Top 10 Reasons to Start Indoor Gardening

Have you ever considered growing your indoor garden? Well, it’s the healthiest and most brilliant decision you can ever make. You can experience the 10 best benefits with indoor gardening.

The 10 reasons of starting indoor gardening include:

1. Responsibility,
2. Limit waste,
3. Fresh produce,
4. Convenience,
5. Educational,
6. Aesthetic,
7. Profit,
8. Cost-effective,
9. Sustainability, and
10. Seasonality.

It will be easy to start an indoor herb garden at home when you have the suitable location, space, experience, and tools. You will only need a few bucks to purchase an herb plant or seeds, and then you can enjoy the privilege of fresh herbs in a few months.

Here are the benefits of growing your indoor herb garden.

1- Responsibility

Indoor gardening instills a sense of responsibility. The person needs now to ensure that a living organism like a plant will not die. It inspires the gardener to be compassionate and stay committed while providing the plant’s needs to keep it healthy and happy.

Having been exposed to gardening ever since I was a child has taught me that growing plants requires responsibility. I discovered that I am capable of taking care of the plants and that they rely on me day after day. Gardening teaches me to follow a to-do list like watering schedule and pruning.

Growing plants indoors is a great way to teach kids to be responsible with the plants they were entrusted with. They will understand that plants need proper tending to thrive and flourish. Kids can learn to provide appropriate lighting, correct watering, and feeding for their plants.

2- Limit Waste

Growing indoor edible plants such as herbs is a way to limit excess produce that is usually sold in large bunches in supermarkets. Herbs at home can be handpicked according to the amount needed for a recipe. Hence, this prevents food waste.

Herbs in the produce section are usually sold in large batches. But most of the time, you will not need the whole bunch for your home-cooked recipes. Instead, you will only use a few leaves, and as often as not, the excess will wilt in the fridge and eventually go to the bin.

Wasted excess herbs contribute to the growing concern on global food waste. As they go to the landfill, they emit dangerous gases such as methane in the atmosphere, contributing more to climate change.

Up to 40% of food produced in the United States is wasted. It is a shame that the few branches of your herbs have even contributed to that. But if you have herbs in your kitchen, you will only harvest the desired amount for the recipe.

3- Fresh Produce

One of the pleasures of having an indoor garden is cooking with fresh herbs. Keeping them next to the kitchen at home provides fresh ingredients for every food and drink. Packed and preserved herbs are still tasty, but nothing beats the fresh aroma and taste of newly picked herbs.

Your indoor garden allows you to have access to fresh harvest every time you prepare a recipe. Imagine picking fresh tomatoes and parsley from your windowsill, ready to make a greek salad for your family. It’s so nice to harvest a few basil leaves from your plant and toss them in your pasta.

Most herbs retain their freshness for only a short time. Fresh chive will keep its freshness for 1 week, while mint and basil have a shelf life of up to 2 weeks. You can preserve them, but don’t expect to get the same freshness. But if you have herbs growing indoors, you are always up for a fresh harvest.

When you are used to store-bought spices, you will notice how different your pesto would taste with fresh leaves out of your indoor herbs. Nobody likes stale herbs in their meals, so it is always better to have your homegrown indoor herbs and serve tasty recipes every meal.

4- Convenience

Planting herbs and vegetables next to a sunny glass window inside provides convenience in the kitchen. They are available anytime a recipe calls for chopped herbs or diced onions.

Having herbs already under your reach in the kitchen is quite beneficial and time-saving. You need not to rush to the supermarket only to buy a few sprigs of rosemary that you forgot to include in your grocery list.

Pro tip: Avoid placing herbs close to the kitchen tap. The moisture and warm environment often close to a kitchen tap might promote the formation of fungi that will debilitate the plant. Always make sure that are close to at least partially ventilated areas.

Indeed, you may grow several exotic herbs for a different taste, and they aren’t usually readily available in local stores. Herbs like sweet basil, parsley, mint, and dill are usually sold in the market, but lemon verbena, sorrel, coriander, thai basil, and greek oregano are not easily acquired.

Although an outdoor herb garden offers convenience, growing an herb indoors is more favorable. You are no longer at risk of being bitten by insects while collecting fresh herbs. In case of a heavy downpour, you don’t have to go outside only to pick a few leaves.

5- Educational

Keeping an indoor herb garden at home offers an educational experience for adults and kids alike. There are always new things to learn, new tips and growing techniques, unique plant characteristics, and learn how plant really works (biology).

Once you start cultivating herbs indoors, you begin to appreciate what a plant can do. You understand that it is a living thing that must be nourished and maintained. As you monitor and care for your herbs daily, you will notice how they change, what they like, and what is harmful to them.

