Growing herbs?

I saw Paula Deen on the Food Channel go to a local nursery where she chose a pot that had the main top portion and about four outside portions to plant herbs on the side of the pot. She planted chives, rosemary, basil, thyme and flat leaf parsely. She placed the pot on her back porch near the kitchen and just reached outside for trimmings. The plants should have an easterly exposure and whole on the bottom of the pot for adequate draining. http://www.ehow.com/how_12188_design-kitchen-garden.html

You've been given some good suggestions, but light will be your biggest challenge. Herbs need full sun. You say you have almost no natural light. Can you rig up fluorescent lighting? Doesn't have to be "grow lights" - the results don't justify the extra expense. Without supplemental light your plants will be leggy and you'll be unhappy. Other suggestions were good. Remember not to overfertilize - that was good advice. BTW, basil is the only plant that does NOT do well indoors, but maybe that's because I live in Maine. Might do all right in CA.

You can grow herbs indoors. Best to start them from plant seedlings if you can find them although you can try from seeds. But first you will need the right potting soil, a good water soluble plant food and finally sunlight. If you do not have enough natural sunlight you can buy Gro-Lite lamps.bulbs at your garden center. They produce the same light waves as sunlight and will work for you. You can grow Basil, Fennel, Tarragon, Mint, Chives, Sage, Dill, Coriander, Rosemary & Thyme and there are a few others too. Good luck!

oregano and chives are really easy to grow in the window sill. The instructions on growing these herbs ar on the back of the seed packages. I recommend using miracle gro potting soil for the soil. You will wind up with nice sized plants.

Basil grows readily from seed, but since winter is coming and you plan to use the herbs, get plants. Oregano, chives, rosemary, thyme, savory, dill, mints, sage, bay laurel, there are lots of herbs. Be sure to put them in a sunny window and turn them every other day for even light. You must keep them pinched back or they will get leggy and unproductive. The main thing is to remember most herbs are indigenous to the Mediterennean, near the ocean, so you want to try to replicate that. This means dont fertilize, use a somewhat sandy soil and water when needed. If you overfertilize and use too rich a soil, the essential oils in the plant wont be as concentrated, hence less flavor.

Regular potting soil is ideal with no addition of any other fertilize. I use what we call a strawberry jar or a clay pot with the holes around the sides to allow several plants. I grow cilantro, regular basil, and chives are ideal since they are straight like grass. Dill is also a good plant to put in a pot. Start from seeds, but make sure you leave the pack in the area where you planted so you can identify the herb.

I think the type of pot that Kamikaze is describing is called a strawberry pot. They are interesting and great for herbs. You can put a fast-growing plant in the top, like basil, and smaller, cascading herbs like thyme in the side pockets. Or you can go to your local nursery or garden center and get a kit which will come with small terra cotta pots, potting soil, and seeds. They also usually come with instructions. As for herb suggestions, it all depends on what type of cooking you like to do. Italian? grow basil, oregano, or even expand to a patch in your yard and grow tomatoes and garlic (all four of these are also good companion plants, meaning they will do well planted all next to each other). Rosemary and thyme grow like crazy and are easy to dry for storage. Sage is nice too. Now is a good time to start cilantro seeds, and if you're thinking of a vegetable patch, onions and garlic can be started from seed now too (too late in the season for tomatoes, but you can buy them from the store and make salsa with the above items). Look online to see what herbs are good to plant this time of year--it's too late to start summer herbs like basil and sage, but like I said above, cilantro is good to start now. Or if you're craving some fresh basil, buy a basil plant and keep it for as long as you can (it can last quite a while into fall on a warm windowsill). It would still be cheaper and fresher than buying a fresh bunch at the grocery store every week. Good luck and have fun!