Get a jump on summer by growing herbs indoors now

Though spring isn't quite in the air, it's not too early to begin planning and planting for warm weather. And for those who like their gardens brimming with fresh herbs, perfect for snipping to use in cooking, it's easy to begin an herb garden indoors.

"With herbs like basil you can start the seeds now," says Pat Rosenwinkle, president of the Gibson Woods Wild Ones, a local chapter of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, a nonprofit environmental education and advocacy group working to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. "All you need is a sunny window."

Rosenwinkle, who grows a variety of herbs including both annuals like basil and hardier perennials such as rosemary and green sage, suggests using Styrofoam cups or peat pots as planters for growing seedlings to transplant size.

She often eschews using potting soil and instead uses peat pellets (also known as potting pellets), which are little growing cubes place in a pot or cup with water. The water expands the nutrient-packed pellet and avoids the mess often created with potting soil.

Even easier, Burpee, the venerable seed company in business since 1876, also markets Coir Pellets — potting soil and pot in one unit which, upon watering, expands to 1-3/4" in diameter, 2-1/8" high.

Most people start annual herbs inside, since they die at the end of each season. Perennials have a woody stem that survives above ground in the winter. Herbaceous or leafy herbs such as basil and most types of sage die back to the ground at the end of a season.

"Now is definitely the time to start growing herbs," says Nikki Witkowski, agriculture and natural resources extension educator at the Lake County Purdue Extension, "because cooking with herbs is year-round. And besides, it takes time to harvest and dry them to use for when they're not in season."

Herb-growing kits that include lights are another option to consider, Witkowski says, particularly for those who don't have a sunny spot in their kitchen to grow herbs.

While some herbs are easy to start — chives, oregano and basil come to mind — others present a challenge.

"Rosemary is very hard to grow from seed," Rosenwinkle says. "It's better to buy a small plant and nurture it indoors until the weather is right for outdoor planting."

Herbs such as mints, patchouli, pineapple sage and lemon verbena also can be propagated by taking a cutting from an existing plant and placing it in a glass of water set on a windowsill that gets a lot of sunlight.

"Because soil contains nutrients that water doesn't, if you want to start herbs in water you can get a kit that has an air pump in it," Witkowski says. "If you're not going to do a kit, make sure to change the water frequently to keep the oxygen levels up."

Knowing when to move plants outdoors can be tricky.

"Whenever you're transferring any plant from indoors to outside, acclimatize it," Witkowski says. "Move them outside gradually so they get used to the temperature difference."

One way is to place plants outdoors in the sun while still in pots and moving them into the garage where it is still cold but not as cold as early spring nights. Also, Witkowski says, young plants moving from indoors need to be in a shaded area at first no matter how much time they basked in the sun shining through the kitchen window.

"Otherwise they'll get sunburned," she says.

Rosenwinkle also advises not planting the small herbs outdoors until the ground is consistently warm.

"If you put them in too early," she says, "you'll lose them."

There is an abundance of herbs available, so when deciding which ones to grow, consider what they'll be used for. Though many of us think of herbs as seasonings for food, they can also be used as aromatics, medicines and decoration.

"Sage can not only be used in cooking, but have a lot of color varieties that can be extremely ornamental, including green, white and tri-color," Witkowski says.

Ease of growth is another consideration, particularly for beginners. The best of those include chives, basil, oregano, mint, dill, marjoram, parsley and thyme.