes at the bottom so water can drain and no waterlogging occurs.

The following plants are particularly suitable for a kitchen herb garden:

• Parsley
• Chives
• Sage
• Basil
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Cress
• Peppermint
• Lemon balm
• Coriander

First, you need the right spot for your kitchen herbs. This can be on the table, a shelf, directly on the wall, or classically on the windowsill. The herbs should receive about six hours of light per day and not be exposed to drafts. South-facing windows are best suited for Mediterranean varieties like basil. Herbs that prefer partial shade are well placed on an east or west window. When setting up, make sure there is no radiator directly under the herb plants. Otherwise, the plants would get too much heat in winter.

Success requires the right indoor temperature. It should be around 18 degrees Celsius on average in the kitchen herb garden. When watering, you should meet the preferences of the respective herbs and neither water them too much nor too little.

 

You can choose whether you want to grow the herbs from seeds yourself or simply take over already grown herbs. The second option is clearly easier, especially since herbs in discount stores or similar shops cost very little. However, these herbs are often fast-growing plants that, for example, have not rooted sufficiently. You should therefore replant the grown herbs into a larger pot as soon as possible to enjoy them for a long time. Strong herbs can be recognized in the store by strongly branched and bushy shoots as well as a dense rootstock. 

 

There are also a number of unusual herbs that would do well in your kitchen herb garden. The herbs are so special that they are not used very often and should therefore be planted with care.

Lemon verbena: The pleasant scent and refreshing taste make every drink and salad more summery.

Savory: This herb gives an intense flavor especially to bean dishes. Good for vegetarians and vegans who, among other things, cover their protein needs through beans.

Tarragon: Its strong flavor gives fish, poultry, and salads that special restaurant touch.

Borage: The beautiful blue flowers can be used for garnishing. Your guests will be amazed when they discover tasty flowers on drinks and dishes.

Arugula: This salad plant is perfect for clever summer salads. Feel free to grow a bit more arugula if you want to enjoy generous bowls.

Dill: This herb is especially added to fish and potatoes in Scandinavian countries. So you don’t have to buy frozen dill here, you can grow it yourself in your kitchen herb garden.

Bergbohnenkraut: The aromatic berg bean herb can give legumes and potatoes the finishing touch. 

Stevia: The natural sweetener plant can be used as an alternative to sugar, for example in teas. The sweet steviol glycosides mimic the structure of sugar and create a sweet taste without calories.

 

You always have high-quality herbs at hand that you can use in natural remedies or dishes. The freshness of the herbs brings many aromas that are lost during drying. In addition, fresh herbs contain more plant compounds that can benefit you.

It is important that you buy vital and strong plants. You can tell this by the fact that the branches are strongly branched and bushy. If the herb looks rather loose and airy, it doesn’t have enough strength to build proper density. You can try gently lifting the herb out of its pot. If you feel a strongly rooted rootstock, that’s a good sign for the plant. Often kitchen herbs come in pots that are too small, so you should transfer the herbs directly into larger pots. At the same time, it’s usually worth thinning out the rootstock so it can grow back healthily. 

We definitely recommend beginners to buy already grown herbs. Keeping herbs healthy and fresh at home is already challenging enough. You don’t want to add the extra work of sowing, germination, and cultivation.

Ideally, play with the growth form, the leaf shape, and especially the colors of the flowers. For example, you can create color patterns exactly as you like. Some home gardeners arrange the flowers to represent the colors of their favorite sports team. 

It depends entirely on your kitchen, the herbs you want, and the desired amount of herbs. A windowsill is usually enough to start. If you run out of space, you can buy a raised bed for the windowsill. This is basically a cabinet for plants where you can stack several herbs on top of each other. If you want to grow many herbs and, for example, also make tinctures, you can buy beds for the kitchen.

Furthermore, the space requirement also depends on whether you want to grow hydroponically, for example. Then you would need even more space for the equipment.

We recommend starting slowly and gradually adding more plants as you enjoy it. Then you will naturally notice when you run out of space. 

There are a few points you can keep in mind for this:

Quality of soil / medium: High-quality soil that has been proven free of pollutants does not transfer pollutants to your plants.

Clean water: If the water contains pollutants, the plant will absorb them. Filtered water can be a solution here.

Avoid chemical agents: Avoid herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides in the herb garden if you don’t want your plants to absorb pollutants. There are also natural pest control options, such as neem oil.

Origin of the plants: Only buy high-quality plants where you know their source. Some suppliers may sell plants with pollutants. The organic label is helpful here.

Inspections: Regularly check for pests or pollutants that may cause diseases.

Harvest time: Harvest at the right time. There are methods like rinsing, which can wash out pollutants from plants.

Cleaning: Thoroughly clean the herbs before use, even if they come from your own herb garden.