Get your herb plants from a good garden center nursery who will have plenty of garden advice to help you with your inside garden. You will need some garden equipment like a small digging garden tool, garden gloves, organic fertilizer and some small gardening containers. You probably already have most of these garden supplies in your garden shed.

Soil is the most important aspect of growing herbs indoors. Use only top grade potting soil with an organic fertilizer mixed in. If you think it is too fine a soil, use a little perlite. Fertilize while potting the herbs and they should be happy until spring. If you have a herb that is not growing vigorously add a little organic liquid fertilizer to the water.

When you go to transplant the herb, go one inch up in the size of the gardening container. If the plant is in a two inch pot, go to a three inch gardening container. Leave the roots alone and be careful not to bruise the stem. Don’t plant oreganos, mints, lemon balm or bee balm with other plants because they will overgrow everything. Pot these herbs in a garden container all of their own. Some people swear that you must put garden stones in the bottom of the gardening container, but I dispute that opinion. I feel that the garden stones take valuable space away from the herb roots.

When it comes to light, all herbs must get 4 to 6 hours of sunlight a day on your window sill. If your window doesn’t supply that much light then purchase garden grow lights and hang them three inches above the plants. If you live in a very hot climate shade the herbs during the hottest periods. If you live in a very cold climate keep the herbs away from the cold glass panes.

When it comes to watering, don’t let the herbs dry out but don’t drown them either. An inexpensive water meter from your garden center nursery will help with this important step in growing your herbs. Always use room temperature water so as not to shock the herb’s roots.

If you follow all of these steps you will have a healthy herb garden all winter.

Copyright 2005 Mary Hanna

This article may be distributed freely on your website, in your ezines and in your eBooks, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged. Copyright © 2005 Mary Hanna. All Rights reserved

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives full time in Central Florida which allows her to garden and grow herbs inside and outside year round.

PROPER TOOLS

Little hands need the right sized tools or they’ll be frustrated, and “toys” are not sturdy enough. Child’s garden gloves are available here: www.mybackyard.com/acatalog/.mybackyard_Shop_Child_s_Garden_Gloves_110.html. Gardens4Kids ( http://gardens4kids.com ) offers a package: a set of 3 children’s hand gardening tools, 1 set of children’s gardening gloves, and a child’s watering can.

They also offer a gardening kit with tips for planting with children. It contains: seed packages with instructions written for new gardeners and/or children; materials and materials needed checklist; a planting map; a harvest guide activity worksheet and calendar for predicting harvest dates; plant labels; a waterproof pencil; and 20 grid markers. (http://gardens4kids.com )

THEMATIC

Try planting a small plot around a theme – A Pizza Garden with tomatoes and herbs. A Salsa Garden with hot peppers, onions and tomatoes. A Butterfly garden with bright flowers and butterfly ‘food’ (see below).

MAKE A GRASS SNAKE OR SCARECROW

To make a grass snake, fill a sock with dirt and grass seed, place it in the sun and keep it damp. In 7-14 days, the ‘snake’ will have ‘hair’!

To make a scarecrow, take a large piece of cardboard and let the child lie down and get in a funny pose. Trace around the child and then cut the scarecrow out. Decorate him or her with yarn, waterproof markers, googily eyes, old pieces of clothing – whatever you have on hand. You can mount it on a stake.

TEE PEE

A bean tee pee brings great results and is easy to so. Use stakes, poles or bamboo poles 12′ long. Arrange them teepee style in a 5′ circle, leaving room for a small entrance and pushing the ends into the ground. Tie the tops together with heavy twine or masking tape. Plant different kinds of string bean seeds (something that’ll grow in your region) at the base of the teepee, and in a couple of months, the teepee will be covered with beans, leaves and vines.

BUTTERFLY FEEDER

This is exactly what you’ll see in botanical gardens. Take a plastic pot saucer, sand and about 1 T. of cow or horse manure and an overripe piece of banana, apple or pear. Place sand and manure in saucer with small amount of water and add fruit. Voila! Butterflies will come!

SIMPLE BIRD BATH OR BIRD FEEDER

Here’s an idea for a simple and inexpensive bird bath or feeder. Use a tomato cage, anchoring it firmly in the ground. Put one plastic plan saucer inside the top ring of the cage. Plant vining plants such as nasturtiums or morning glory around the bottom. Fill the saucer with water for the birds, of poke a few holes in it for drainage and fill it with birdseed.

EDUCATIONAL

·Use a digital or throwaway camera to record progress in the garden and learn more about nature and photography. Put the photos in a scrapbook for memories!

·Place a rain gauge in the garden.

·Study the insects that come and what they do.

· Read about vegetables, fruits and flowers on the Internet.

·Be sure and don’t take “the sun” for granted. Water and sun and good soil are what gardening is all about.

·The garden will need to be tended and this teaches responsibility. It needs to be watered, fertilized and weeded. Establish a regular schedule for tending the garden.

CELEBRATE THE HARVEST with flowers on the table, or a pizza, or hot sauce, or whatever the garden harvest has brought. Be sure and take more photos for the scrapbook.

Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, offers coaching and Internet courses for your personal and professional development. EQ products available for licenses and businesses.