Herbs give flavor to foods while providing significant health benefits. As with most foods, fresh is better than dried in terms of nutrient retention, color, and flavor.
Sadly, since winter is a tough season for gardeners; unless you live in a very temperate climate, you are very limited as to what you can grow outside—if anything. Because of this, dried herbs are often preferred over the fresh variety.
Growing Herbs Indoors
If you’ve ever heard of hydroponics, then you know that it’s a system of growing plants indoors in water.
To grow vegetables, a lot of space and light are required. For growing herbs, however, a very simple set-up is all you need to have your own organic herb garden all year ‘round, no matter where you live.
Following are some herbs you can grow in water indoors. Unless otherwise noted, full plants can be rooted from whole leaves with the base intact or from trimmed stems. All require bright direct light to thrive.
1. Basil
An essential for Asian and Italian cuisine, this herb is easy to grow in water. All you have to do is cut off the stem you want to root before the parent plant flowers. Rich in antioxidants, basil moderates blood sugar levels and is a potent antibiotic, antiviral, and antifungal.
2. Lemon Balm
A member of the mint family, insects (especially mosquitoes) don’t like the smell of this herb. Once displayed in your indoor garden, change the water once a week to prevent root rot. Lemon balm reduces anxiety (unless you’re an insect), heals cold sores, and aids digestion. It’s best prepared as an herbal tea (1).
3. Oregano
This fragrant staple of Italian cooking is easy to grow indoors and has similar care requirements as basil. Pinch off top leaves as it grows to stimulate new leaves. Oregano oil is a virtual panacea: working as an antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antioxidant agent.
4. Peppermint
In an outdoor garden, mint has a tendency to spread out and take over so growing it indoors keeps it from choking out other garden plants. A hardy and prolific herb, peppermint is a great addition to salads and savory desserts. It can soothe irritable bowel syndrome and other gastric distress, relieve stress, reduce the pain of headache, and keep spiders and mice out of your house.
5. Rosemary
Its thick stems will take a while to grow roots but rosemary does quite well when placed in a sunny window. This savory herb has a sharper taste fresh than dried and makes its flavorful presence known in soups, stews, as a meat rub, or garnish. Rosemary is known to improve memory and cognitive function, moderate blood sugar, and stimulate hair growth.
6. Sage
Take a few sprigs in the spring from an outdoor plant, place them in shallow water, and sage will quickly sprout roots. Don’t crowd sage but allow plenty of air space to avoid mildew and do not let the leaves come into contact with water. Sage is a savory herb known to relieve anxiety, reduce the symptoms of menopause, and improve memory.