Extend Your Gardening Season: Veggies & Herbs You Can Grow Indoors During the Winter Months
Depending on what part of the country you’re in, you still might be enjoying the delicious harvest from your backyard, but here in the Midwest, I’m tearfully waving goodbye to, well, almost everything fresh. While it’s probably impossible to keep gorgeous heirloom tomatoes growing, I’m looking on the bright side at the plants and herbs that will continue to thrive indoors during the dreary winter months.
If you’re located west of the Rockies, you’ve got an even better chance at growing veggies indoors during the winter months. Place a small container planted with salad greens or cherry tomatoes in the sunniest spot in your house, and see what happens!
If you’re like the rest of us, making do with any spare ray that happens to fall during these long winter months, try growing a few herbs and veggies that don’t require quite as much sunshine from the list below.
Herbs
Place in a small pot in the sunniest part of your kitchen—the herbs will need approximately four hours of sun each day. Trim as needed, or preserve in olive oil for use at a later date.
- Chives
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Parsley
- Sage
- Basil
- Thyme
- Mint
Onions
Place the root ends in a small jar with a few inches of water, put them in a sunny spot, and watch them grow! Change the water once each week.
- Scallions
- Garlic scapes
Greens
Chop off carrot tops and place in a dish filled with a 1/2″ of water; set on a sunny windowsill and watch the greens grow. To regrow celery and lettuce, place the base in a shallow dish of water in the sun, wait 3-5 days, and you’ll see regrowth! For best results, transplant in soil after the first sprouts appear.
- Carrot tops
- Romaine lettuce
- Celery
Sprouts
Growing your own sprouts is a bit more labor intensive than herbs or salad greens, but totally worth the effort. Check out The Kitchn’s in-depth tutorial on growing your own.
- adzuki
- alfalfa
- beet
- broccoli
- chickpea
- fenugreek
- lentil
- mung
- onion
- red cabbage
- rocket
- snow peas
- wheatgrass