Plants You Can Easily Grow In Your Kitchen

Cooking can be a very passionate hobby for most of us. For many, it’s an act of indulgence, for some, it’s an act of love, and for others it’s a way to unwind all the negative energy and convert it into positive vibes. If there’s one irksome thing about cooking, it has to be the chore of running to and fro to the nearest supermarket every time you think you don’t have the ingredient to cook what you decided to. It can really, like seriously dampen one’s cooking spirits, right? But what if you have them all at the comfort of your kitchen, not just the comfort of your home. That would definitely be very charming, wouldn’t it?

If you’re still wondering what we’re pointing at, it’s the “kitchen garden” that we’re talking about. It isn’t such a bad idea to grow your own food (as much as possible) and keep yourself safe from the pesticides, chemicals and toxic-laden produce, after all.

You could choose some interesting herbs, veggies, and fruits which you’d love using in your cooking every day and grow them right in your kitchen. For this, all you’ll need is a few square feet of space in your kitchen and most importantly, some tender care and love would make a huge impact too.

Some General Tips On How To Grow A Kitchen Garden

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So, before you start growing plants in your kitchen garden, here are a few pointers from us which are worth remembering:

• No matter which plant you’re growing, since it’s going to be in your kitchen, consider it as an indoor plant. And one of the most important prerequisite for this is that such plants require soil which is well-drained. This means that when you set up a pot for the plant, make sure that it has few holes at the bottom. Or at least pile a few stones at the bottom of the pot before you add the soil to it. And make sure you’ve a drainage container below the pot to prevent your kitchen shelves and floor from becoming a messy, water-drained place.
• Figure out the necessary soil composition of the plant you’ve decided to grow. You could either search for the apt soil composition and do it yourself at home, or you could also go to the nearest garden center and buy a soil mixture for the plant. We are talking about manure here which provides all the healthy essential supplements for the plant to grow.
• Adequate sunlight is a must. A plant (even if it’s an indoor one) needs at least some amount of sunlight to grow. And suppose your Kitchen doesn’t really have enough sunlight, you can always place lights around the plant so that it grows healthily.(FYI: There’s something called grow lights meant specifically for plants)

Now that we’ve given you a basic rulebook to growing your kitchen garden, here’s a list of the plants that you can grow in your kitchen.

Coriander

Coriander, also known as dhaniya is extremely healthy. It grows in a climate which is neither too hot nor too cold. It’s best to grow these in a tray instead of a pot. Fill the tray with 80 percent rich soil and plant around 10-15 split seeds of coriander. The seeds start to sprout in just a fortnight. It’s important to harvest cilantro at the right time, otherwise the leaves and the stalk will end up being tasteless.

Spinach

Our humble leafy vegetable, green palak, Popeye’s favorite food, is known to be rich in vitamins and antioxidants. This green leafy veggie can be used in making curries as well as to make healthy, wholesome salads. They are apt for kitchen gardens as they become harvest- ready in just a span of 6-8 weeks. We need to make sure that the soil is moist all the time while growing spinach. And be sure to leave a gap between the plants as spinach takes a lot of space to grow. Also, place the pot where there is direct sunlight; spinach definitely needs a lot of vitamin D.

Chilies

What’s an Indian dish without some spice in it, right? The spice quotient is what makes a dish Indian, right? So how could we not include chilies in our kitchen garden… we had to! We recommend early summer as the time for you to plant chilies in your garden. And it’s best to plant them in plastic container or pots as chilies are the plants that require a combination of warm and humid climate to grow. Grow your own mirchi now (Wink wink).

Basil

Of course, we know how the holy basil is grown. Most of the Indian homes have a Tulsi plant in their backyards or consciously planted near the entrances. But we’re talking about the sweet Basil here which is an essential part of all dishes that have Italian written all over it. Basil can be grown either by sowing seeds or even by planting clippings. Early spring is the best time to plant them. The germination takes around 5-10 days and it’s ready for harvesting in a span of 10 weeks. The smell of basil plant is very soothing and pleasant. Use them in your cooking or just chew them raw.

Lavender

It’s a versatile herb that we highly recommend you to grow in your kitchen gardens. It can be used for seasoning, can be used as a flavor in baking. It can even be used in the form of oil. The oil extracted from this plant is very beneficial for both our mental and physical well-being. Sow the lavender seeds indoors and then maybe transfer it outdoors. If you want them to flower throughout the year, make sure you clip the blooms regularly. The germination of this takes around 14-20 days and you can harvest it all through the summer.

These were our favorite kitchen plants. There are plenty of options out there for you. See which are the ones that you regularly add in your cooking and plant them in your kitchen. Which is your favorite among these? Let us know in the comments below and yeah, get gardening now!

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