A handful of pots by the window can supply most of the fresh herbs a small kitchen needs. Which herbs forgive neglect, and which are worth the fuss.
Of all the gardens I have kept, the one that gets used most is the smallest: three pots on the kitchen windowsill. Fresh herbs transform everyday cooking, and unlike almost anything else you can grow, they do it from a space measured in centimetres.
Choose forgiving herbs first
Windowsill herbs divide cleanly into the easy and the demanding. Start with the forgiving ones. Mint is nearly indestructible — indeed, its main hazard is enthusiasm, so give it its own pot. Chives regrow after every haircut. Parsley germinates slowly but then produces steadily for months. Rosemary and thyme like a sunny sill and will forgive a forgotten watering.
The demanding list is shorter but tempting: basil hates cold feet, draughts and soggy leaves, and coriander bolts the moment it feels neglected. Both are worth growing, but treat them as projects rather than fixtures.
Light is the real limit
Most kitchen windows receive less light than a greenhouse, and herbs are honest about it: insufficient light produces leggy, pale, faintly sad plants. A south- or west-facing window is ideal. If your kitchen faces north, grow mint, chives and parsley there and keep the sun-lovers for outdoors in summer.
Watering without murdering
The classic windowsill herb death is not drought but drowning — a saucer of standing water quietly rotting the roots. Water when the top centimetre of compost feels dry, then water thoroughly until it drains, and empty the saucer ten minutes later. Terracotta pots help: they breathe, and their weight tells you when they are dry.
Feeding and rotating
Herbs in small pots exhaust their compost within a couple of months. A weak liquid feed every fortnight in the growing season keeps them productive, and an annual repot into fresh compost restores vigour. Give each pot a quarter turn every few days so growth stays even — plants lean towards the light with touching devotion.
Start with three pots: mint, chives, parsley. Add basil in early summer when the light improves. Within a season, you will wonder how you cooked without them.