Indoor Herb Gardens Over Winter, Old Seeds, Safe Ice Removal and Borage

Granite State Gardening

Herbs are delicious and fragrant additions to a garden, whether a dedicated kitchen garden or as ornamental and edible accents in vegetable and flower gardens. But herbs can also be grown inside your home, protected from the elements and even closer to your kitchen. Whether you’re growing herbs as houseplants year-round or just to get them through the winter before they go back outside, indoor herb gardening is rewarding as long as you are able to provide the care they need to thrive.

In this episode of Granite State Gardening, UNH Extension’s Emma Erler and Nate Bernitz share proven tips and solutions for all aspects of indoor herb gardening — from seed starting and care of newly purchased potted herbs to indoor/outdoor transitions and drying and cooking from your homegrown harvest.

Featured question: germination testing of old seeds

Featured plant segment: borage

Closing gardening tip: removing hazardous ice without harming your garden’s soil.

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Background Reading

• How to keep potted herbs from the supermarket alive longer: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/how-can-i-keep-potted-herbs-supermarket-alive-longer
• Soil for potted plants: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/what-best-soil-potted-plants
• Preserving herbs: https://extension.umn.edu/preserving-and-preparing/preserving-herbs-freezing-or-drying
• Cooking with herbs: https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/tips-cooking-fresh-herbs
• Germination testing: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/are-my-leftover-seeds-last-year-still-good-or-do-i-need-buy-new-ones
• Borage: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b765
• Breaking the ice: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/breaking-ice