How to grow an indoor vegetable garden without planting yourself?

How to create an indoor vegetable garden in 4 steps

You don’t need a green thumb to grow your own nourishing garden. And you don’t need a big house or balcony either! It’s perfectly possible to create a little corner of greenery indoors… as long as you use the right plants, and give them a minimum of care and light.

1. Choosing the right equipment

    

The location must 1. be bright and 2. easy to ventilate. So, ideally, the mini kitchen garden should be set up next to a window that gets plenty of sunlight, which is essential for plant growth. It’s also advisable to stay close to a water source (i.e. a tap!) to facilitate watering. So, if you have a kitchen with a sunny window, it’s ideal.

On the contrary, avoid placing it to the north or in a closed room. The space you have available will then determine the size of your future food garden. Bear in mind that you won’t be able to grow incredible crops either… Let’s be realistic.

2. Equip yourself with the right materials

    

Indoor vegetable gardening also means relying on pots and planters! Because, inevitably, it’s in a pot or a window box (and not in the ground) that your fruit, vegetables and herbs will have to grow and flourish.

Choose pots adapted to the size of your plants or suitable for growing seeds. You can, of course, choose larger and larger pots as your plants grow. Choose earthen pots with holes in the bottom for watering and drainage. Don’t forget the saucers, useful for collecting water. At the bottom of the pots, install a layer of clay balls or gravel to facilitate drainage, then fill them with special vegetable gardening soil (ideally), rich in nutrients and organic (ideally).

3. Planting the right plants

    

Choose plants that are suitable for indoor cultivation. Herbs that are easy to grow and harvest, and space-saving fruit and vegetable plants that need “what you’ve got” of light.

– For aromatic herbs, think basil, parsley, chervil, chives or mint.

– Fruit and vegetables: cherry tomatoes, chillies and peppers, radishes, lettuce leaves, eggplants, strawberries, redcurrants, lemons… will all flourish in your home.

Before getting down to work: take a look at the cultivation calendar. Also, if you want to group plants together in the same pot, think about their needs: they must have the same requirements in terms of water, sun and minerals and/or potting soils to cohabit as well as possible.

4. Maintain it with care (and love)

    

To grow well, your plants or seeds will need light and sun, water and attention. Keep an eye on them, and check for parasites: fleas, slugs and caterpillars. Give them what they need only when they need it! Some plants, for example, don’t need to be watered every day: so check the watering schedule for each plant. And their fertilizer requirements (preferably natural).

And in a few weeks you’ll be able to taste the joy of biting into a home-grown cherry tomato!