Benefits of Growing an Indoor Herb Garden
Imagine having herbs and the wonderful accompanying aromas always at your fingertips. Not only would this remove a few items from your grocery shopping list, but your home would always smell amazing. Growing your own indoor herb garden can be both a fun experience and a wise decision. Here's eight reasons why you should grow your own indoor herb garden:
1. Save Money
Let’s face it: herbs and spices are essential to making our everyday meals whether it’s for adding a little kick to the recipe or for the countless health benefits. By growing your own herbs, you won’t have to worry about altering a recipe due to the lack of having a required herb and you can stop making a dash to your local grocery store for such a small ingredient. Store-bought herbs often put a damper on our wallets due to being somewhat overpriced (around $3.00 for a small package). Not to mention, you’re often paying for 3x as many herbs as you need and end up tossing the excess herbs that have wilted away in your fridge only a few days later.
2. Sustainability
Not only are store-bought herbs expensive, but they are usually wrapped in single-use packaging to keep them separated on market shelves, which contributes unnecessary plastic to landfills once disposed of. Disposing of unused herbs also contributes to an even larger food waste problem. When food scraps go to the landfill, they break down and release dangerous greenhouse gases such as methane into the atmosphere. An estimated 40% of food is never eaten in the U.S., and it’s a shame that something as small as packaged herbs contributes to that.
3. Low-maintenance
Herbs are relatively easy to maintain and can be kept next to a window in your home where they would receive ample sunlight (or anywhere if you’re growing in an ēdn SmallGarden). Because herbs are small plants, they’re great to keep on your windowsill or designated space in the kitchen. Most herbs are perennial, meaning that they can last quite a long time if cared for properly.
4. Fresh Taste
Who knows how long store-bought herbs have been kept on the shelves? Keeping an indoor herb garden in the comfort of your home ensures that your herbs are fresh and ready for any meal. Most stores often lack the proper environmental factors to keep these herbs fresh on their shelves such as optimal moisture, light, oxygen, and temperature. No one wants to add stale herbs to a dish, so picking a few leaves off of your own herb garden is much better when it comes to freshness.
5. Safety
When purchasing anything from a store, you’re often unaware of where the products have come from. Herbs especially may have been grown in a field where the spraying of pesticides and other nasty chemicals is a common occurrence. Keeping your own herb garden offers better peace of mind when using your fresh herbs for culinary purposes.
6. Seasonality
Indoor gardens are the smarter option when it comes to deciding between growing a garden indoors or outdoors. Keeping your plants inside offers reassurance that your plants will not die due to weather fluctuations. In states where the temperature is often one of the two extremes, it can be difficult to maintain an outdoor garden. You also will never have to deal with annoying pests or nutrient deficiencies that often occur in outdoor soil.
7. Aesthetic
Most people choose to create an indoor garden for the same reason that one may purchase any decoration or art piece. Having live art offers a certain aesthetic value to a home, and surrounding yourself with plants can also contribute to numerous health benefits. Not to mention, herbs smell amazing and freshen up any space, often masking any unwanted odors that may be hanging around.
8. Fun
Like any other DIY project, creating an indoor herb garden offers a vessel for your creativity. It's also a fun learning project for kids and adults alike to see the different phases of plants each and every day - especially once you get to eat what you grow!
Grow your own indoor herb garden
If you haven’t already checked out ēdn's indoor smart gardens, learn more about how you can grow your own low-maintenance herb garden indoors all year-round with no added light.
