Windowsill gardening for beginners
All you need is a sunny ledge to establish your very own windowsill vegetable plot, some pots and a trowel. It really isn’t difficult to grow your own salad leaves and herbs. Most importantly, it’s incredibly satisfying for all ages, especially as kids can watch their food growing. Now is the time to embrace the good life and make the most of the summer sunshine. You might even save some money with the produce you’ve grown.
How to start a windowsill garden - here's what you need
• Pots
• Saucers (any old lids will do)
• Seeds or seedlings
• Sunny ledge
What to grow on your windowsill
If you put your mind to it, you can grow virtually anything on a windowsill but our advice is to start with easy-to-grow vegetables. From baby beetroot to edible flowers to herbs and salad leaves, the choice is endless. Think about the meals you cook and what would be useful. Go for a variety of salad leaves, chard, pea shoots, cress and sprouting seeds. Growing herbs such as thyme, basil, mint, are probably no strangers in your kitchen, but you could think about tomatoes, peppers and chillies. You will need a sunny spot and have to watch for insects.
If you're growing from seed, follow the instructions on the packet. Remember that a little sachet contains many many seeds so sow seeds sparingly, in many cases, just ten seeds per one litre pot.
Micro greens
Great for dressing on salads and you won't have to wait too long for the seeds to germinate and start popping through the compost. Given their pint size, they're between a sprout and a baby green, they're high in nutrients and burst with flavour.
Sprouting seeds
Children love these as the seeds sprout quickly. We’re thinking alfalfa, fenugreek and broccoli seeds, which you can buy on Amazon. They're all super tasty and packed with nutrients. You need a jam jar with a lid that you've pierced with small holes. There are special sprouting seed jars but really, it's not worth it. An old jam jar will do.
How to get sprouting seeds going
Add 1–2 tablespoons of sprouting seed and water to the jar, then leave it to soak in the sink overnight. In the morning, drain your jar of water, leaving the seeds inside dry and rinsed. Repeat this process each day until your seeds have sprouted into a mass of tiny seedlings. Then harvest.
Cress
Perfect for a peppery hit in summer salads and one of the easiest vegetables to grow in your kitchen. Plus you can grow cress on wet tissue or cotton wool.
Pea shoots
Pea shoots are delicious in stir fries and salads and you can grow them from whole dried peas, the ones you can buy in a supermarket. Remember to soak the peas overnight to activate them and then hey presto, they’ll be ready to harvest in six days.
Kale
Young kale is excellent in salad and when you cut the stems, it will grow back again, giving you several harvests of small leaves over quite a long time. Works as well outdoors in larger pots as inside.
Chard
Like kale, growing chard is virtually foolproof and adds a rainbow of colours to a meal. Stems can be eaten raw when young or steamed when mature.
Herbs and edible flowers
Thyme, tarragon and chives are summer essentials in the kitchen, bringing all manner of dishes to life. Chive flowers make a pretty and tasty addition with their oniony flavour. Bees love chive flowers so if you can grow them outside that’s a bonus for nature. Calendula’s yellow flowers add a peppery flavour to salads. See our pick of delicious recipes for edible flowers.
For more information on how to grow food on your windowsill or balcony, visit www.kew.org .
Ready-to-go vegetable gardening
Rather than buy loads of seed packets, you can go down an easier route as there are a number of companies that will send you seedling boxes, ready for growing.
Teeny Greeny
teenygreeny.co.uk
This microgreens company has a mighty message, enabling you to grow your own superfood. Buy one of their organic microgreen grow kits and you can grow all year round. There are added health benefits too as microgreens contain forty times the nutrients than the mature plants. And they're ready to eat within 7-10 days. Find out more here.
Silly Greens
sillygreens.com
This is gardening at its easiest with these grow ready trays for windowsill crops. The microgreens arrive just as the seeds pop so they fit through the door and grow in one place. Tasty indoor crops that grow year-round, high in nutrients and finesse to finish off the plate. Silly Greens stocks about thirty herbs and veg, from peashoots, radish and cabbage to lesser known varieties. Find out more here.
Sprout Vegetables
Sprout helps you grow the perfect vegetables for your space, delivering everything to your door and guiding you through every step of the way. The one-off pack has everything you need to grow in season herbs and microgreens right on your windowsill, including organic compost, organic seed packets and a beautifully designed Growing Guide. Find out more here.
Seed Pantry
The Seed Pantry Grow Club Discovery Box makes a lovely present alongside a subscription or as a one-off gift. The Discovery Box is themed to the month it's mailed out and can include flower plants or bulbs, herbs and vegetable seeds. The kit includes ten minute task guides, background on plants and varieties. Find out more here.
Mr Fothergills
mr-fothergills.co.uk
If you want to try growing some vegetables, this seedbox of carrots, peppers, lettuce,onions, courgettes and tomato is a good starter as you just need a large pot or container. Mr Fothergills is perfect for stocking up on herbs. We love the basil collection, with three varieties to grow. Find out more here.
Gathera
gathera.co.uk
Gathera has a clever indoor garden range which is designed to grow large yields of delicious and nutritious food, right in your kitchen, regardless of whether the sun is pouring in. The TerraGarden shown takes care of all the hassle, including the watering and the automatic grow lights accelerate growth. Find out more here.
Vegetable gardening
Propagation Place
propagationplace.co.uk
The Garden in a Box range is perfect for first time growers, as the kit includes a carefully selected variety of vegetables. The box needs to be outside but there are different sizes available and seasonal of course. Find out more here.
Rocket Gardens
www.rocketgardens.co.uk
The Seasonal Veg Patch collections have been carefully designed to include a selection of organic veg plug plants and herb/fruit plants for you to plant up a quick and easy veg patch at home. They can be grown in pots, containers, grow bags, raised beds or a veg patch. Find out more here.