You’ll discover when they become dormant and when they blossom and multiply profusely. When assessing plant problems like discolored leaf tips and decaying stems, you’re using critical thinking to figure out how to fix them. To propagate and clone them, you are applying a bit of biology.

It’s good to educate kids about parts of the plant and their functions. Give them an herb to look after and allow them to cultivate the plant to teach them to become responsible.

6- Aesthetic

Indoor herbs may be stunning showpieces, bringing mood, fragrance, and color to any space inside the house. It can freshen up the room and diffuse amazing aromatic smells, concealing any undesirable odors that may be present.

Lavender and thyme sitting nicely next to each other on your countertop in a bright kitchen can make a gorgeous centerpiece. Bring your potted herbs inside instead of using chemical-infused air fresheners and diffusers. Place them near a sunny windowsill for a natural air deodorizer.

Herbs can blend in beautifully with other ornamental plants, adding more personality and great ambiance to the house. When it comes to adding suitable plants in the proper places throughout your home, the aesthetic choices are endless.

7- Profit

Growing plants at home such as microgreens can be a source of potential income. Most herbs can be profitable with the right growing conditions, experience, and a viable target market. Many are interested in herbs because of their numerous benefits in culinary and health aspects.

With the increasing popularity of culinary herbs, many individuals master the technique of preparing tasty, healthful meals with fresh herbs. Herbs are also gaining attention to increase immunity and improve health. Hence, it is a great time to grow and sell herbs for profit.

Herbs are so versatile that they can be used in various ways to make money. Collect herb seeds, pack them, and sell them among friends and neighbors. You can also sell seedlings in a bag, freshly plucked stems for culinary use, or dried herbs for tea.

Display some of your herbs for sale on your patio where neighbors and passers-by can see and buy. Offer potted live herbs or dried leaves in a jar as souvenirs for weddings, birthdays, and corporate events as they are becoming a trend today. For sure, guests would be glad to have them as giveaways.

8- Cost-Effective

Usually, herbs in the supermarket are priced at 2 – 3 bucks for just a small bunch which is too much for such a small amount. But with herbs ready at home, grocery bills will be reduced. More importantly the time saved in commuting is also avoided in case you need them all of a sudden.

Herbs are costly when you buy them individually at the supermarket whenever you need them, and your local grocer may not always have all of the herbs you need. You will search for other stores and probably pay much more if this happens.

In fact, if you buy herbs at the grocery, you’re paying three to four times as much herbs as you require. It’s extravagant because you will only need just a small portion and dump the extra herbs as they will wither in the fridge a few days later.

9- Sustainability

Cultivating herbs indoors promotes sustainability because they are grown organically and naturally. Store-bought herbs usually come in disposable plastic packaging to keep them fresh. When these plastics are disposed of, they will contribute to the garbage landfills.

If you have homegrown herbs, you exhibit low environmental impact because of the limited synthetic waste obtained from buying produce from the grocery. There will also be minimal food waste. Plus you know the herbs you produce are fed only with organic fertilizer from the compost.

However, if you are using artificial lights for your indoor herbs, make sure to use only LEDs to lower energy consumption. A solar-powered grow light is more sustainable though. Although infrequent, treat pests and insects with sustainable products from plant extracts like neem oil.

10- Seasonality

Growing herbs indoors has the added benefit of transforming many annual herb varieties into perennials. It means they can be enjoyed throughout the year as long as they are kept indoors. Keeping annual plants inside ensures that they will not die because of cold or wet weather.

It can be struggling to manage an outdoor herb garden in areas where there are extreme climates. Annual herbs will start wilting at the end of summer because the cold weather weakens the plants and causes them to become stale.

When frost arrives, you’ll have no choice but to pick the plants up and add them to the compost pile. Meaning there will be no fresh herb harvest for almost half of the year. But with indoor gardens, herbs can thrive all year round because their growing conditions do not change substantially.

Summary On Benefits Of Indoor Herb Gardening

Indoor gardeners will enjoy numerous benefits with herbs like taking responsibility, limiting waste, educational benefits, and convenience. Moreover, keeping herbs indoors ensures fresh produce every meal, provides aesthetic appeal and adds profit.

Growing your own food at home is sustainable and cost-effective. Furthermore, you can enjoy fresh herbs all year because the indoor climate extends their growing season.

Sources

• “How Does Food Waste Affect the Environment?,” by Katie Boyle, Bard Graduate Programs
• “Food Waste,” Harvard TH CHan, Harvard University
• “ Growing and using herbs,” by Gretchen Voyle, Michigan State University

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