Even without any outside space, anyone can still grow at least a little of their own food. You might be amazed by the range and quantity of edibles that you can produce indoors on your windowsill. If you are considering this option, and want to get started, here are five of the top edibles to sow in a windowsill garden year round:
Cut-and-Come-Again Lettuce
There are a wide range of loose leaf lettuce varieties that are perfect for windowsill growing. These grow quickly, and when grown indoors can be grown at any time of the year. There are different varieties that can be sown in spring, summer, autumn and even winter when you grow them in a heated inside space. These can then be harvested continually over a long period, and when you take leaves from one of these plants they will regrow once more.
Cress
Cress is another easy and well known green to grow on your windowsills. Cress can even be grown without soil – on saturated kitchen paper. You may remember growing cress as a child, in small yoghurt pots, or even in egg shells. No matter what you grow it in, cress is a healthy and good value crop to grow in even the smallest of spaces.
Pea Shoots
Pea shoots are certain pea varieties that are grown not for their pods or peas, but for their small stems and leaves. These too are a quick and easy crop that you can grow on your windowsills year round. The pea shoots have a mild pea flavour and are excellent in salads, though they can also be used in a wide range of other recipes. Of course, you might also be able to grow full-sized pea plants with supports indoors – but the benefit of this crop is that it is harvested very quickly, and can be sown all year round inside.
Brassicas for Micro-Greens
Another interesting crop to consider for year round growing indoors are brassicas. Full-sized brassica plants need quite a lot of space. But you can also sow a range of brassica seeds to harvest the very young seedlings as micro-greens – an incredibly healthy addition to salads that grow quickly, and provide a surprising amount of nutrition for the amount of space that they take up.
Asian Greens
A final excellent choice for year round windowsill gardens, Asian Greens like pak choi, or mizuna and mibuna, for example, can be easily grown even in tiny containers. Many Asian greens are also cut-and-come-again, they grow quite quickly, and can not only be used in salads but also in a range of stir fries and other recipes.
There are plenty of different things that you can grow indoors on a windowsill. But when it comes to year round growing, the options above are top of the crop.