Some herbs can thrive even through the colder parts of the year (Image: Getty)
The arrival of the colder season doesn’t have to mean a pause for those who like to see the results of their gardening. Most plants stop growing in winter, and nature usually takes care of watering, shaping and keeping them for you.
But there’s a way to keep up your gardening in the winter, giving your house a pop of nature’s colours and, as a bonus, delicious results.
Growing herbs on your windowsill throughout the cold months is incredibly easy and brings fresh flavour to meals and a fragrant touch to your home. But even though the process is very beginner-friendly, many don’t know where to start.
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The most popular herbs can grow well in the cold, including basil seeds. Although basil is native to warmer climates, it can thrive with the right setup.
Basil takes less than a week to sprout (Image: Getty)
Choose a small pot or seed tray with drainage holes, use a light, well-draining seed-starting mix or multi-purpose organic compost and place what you prepared on a south-facing windowsill if possible – but a full-spectrum LED grow light also works wonders.
Then, pre-moisten your potting mix so it is damp but not soaked, sprinkle the basil seeds thinly across the surface, and press them down gently. Cover them with a very light dusting of soil and cover the pot with a clear plastic bag to lock in moisture and warmth until they sprout – usually within 3 to 7 days.
To do the same with mint – another versatile herb – it’s an even easier process since they’re more used to the cold.
Use an 8-inch-deep container with good drainage holes and fill it with a well-draining seed-starting or potting mix. Grab a handful of the very fine Mint seeds and scatter them thinly on the surface of pre-moistened soil.
Chives are the most winter-resistant herbs (Image: Getty)
Do not bury them deeply – leave them uncovered or press them in very gently with a light dusting of about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of soil, then mist the top with a spray bottle so you do not wash the tiny seeds away. Cover the pot the same way during germination, which takes about 14 to 21 days.
There’s one herb that actually thrives in dry indoor environments and is adaptable to even the most heated of homes. Plant your thyme in a pot with a loose, fast-draining potting mix or buy a young starter plant from a garden centre, and place it by your sunniest window.
To keep it growing healthily, let it dry completely between watering sessions – in which you should soak the soil before emptying the drainage saucer – and keep harvesting thyme all winter long.
Finally, the true champions of indoor cold-weather herbs are chives. They tolerate the weak, lower light of the winter sun and easily handle temperature fluctuations on a kitchen windowsill.
To plant them, use a rich, moisture-retaining but well-draining potting mix and place the pot on your sunniest south-facing windowsill. Chives ideally need about 4 to 6 hours of sunlight per day.
