Newsletter Signup »
HERBSTALK
  • Home
  • Mission + Values
  • Event Info
  • About
  • Press
    • Kind Words
  • Blog
  • Community Partners
  • Contact

Growing Healing Herbs Indoors

4/10/2014

 
Submitted by Jenny Hauf of Allandale Farm.
Photo by Justin Q. Taylor.

I hope that you, dear reader, are enjoying the slow, sweet beginnings of spring. It is lovely to listen to the rain while warm and dry inside and to follow the millimeters of growth in the neighborhood’s emerging bulbs. Besides the sweetness and slowness, however, there are also days splattered with cold and shades of grey. It makes you long for green—the light new kind that will soon overwhelm our landscape. While we don’t have much of that springing chartreuse yet, we can find it by growing seedlings or potted plants in our kitchen windows.

Indoor gardening is a thing of joy and complexity. Aside from bringing the beauty of living plants into your home, windowsill flowers (and cacti, trees, vines, ferns, and more!) can help purify the air and add new textures to your décor. And, depending on what you plant, your little garden can also fill your teapot!

Rosemary bonsai courtesy of Justin Q. Taylor.


If you’re interested in growing plants inside it is essential to pay attention to their light requirements. Just as you would with an outdoor garden, observe your space intimately before choosing what plants to grow or sow. If you live in a dark basement apartment unfortunately you won’t be able to grow passionflower, though if you’re interested you might be able to rig up a lighting system fancy enough to make it work. Do your homework and you’ll reap the rewards.

I also recommend a visit to your favorite garden center. Because indoor plants are restricted to container life, a setting that is so different from the earthen soil, it helps to speak with a professional about feeding, watering, and general nurturing. The internet, of course, is very helpful as well, and the links below will provide a good basis for beginning your living room garden.

Before revealing the best herbs for growing indoors I’ll mention that I’ve discovered that these plants thrive when there’s a young kid in the house. From one friend’s 7-month old who is enamored of the family rosemary to another toddler that’s kindred to a basil, little children enjoy the sensual delights that come from knowing a plant. They delight in the reward—the immediate and satisfying release of aromatics—that comes from touching an herb. Of course, kids will also put things in their mouth—as will your pets—so make sure that anything at kid or pet height is non-toxic.

And so, without further ado, here are my top twelve herbs for Indoor Growing (as of this writing!).

Aloe (Aloe vera)

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Catnip (Nepeta cataria)

Houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum)

Mint (Mentha, spp.)

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Hot peppers (See link for best varieties)

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Mad-dog Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) (Treat this like its cousin, mint.)

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)

As always, please feel welcome to leave comments about your own experience with growing herbs, especially if you’ve worked with herbs not profiled in this article. Let’s work together to make this a great resource for interior gardeners!


Picture
Jenny Hauf is a medicinal herb grower and writer living in Boston. She began using herbal medicine a decade ago, and has been tending to herbs on farms and gardens since 2006. Jennifer is the herb grower at Allandale Farm, and when not elbow-deep in dirt she writes about urban ecology at her blog, Spokes and Petals, spins wool and bicycle tires, and occasionally hammers out a tune on her banjo. She is also available for gardening consultations, workshops, and freelance work.


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    October 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Angelica
    Anxiety
    Aromatherapy
    Artichoke
    Autumn
    Ayni Institute
    Ayurveda
    Bath Salts
    Becoming An Herbalist
    Beltane
    Bitters
    Black Cohosh
    Blue Vervain
    Botanical Crafts
    Botanical Dyeing
    Cacao
    Calendula
    Cancer
    Canine Nutrition
    Cannabis
    Chaga
    Chamomile
    Chickweed
    Chinese Medicine
    Cleavers
    Climate Change
    Community
    Connection
    Cultivating
    Curandismo
    Dandelion
    Deserts
    Digestion
    Doshas
    Earth Healing
    Ecological Herbalism
    Eco-printing
    Educational Gardens
    Elder
    Eleuthero
    Elixirs
    Energetics
    Essential Oils
    Ethnobotany
    Events
    Evergreens
    Fall
    Farming
    Flax
    Flower Essences
    Folk Traditions
    Food Plants
    Free Clinics
    Fungi
    Gardening
    General
    Gentian
    Ghost Pipe
    Gifts
    Goldenrod
    Groundwork Somerville
    Growing Herbs
    Guide To Herbstalk
    Hawthorn
    Healer's Path
    Herbal Education
    Herbal Energetics
    Herbalism
    Herbal Marketplace
    Herbal Oils
    Herbal Salves
    Herbs For Pets
    Herbs Of The Enneagram
    Hibiscus
    History Of Herbstalk
    Holidays
    Holy Basil
    Honey
    Imbolc
    Immunity
    Interviews
    Lammas
    Liver
    Living With An Herbalist
    Local Classes
    Local Plants
    Lyme
    Marshmallow
    Meadowsweet
    Medicinal Mushrooms
    Medicinal Uses
    Meet The Herbalist
    Meet The Herb Farm
    Menstruation
    Milky Oats
    Mimosa
    Mint
    Motherwort
    Mugwort
    Mullein
    Mutual Aid
    Natural Dyeing
    Nettles
    New England
    Nourishing Herbs
    Oat
    Passionflower
    Permaculture
    Phytochemistry
    Pink Lady Slipper
    Plant ID
    Plant-of-the-year
    Plant Profile
    Podcast
    Poisonous Plants
    Psychological First Aid
    Queen Anne's Lace
    Recipes
    Reciprocity
    Reishi
    Rhodiola
    Rose
    Rosemary
    Russian Herbalism
    Samhain
    Schisandra
    Seasonal Cycles
    Seasons
    Seeds
    Shen Tonics
    Skullcap
    Snow
    Social Justice
    Spring
    St. John's Wort
    Summer
    Survival Herbs
    Tea Blends
    Tincturing
    Tonics
    Traditional Chinese Medicine
    Trauma
    Travel
    Tree Medicine
    Tulsi
    Urban Gardening
    Urtication
    Vata
    Vervain
    Violet
    Water Hemlock
    Wheel Of The Year
    Wildcrafting
    Wild Edibles
    Winter
    Wintergreen
    Yarrow
    Yule

    RSS Feed

Copyright © Herbstalk 2021