There's nothing like having fresh herbs in the kitchen, on hand whenever I need them. The best way to assure this is to grow them myself, and it's incredibly simple. I used Ferry-Morse Windowsill Herb Garden and it comes with everything that I needed to get started, including the soil and seeds. 

I'm going to show you just how easy it was for me to get started. The end result is a cute container garden with chives, cilantro, parsley, and oregano that fits perfectly in my windowsill.

Step 1

Unpackage

Unpackage the windowsill herb garden. What you'll find:

• Complete instructions on the package
• 4 Jiffy Quick Soil Mix pucks
• 4 packets of seeds: Chives, Cilantro, Parsley, and Oregano
• 4 seed starting containers

Step 2

Water Soil Pucks

Place the Jiffy Quick Soil Mix pucks in a bowl and add 2 cups of water. You'll see that the soil expands significantly. Each puck will grow to almost 3 times it's size, and as it expands, it will naturally split in half. 

Place one half puck into each starting container. Next we'll add the seeds.

Step 3

Add Seeds

Add the seeds from each pack into the containers. 

You may need to add a little extra water as you go and rough up the soil a bit to make a nice bed for the seeds.

Step 4

Cover Them Up

Now you can cover up the seeds with the remaining Jiffy soil puck halves. Add water as needed and loosen it up a bit with a fork.

Step 5

Patience

You've planted a windowsill herb garden! Chives, cilantro, parsley, and oregano all have similar germination periods, so you should see them all sprout at similar times, about 3-4 weeks. 

Initially, while the seeds are still germinating, direct sunlight isn't ideal for the soil. Keep your garden stored somewhere bright, but not in direct light until they start sprouting. Once your herbs have sprouted, you can fit your herb garden in a sunny window and watch them grow! You'll want to water them regularly, just to make sure the soil doesn't go completely dried out.

Start Planning Recipes

Once you have fully grown herbs, you can start harvesting, cooking and (the fun part), eating!