How to Grow Fresh Herbs in Your Kitchen

Fill a plant flat with peat moss, and water the moss so that it is as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

Place an herb seed in each cell of the flat. Plant each herb seed so that it is inserted twice as deeply in the soil as the seed's diameter at the widest point.

Cover the flat in plastic and place it in a sunny windowsill out of direct sunlight. Check the flat daily and mist the soil any time that it appears dry. The soil should remain as damp as a wrung-out sponge.

Remove the plastic as soon as the herbs sprout. Continue to grow the herb seedlings in the flats until their roots fill the individual cells of the flat and the plants crowd one another. At this point, it is safe to transplant the herbs into individual containers.

Place a pottery shard in the bottom of each container. Then fill each container one-third full of potting soil. Place the root ball of each herb into a container and fill in around the sides of the root ball with potting soil.

Place the containers on drip trays and put them in a sunny, south-facing window out of direct sunlight.

Check the plant daily and water as needed. Add a balanced liquid fertilizer (10-10-10) to encourage the plant to grow. Rotate herb containers one-quarter turn every other day to ensure that they receive adequate light on all sides.

Keep herbs trimmed back to ensure that they do not grow too tall or weedy-looking. Harvest herbs regularly for cooking and drying.