We don’t have a brilliant garden at the moment and it is going to have to take a back seat until the house is straight, it’s too late to sow a lawn now anyway, or so I’ve been told.  However, I still want to do a little bit of gardening so my husband suggested I looked at growing some herbs on my kitchen windowsill.  I searched the internet looking for sites telling me how to grow plants in containers and also found one telling me that some vegetables and fruits also do well in containers if looked after properly.  Some websites even had planners telling you what to do each month, whether to sow the seeds, replant in bigger pots or outside or even harvest.  They’re brilliant and so far because I’m growing indoors rather than outside the plants are doing well as they have missed all of the last frosts of May.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

I purchased a number of ‘Grow your own’ kits from the local supermarket and also garden centre, from seed, these include:

Chives

Basil

Sweet Basil

Parsley

Flat Parsley

Runner Beans

Lettuce

Mint

Spring Onion

Rosemary

Lavender

I also purchased a number of plants that had already been started, including:

Tomatoes

Strawberries

Sweet Romano Pepper

Sweet Banana Pepper

Carrots

Cucumber – Telegraph

As a lot of my plants are already growing well I have potted them into bigger pots but kept the small propagator pots and lids that came with them, I have washed these thoroughly and put new compost in, bought some seeds and started again.  I now have a second set of Sweet Basil, Chives and Flat Parsley growing.

My daily routine is fairly basic, I water all plants that have dried a little in the morning before work, re-water when I come home as the plants are on a windowsill that gets a lot of sun.  I feed my plants every three or four days, I have a mix of feed and water in a spray carton that I keep to hand if I need it as my cucumbers are very thirsty and hungry, I find if I don’t add a little extra feed to the cucumbers they start to go yellow which I have been told is a nitrogen deficiency.  I keep on top of this on a daily basis.  The grow your own propagator lids are brilliant, they act like a small greenhouse over the plant and cause them to germinate well.  I’ve kept these for future use for some packs of seeds I have bought.  I have Parsnips and also Sweetcorn that need sowing by the end of this month.  Before sowing them though, I am going to get a nice planter that will hold all of my herbs, having so many in different pots has completely taken over my windowsill.

All of my plants are growing well, to the point where I have had to purchase a small trellis from the garden centre (less than £1 and only 8” tall) for my tomato plant and my strawberries have little white flowers on them which come through just before the fruit starts so I know they are growing well, all of my other plants have grown in height though and I have been keeping an eye out for any yellowing leaves so I can counteract any issues before they develop.

I have grown all of my vegetables, fruits and herbs indoors in containers and so far I’ve had no issues.  I am keeping a garden journal (even though it’s a windowsill garden) so I know what work next year when the time comes again to start my pots off.  I haven’t bought any specialist equipment, just some nice pots and planters, a grow bag from the local DIY store (£1.58 and I am just using it as normal compost), seeds and plants and some specialist plant food.  I haven’t spent more than £40 on this new hobby and it will keep me busy into the winter (I have been told that my herbs will continue to grow into the winter) and it will provide me with fresh organically grown food with little cost.  All I have to do is make sure the dog doesn’t pinch my Strawberries!

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