It's time to make the most of your kitchen windowsill…
The kitchen is the perfect place to grow culinary herbs, salad veg and more.
It’s still a bit chilly for planting up outside but it’s a great time to start off some seedlings in the warmth of your kitchen, or to make the most of the brighter days by growing herbs and salad veg on the windowsill. It makes perfect sense to have a continuous supply of edible plants on hand but it’s important to choose the varieties carefully so your lovely kitchen isn’t taken over by triffid like plants or you end up with varieties which just won’t thrive indoors.
If your windowsill is nice and sunny for most of the day - the opportunities are endless!
Cherry tomatoes and the tiny tumbling varieties of tomato work well. You could grow a chilli plant or two or even a climbing mini cucumber or gherkin plant. Radishes in a tray can work pretty well too and can be harvested as leaves so nothing’s wasted when you ‘thin’ them out.
Wild strawberries should thrive on a sunny windowsill. They’re super pretty with their white flowers and red fruits and they are always a favourite with the kids.
If your kitchen window sill only gets sun for half the day, best to opt for leafy crops or herbs.
Parsley, mint and chives are really useful basic ingredients and are also very hardy so they’re great for starters. If you want to be a little more ambitious, try chervil or savoury… or even some of the mediterranean herbs like rosemary, oregano or basil.
If you’re a salad lover then you should definitely be able to get a good crop of rocket or baby lettuce leaves. Trendy pea shoots tend to flourish too. For a splash of colour in your salad why not grow a nasturtium plant? Their spicy orange flowers are delicious and look fabulous as a garnish.
If you want to keep it small scale then micro greens are a great solution. As well as the fail safe mustard and cress that we all grew in egg shells at school, there are tasty alternatives like baby kale and beets which look really pretty too.
When it comes to watering your kitchen crops, the rule is generally less is more and your plants will like a spray with a mister just as much as a thorough watering. Just ensure the soil never dries out completely. Damp soil rather than soggy soil is ideal.
If you’d rather use your kitchen windowsill for starting off your summer garden seeds then now’s the time to get planting.
Tomato plants, lettuces, peas and beans are best if you start them off warm but make sure you harden them off with a few spells in the garden before you finally leave them outside. Flower seeds like petunias, viola, lavender and delphiniums produce very delicate seedlings that like the protection a sunny windowsill offers.
If your mantra is ‘waste not, want not’ you could try growing new plants from some of your kitchen scraps.
If you’ve got a sprouting potato you can pop it in a jar of water to encourage roots - and you could end up with a potato plant. Similarly, if you have the end of a celery plant, it will regrow leaves when suspended in water with some cocktail sticks over a glass. If you have cut herbs like basil from the supermarket, you could save a sprig and pop it in water to re-root … and hey presto - a never-ending supply from your very own plant.
Saving seeds from the fruit and veg you use is a thrifty way to grow your own too. This works particularly well with citrus fruits, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash seeds but it’s worth trying whatever you can to see what works best for you.
Then all you need is a nice collection of stylish little pots to create a fabulous (and useful) display of edible plants to brighten up your kitchen - and provide a great supply of ingredients.