herbsandspices.food The reference guide to herbs and spices

🌱 Growing & foraging

Herb gardens, windowsills, chilli plants and what grows wild.

9 pages in this section

Annual and perennial herbs
Which herbs come back, which to sow every year, and which are only pretending
Annual, biennial and perennial herbs explained: how long each common culinary herb lives, which are hardy in a British winter, and what that means for sowing and planting…
Foraging wild herbs
Wild garlic, wild thyme and water mint — and the plants that can kill you
A cautious guide to foraging wild herbs in Britain: positive identification, deadly lookalikes such as hemlock and lords-and-ladies, the law, and which herbs are good to …
Growing chillies
From January sowing to September harvest in a cool climate
A practical guide to growing chillies in Britain and other cool climates: when to sow, germination temperatures, pots and compost, feeding, pollination, pests and harvest…
Growing herbs indoors
Windowsills, light levels and rescuing supermarket pots
Which herbs grow well indoors, how much light they need, how to water and feed them, and how to keep supermarket pot herbs alive for more than a week.
Growing your own spices
What will and will not grow in a temperate garden or on a windowsill
Which spices can realistically be grown in Britain and similar climates, from coriander seed and saffron to ginger and Sichuan pepper, and which are best left to the trop…
Harvesting herbs
When to pick, how much to take, and how to keep plants productive
When and how to harvest culinary herbs for the best flavour, how much to take without weakening the plant, and how to collect herb flowers and seeds for the kitchen.
Overwintering chillies
Keeping a perennial plant alive through a temperate winter
How to overwinter chilli plants in a cool climate: which to keep, how to prune and pot them, the temperature, light and water they need, and how to restart them in spring…
Planning a herb garden
Sun, drainage and the right plant in the right place
How to plan a kitchen herb garden in a temperate climate: choosing a sunny, well-drained site, grouping herbs by their needs, and deciding what is worth growing.
Propagating herbs
Seed, cuttings, division and layering — getting more plants for free
How to propagate culinary herbs: when to sow from seed, how to take softwood and semi-ripe cuttings, and how to divide and layer perennials to make new plants.