The 5 Best Herbs to Start Growing Now!

If you’re new to gardening, I recommend starting with five of your most frequently used herbs. While not as exciting as vegetables, growing herbs is a great experience for beginners because they’re easy to grow and don’t require a lot of space. Just drop a seed in some soil, water it, and watch it grow! If you keep them indoors, water once a week, but if it’s outdoors, it depends on the temperature. Cooler weather means less watering (once a week), while hotter weather requires more frequent watering. Below are my top 5 herbs.

1. Basil

Basil is one of the most versatile herbs. It can be added to pasta dishes, pesto sauce, pizza, the list is endless. When you need a quick meal, combine tomatoes, olive oil, and fresh basil with pasta for a yummy quick dish. Basil is a great companion plant for tomatoes because it gives them flavor. Basil can be placed in the sun, but mine does best under my tomato plants in a sunny area.

2. Thyme

Thyme is another easy herb to grow. Just stick the seed in a pot of soil and put it on your window sill in a sunny area. It can be used to season chicken, meat, pasta, roasted vegetables, and rice. Pick a couple of sprigs off, rinse them off, and toss them in the pot!

3. Parsley

Parsley is one of my fastest-growing herbs. Most days, I even have too much! Parsley likes to be in the sun, but part-shade also works. I grow my parsley with my tomatoes and basil, but you can put it wherever you think best.

4. Oregano

Oregano is another great herb to put in pasta dishes. It’s another fast-growing herb that can grow in small spaces. Oregano likes to be in full sun, but my oregano does best in part-shade. You can use it fresh or dehydrate it and store it in seasoning jars. Either way is just as delicious!

5. Dill

Dill is one of my personal favorites because who doesn’t love pickles! It grows quickly in part-shade, just like oregano. Just beware that dill will flower if you don’t use it fast enough, in which case it becomes a pollinator.