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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Burpee. All opinions and photography are our own.
As all of you know, Matt does 99% of the cooking in our home. I’ve been trying to cook more, especially since I love spending time in our new kitchen! But even with my attempt to be a little more involved, Matt still does the majority of the cooking in our home…and lucky for me, Matt LOVES eating healthy.
He enjoys finding healthy recipes, he loves talking to other people about their healthy diets, and just generally goes out of his way to make sure anything he makes is healthy. So when I asked him about his interest in adding a fresh herb garden in the kitchen, he was ALL in! I love the look of fresh herbs in a kitchen. He loves the idea of using these fresh Burpee herbs in his latest healthy recipes… or even drinks! Seemed like win-win to me?!
Fresh Herb Garden in The Kitchen
Today I am showcasing our gorgeous new herb garden in the kitchen, including which plants we chose, how we planted them, and how I plan to keep them alive (eek!). And spoiler alert: planting indoors does not have to be hard or even intimidating. As a total rookie when it comes to all things gardening, if I can do this, I know that you can too!
The Types of Herbs We Chose
Burpee was kind enough to send me a collection of herbs that included a little bit of everything, but you can get your hands on Burpee herbs, garden vegetables, or flowers at your local garden retailer or grocery store.
Here’s an overview of what we planted, including some quick tips on where you can use these fresh herbs and how to care for each one (this information was included with each plant & I found it SO helpful).
- Rosemary: Clip individual rosemary leaves or stem tips as needed, and use for flavoring meats, poultry, and potatoes.
- Parsley: Can be used for flavoring meat, soups, and salads, but is most widely used as a garnish. Can be grown in sun or shade.
- Basil: For the record, this plant smells amazing! Perfect for fresh pesto and salads.
- Sage: Fresh or dried leaves add flavor to sausage, stuffing, salad, and soup. The leaves are best when harvested before or just after blooming.
- Mint: Used as a garnish, in sauces, or combined with other herbs to make flavorful tea. Keep soil evenly
moist and watch for any signs of wilt. Wilting means your mint needs water. - Thyme: Leaves can be used fresh or dried. The plants grow well in their windowsill containers and are virtually maintenance-free. Flavor meats, poultry, stews, sauces, soups, and dressings.
How We Planted Our Herb Garden in the Kitchen
Planting the herbs in our kitchen was actually really easy too. Because it’s SO cold here in Chicago, I did all of the planting inside my kitchen. I picked up a few planters from Marshalls and simply dropped the plants right in them. I did make sure I had a little extra soil on hand for the plants that I placed in larger pots.
Getting all of the herbs in pots and getting all of the leftover soil cleaned out of the kitchen sink probably took about 20 minutes.
I did make sure to save the plant tags, just in case I had a maintenance question down the road. I also used these tags to guide me in placing the herbs around the kitchen. Fortunately, all of the tags suggested the herbs can be placed in full sun so pretty much anywhere in my kitchen fit that description.
I placed a few of the pots on the sill right above the kitchen sink. My hope is with plants so close to the sink, I’ll never forget to water them.
I also love the pop of color that the herbs bring to our window sill. You can see them from the street and they make me so happy when I pull up on an extra cold day. #countdowntoSpring
The other herbs I placed on the open shelving in our kitchen. I love that hint of freshness and color they bring to the shelves. In the past, I’ve purchased flowers to bring that same sense of freshness and color, but I love that these more permanent pieces do that without having to re-invest so often.
How I Plan to Keep This Herb Garden in the Kitchen Alive
Like I mentioned before, I’m pretty confident in my ability to keep these herbs alive because they are so close to the sink. I have another plant on the other side of the sink that requires me to keep the soil moist. I was nervous about my ability to do that, but having it so close to the sink reminds me to water it every day.
And so far that plant is thriving (more so than any other house plant I’ve owned!). My hope is that I can stick with that same consistency with these herbs since they too are right next to the sink. That way we can enjoy the perks of them for the long haul!
Any Tips?!
If you have any great recipes that call for these fresh herbs, I’d love to hear about them! I’ll pass them onto Matt. I’m in charge of keeping the plants alive, he’s in charge of everything after that.
Bridget
P.S. Is it just me or does this post about plants get anyone else eager for the spring?! I’m so over this brutally cold winter, already!
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