Fresh Winter Herbs – How to Grow Them.

Growing herbs inside during the winter is easy and rewarding not to mention delicious.

In late autumn it is critical to bring my herbs from the cooling verandah to the sunny glasshouse. If killed by the cold, cry I would, for my herbs.

So I bring the potted herbs inside early. Crying over spilt herbs would be sad!!

And I am NOT a crier.

Rosemary sulks though so be gentle and relocate it early.

In all my other kitchens gardens (at the homes of my children in three different countries), the herbs can grow and be harvested year round outside. But you never know how cold it will get here in the Midwest so I keep my herbs in pots and bring them inside in the winter.

Caring for herbs inside is so easy. Here are a few TIPS.

🪴Do not overwater. (Drainage is key)

🪴Fertilize only once right in the late stages of the winter. Growth is meant to be slow in the winter so don’t over fertilize.

🪴Set the plants in a sunny spot and turn the pot weekly.

🪴Tip the plants often.

🪴 Don’t repot in the autumn – leave that until the spring. Allow your plants to snuggle up and go slow.

My Must Haves:

Parsley

Parsley, a herb green and vibrant, its flavor is not subtle – it is very present. Parsley tastes like green. My grandmother taught me to add parsley to my scrambled egg every morning for the iron.

To ingest iron the body needs vitamin c to be present and parsley abounds in both these essential nutrients. Fresh parsley has more vitamin c than a freshly picked orange.

It goes without saying that I need a LOT of parsley.

Thyme

Old, old thyme. So old it has almost retained its first spelling: Tyme. Thyme, aromatic and wise. It was burned in Ancient Greek temples as incense. And sprinkled on earth floors for scent. Tip your plant frequently so you can pick fresh leaves on wood. You need to strip the leaves from the woody twigs for your cooking but throw the stalks into your stock pot. They are still flavorsome.

Thyme sticks make great stakes too. Use them as spears for your cheese. Or toothpicks.

Oregano

Oregano or marjoram lends its aromatic embrace to soups, stews, and roasted dishes. If you have remembered to trim this plant frequently then you can chop the whole tip, stalk and all.

I hated the taste for years but have learned to love it. When we were in Greece the rocky hills abounded with goats and oregano – I could even taste it in the honey.

I add handfuls of finely chopped oregano and thyme to ground beef with garlic and a ridiculous amount of pepper to make hamburgers.

Rosemary

Rosemary is my other favourite herb – when I am tipping rosemary I often carry a twig of leaves with me rubbing it between my fingers for the fragrance. I would wear it as a scent. It elevates roast potatoes with a touch of herbal grace, place branches of rosemary on your grill, whole bunched into the oven with the roast.

I use rosemary to scent the air when guests are due.

I have always thought of lemons and rosemary as kissing cousins. They long for each other.

Basil

Oh basil with its fragrant ties. Basil is my favorite. The scent of basil is the scent of summer. I always add branches of overgrown fresh basil to my tomato soup. Don’t chop it, just drop the whole branch in there – scoop it out after 10 minutes to keep the basil taste bright. Any longer and it goes sour.

I try so hard to grow basil in my glasshouse in the winter. It is a struggle!

The fresh leaves are a must for pesto – use your basil frequently because older leaves are not as tasty.

Chives

In every salad and atop every stewyou will find chopped chives. Sour cream is just not right without chives.

A couple or three more TIPS:

🪴The tender new shoots of woody herbs are the best for eating.

🪴When I say Tip the Plant I mean to literally snip the growing tips frequently. I just nip them off with my fingers as I pass. Often. You don’t want leggy herbs. When you nip out those fresh tips for cooking you are tipping. So use your herbs. They are not for looking at!

🪴Except for the basil all these plants have been in pots for years. And all of them are supermarket rescues. If you cook with these herbs often, taking out the tips as you go, they will stay bushy.

🪴Repot in fresh media in the Spring. Do use old potting mix. Use some of that lovely leafy compost you are making over the winter.

🪴Pop a few woody tips back into the soil as you go. Keep making herb babies. You can never grow enough herbs!

🪴If I see my favorite herbs dying in the supermarket I buy them, water them, prune them and grow them on. Rescue those herbs.

🪴Pop a bucket in your shower to catch the water as the shower warms up. Then use this water for the indoor kitchens garden.

🪴If you have a sun-room, or little glasshouse attached to the house, orangery or conservatory, leave a big bucket (or two) of water in the room overnight. The water will help regulate the temperature in your glasshouse. I also leave a fan on in there in cold nights, this moves the air so the coldest air cannot settle onto your plants. (Plus the fan helps germinate the tomatoes and keeps fungal disease at bay).

I am pottering in my glasshouse today. I have tomatoes growing in there too – an experiment! What’s on your agenda?

Have a gorgeous day!

Celi

Go here to see wolves in the forest. These images taken by my farm gal farming friend in Canada. Spectacular!

Incredible.

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