No matter where you live, you can have your own herb garden and have the many benefits of being an herb gardener.  In my first apartment, I started slowly with a few herbs in containers mixed in with a few blossoms on my front stoop—just your basic kitchen necessities like basil, oregano and parsley.

In addition to those outdoors, I added some indoor herb plants. Huddled around the only southern facing window in the location were a number of other little herbs like lemongrass and lavender, which smelled awesome together, and to those I added my outdoor herbs when winter came..

When I lived in an urban high rise I had a balcony that was totally fenced in by a big grate—which also put my entire balcony in shade almost all day long. So I constructed a flower bed made from chicken wire, leaves, newspaper, pine needles, peat and sod to hang outside the grate and I filled it with my kitchen herb plants, plus some chamomile and other flowering herbs and some cascading vines. It looked great, but needed to be watered all the time.

You can have the same successes that I have experienced if you take some of basic ideas to herb gardening and apply them to your apartment or living space.

First things first, look around your apartment to find spots where you can cultivate your herb plants. Do you have a suitable indoor or outdoor spot where you can get your green thumb on? All you need is enough room for a container or two. Some herb plants, like chives, only require a container about the size of a coffee cup to thrive and do well.

Check out the lighting to see what will work. The type, quality and amount of sun your herbs get is hugely important. Without the right amount of sunshine your herbs can’t persist. In an apartment I had in the city a few years ago I had two windows in the whole location: one faced east, which meant that it got the full morning sun, but nothing else and the other, a tiny window in the bathroom faced south—which is the best way to face—and that one became my herb garden window. This worked because the window got a lot of southern sun and humidity from the bathroom helped the plants.

Once you determine where you can create your herb garden and the quality, type and amount of sun that your chosen area has, you’re ready to decide which herb plants you want to grow. I could go on for days about which herb plants to select, but the bottom-line comes down to how you plan to use the herbs. Do you want herbs for the aroma, for healing purposes, for cooking or for use in cosmetics or maybe you just want something pretty to look at? No matter what your interest, you’ll have plenty of herb plants to choose from. Start by flipping through a book on herb gardening and focus on herb plants that have the light needs that your space will respond to. Very soon, you’ll be all set!

Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.

Here is more information on Windowsill Herb Garden. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.