I want to get my mom an indoor herb garden for Christmas...which would be the best one to get through the winter? Thanks! :)
Get one with the bigggest pots you can find. Those tiny pots are cute but herbs will quickly outgrow them. The type where the container makes a greenhouse are nice.
I wouldn't get an herb gardening kit. The pots are too small. Get 6-10' pots some soil. As it warms up in the spring, you can set the pots outside. Cilantro likes the cool weather of spring. Basil likes the hot weather of summer. Those are a couple of the easiest ones to start. Use either started plants or packets of seeds. When ready to harvest, use it fresh in cooking. When it goes to seed from hot weather, remove the seed either use them in cooking or tuck a few under the soil to come up the following spring. If you live in one of the warmer states, you could also grow rosemary year round. Some types drape over the side of a pot or go down a slope. Others make a wonderful bush. In warm areas, they flower year round with little blue blooms that are almost purple. When you trim it, you can put the trimmings in a paper bag to dry out. Then remove it from the big stems grind it in a coffee grinder store it in a jar. p.s. Cilantro is a bit unusual in that the seeds are also used in cooking. Surprisingly, the seeds are called a different name, coriander, are often used in Indian cooking, first by sauteing them in oil or ghee (clarified butter), then by adding other ingredients like rice veggies or stir-fry, or whatever. The other thing is that at first I thought the leaves of cilantro had to be removed from the stems, but then I learned that you can just cut it up, stems all, with scissors added to salad or to a cooked dish. Sometimes it's easiest just to buy a bunch at the grocery store cut up all or part of the bunch for the salad or the rice. It adds a different taste to the greens. Sniffing it or eating a leaf or two will give a good idea of whether you will like it or not, same as any herb or spice...a good idea before trying something new.
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