John Schepper
Never planted anything in your life before? Don’t know where to start? No problem! Herb garden kits can make a beginner look like an expert.
Many kits are like complete frozen dinners you buy at the supermarket. “Everything is in there” to borrow a line from a TV ad – everything except water that is. Others may only supply seeds, and yet others are somewhere in between. But generally, most kits supply either soil or pellets to grow the seeds in. So depending on your level of knowledge, expertise, and energy, there are lots of choices.
A good place to start is to decide what herbs you want to grow, and where to grow them.
The first decision is easy. Just look at all the little bottles of herbs in your kitchen cabinet. These will give you a clue as to what herbs you use all the time.
The second decision is probably not a problem either. Indoors you have the ability to create the right environment for the plants you choose to grow which means you can grow them almost anywhere. Outdoors you may be a little more restricted.
Kits are available from any local garden supply or garden center, but if you don’t see what you want, search the WEB. You will find a variety of kits that fit a theme such as Italian Herb Garden, Culinary Garden, Herbal Tea Garden, Salsa Garden, Salad Garden, and more. Simply look at what seed types come in each kit, compare that with the list of herbs you use all the time, compare price, the guarantee a supplier offers, and make your decision. There you are, an instant herb garden without the muss or fuss, or the work.
The real decisions from my experience, however, are not the kits themselves but where you are going to put them. Questions to ask before buying a kit are will they crowd my living space? If I don’t have 6 hours of natural light available can I install man-made lighting somewhere? And will my pets leave the plants alone?
Herb garden kits remove most of the challenges a beginner faces when starting an indoor herb garden. In several weeks when your plants start to sprout, and you’re enjoying the fragrance and the look of your plants, you will begin to look, and feel, like an expert.